Grants.gov
“Now applicants will begin to enjoy the benefits
of a single federal interface for finding
opportunities and submitting applications online
using a single form and process.”
Dr. Norka Ruiz Bravo, NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research
What is Grants.gov?
• Product of Public Law 106-107 or the “Grants
Streamlining Initiative” of November 1999
• The purposes of the Act are to (1) improve the
effectiveness and performance of Federal
financial assistance programs, (2) simplify
Federal financial assistance application and
reporting requirements, (3) improve the delivery
of services to the public, and (4) facilitate
greater coordination among those responsible
for delivering services.
What is Grants.gov
• Vision:
– To allow grantees to electronically find
(“FIND” and apply (“APPLY”) for all
competitive grant opportunities
– THE single access point for all 26 federal
granting agencies and over $350 billion in
annual awards
• Managed by HHS
“FIND”
• Allows users to search for funding
opportunities and their corresponding
applications packages (if available)
• Provides summary of grant in standard
format
• Link or register to receive full PA
• http://www.grants.gov/Find
“FIND”
• Status: OMB issued policy directive in
2003 that instructed agencies to post all
grant opportunities as of 11/7/05
• FY 2006 Goals: posting of 100% of all
funding opportunities
“APPLY”
• Vision:
– To provide for single, secure and reliable
source for applying for grants on-line
– Simplify application process
– Reduce paperwork
• Process starts with downloading grant
opportunity and application in “FIND”
• http://www.grants.gov/Apply
“APPLY”
• FY 2006 Goals: 75% of all funding
opportunities must be available in APPLY
“APPLY”
• 4 Step Process
– Download Grant Application and Instructions
(requires CFDA number or funding
announcement number)
– Complete Selected Application
– Submit Application
– Track Status
“APPLY”
• Requires applicant to download “Pure Edge
Viewer”
• System requirements
– Windows 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, XP
500 Mhz processor
128 MB of RAM
40 MB disk space
Web browser: Internet Explorer 5.01 or higher,
Netscape Communicator 4.5 - 4.8, Netscape 6.1, 6.2,
or 7
“APPLY”
• Grants.gov does support Mac users by providing
two options for using the PureEdge Viewer
– Virtual PC for Mac, a PC emulation program developed
by Microsoft
– Citrix Server, which allows non-windows users to
remotely launch a Windows sessions on their own
machines. Free access to Citrix servers was made
available through Grants.gov in 12/05
“APPLY”
• Undergoing architecture upgrades
• Increasing Web servers from 2 to 4 to 8
• “Dynamic server allocation”
• Working on solutions for Mac/Unix/Linux
users (PureEdge Native Mac Viewer
expected in November 2006)
SF 424 (R&R)
• Grant application use the Short Form 424
(“Research & Related”)
• SF 424 was developed for use in State and
Local programs
• SF 424 was modified to incorporate
research specific elements (e.g.,
Biographical Information, Current and
Pending Support, etc.)
SF 424 (R&R) Components
• Cover, Pages 1 and 2 (Includes
certifications and assurances)
• Project/Performance site locations
• Other project information
• Senior/Key person profile(s)
• Personal Data (PI and co-PI only)
• Budget (uses calendar months, not %
effort)
Agency-specific Components
National Institute of Health
(NIH)
• PHS 398 Cover Letter File
• PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement
(supplements the R&R Cover)
• PHS 398 Modular & Detailed Budget (uses
calendar months, not % effort)
• PHS 398 Research Plan
• PHS 398 Checklist
Agency-specific Components
National Science Foundation
(NSF)
• NSF Grant Application Cover Page
• NSF Application Checklist
• NSF Deviation Authorization
• NSF Suggested Reviewers
• NSF FastLane System Registration
(complete only if your institution is not
currently registered in FastLane)
The Grants.gov Process
• UR is already registered as an institution –
no additional registration by PI’s or
administrative staff is necessary – you do
not need an account with Grants.gov
• UR already has an assigned Data Universal
Number System (DUNS) Number,
041294109, and is in the Central Contractor
Registry (CCR) – do not register UR again
Grants.gov Process
• Recommend that you visit Grants.gov
Customer Support and familiarize yourself
with the “Training Demonstration,”
“Tutorial,” and “User Guide”
Grants.gov Process
at UR
• Applications will be reviewed in ORPA in
hard copy format, accompanied by a
completed University sign-off form
• After proposal has been reviewed, a final
application package via e-mail attachment
must be forwarded to appropriate ORPA
RA for submission to Grants.gov
Grants.gov Process –
Submission and After
• After proposal has been submitted to
Grants.gov, two e-mails will be sent to
ORPA and PI (usually within 10 minutes of
submission, but guaranteed within 24-48
hours of)
– Confirming that proposal was received
– Indicating that proposal has passed or failed
data verification
Grants.gov Process –
Submission and After
• Several e-mails from the funding agency
will follow, to:
– Confirm that the proposal has been picked up
from Grants.gov
– Indicate that the proposal passed or failed data
verification – checking page limitations, font
sizes, etc.
– Allow corrections if applications fails within 24
hours of notification of errors
NIH and Grants.gov
NIH transition strategy to Grants.gov
• 12/1/05 – submission of SBIR/STTR on
Grants.gov
• 12/15/05 – submission of R13 and U13 via
Grants.gov
• 2/25/06 – submission of R15 via Grants.gov
NIH and Grants.gov
• 6/1/06 – submission of R03 and R21 via
Grants.gov
• 02/01/07 – submission of R01 via Grants.gov
• 5/07 – all grant mechanisms will be submitted via
Grants.gov
(OMB Clearance for PHS398 form expires 9/30/07)
NSF and Grants.gov
NSF transition to Grants.gov will be program
specific. Very few mandatory at this time.
The up-to-date listing of programs that
can/must be submitted through Grants.gov
can be accessed at:
http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/docs/gra
ntsgovlisting06.pdf
NSF, NIH and Grants.gov
Requirements
• PI and administrative staff must be
registered in NSF’s FastLane and NIH’s
Commons which interface with Grants.gov
• NSF and NIH will only accept pdf.
attachments
• All current proposal format requirements
for both agencies still apply to electronic
submissions
NIH Specific Concerns
• Electronic submission still wrapped around
the PHS 398 application package
• NIH has a heavy volume of grant
submissions planned by 02/07, deadline for
submission of R01 proposals (estimates
include as many as 16,000 applications in
less than one week) on a system that has not
been fully tested
NIH Specific Concerns
• In order to “Find” grant opportunities, you must
have a “CFDA” number or a “Funding
Opportunity” number – unclear what will be used
for investigator-initiated, standard R01 application
• After application has been submitted and accepted
by Grants.gov, it is sent on to NIH to be reviewed
for NIH specific format requirements
• The PI and ORPA must verify the application
within 2 business days
NIH Specific Concerns
• PI will be notified of need to verify by e-mail,
hopefully, but NIH advises PI to periodically
check status on the Commons
• If errors are discovered on Commons, a limited
amount of time will be allowed to correct them
• Then the revised, corrected application must be
submitted through Grants.gov again
• Failure to verify the application may prevent
further review of the application
NIH Specific Concerns
• Grant application must be submitted by
8:00 p.m. on submission date
• Rocky electronic submission experiences!
NSF Specific Concerns
Preparing the application
• Do not use Adobe Acrobat PDFWriter
• Do not use Blocked PDF Producers
• Do not use Adobe Acrobat Encryption or
Security Settings
NSF Specific Concerns
No experience working with NSF and
Grants.gov so, none have been identified,
yet
Issues
• All the uploads!
• Aggressive implementation schedule at NIH
• Lack of available training – nothing agency
specific right now
• File size
• Unrealistic deadlines
• Culture shock
UR Implementation
• United pushback to NIH (through COGR)
• UR Advisory Committee being formed
• ORPA Grants.gov web page (with FAQ’s)
• University review and routing plan for
proposals in development (e.g. deadline
policy)
• Internal training targeting R03 and R21
applicants
UR Implementation
• Coeus interface
– In initial planning phase
– “System to system” provides XML data
stream to Grants.gov
– MIT is one of few “vendors” that have tested
S2S with NIH
– Other benefits: data captured at time of entry