PureEdge

							      eSubmission

Submitting an electronic grant
  application via PureEdge



                                 1
          Class objectives
• Understand the electronic grant
  application process & roles (Who does
  what?)
• Be able to download & install PureEdge
• Be familiar with completing PureEdge
  packet
• Be aware of available help

                                           2
       eSubmission--What is it?
• All federal grant funding agencies are converting to
  electronic application processing.
• Conversion only affects locating a funding opportunity
  and the application submission. The rest of the process
  stays the same.
• Each agency is following it‟s own schedule, often
  unpublished. Usually conversion is phased, with lesser
  used & smaller applications first.
• When a grant mechanism is converted to electronic
  submission, it is set up with a packet of applicable forms.
• Once a grant mechanism (e.g. R03, R21) is scheduled
  for conversion, paper applications will no longer be
  acceptable.

                                                            3
          eSubmission (con‟t)
• As a part of the conversion process, agencies
  will be adopting a standard set of forms.
• Application forms grouped in a packet are
  downloaded from grants.gov to be completed.
• When grant application is completed, it is
  transmitted electronically to grants.gov.
• Grants.gov is a clearinghouse. Each grantor
  agency picks up its grant applications from this
  site.

                                                     4
       eSubmission Process

WU Creates                  Grantor agency                Grantor agency
  Grant                        picks up                     processes
Application                   Application                   Application




              Grants.gov                     Grantor agency
               validates                        validates
              Application                      Application




                                                                           5
                eSubmission Rules
• Organization must be registered with grants.gov. (WU is.)
  Individuals do not register.
• PI must be registered as a PI with WU as the grantee organization.
    – Potential Problems:
        • PIs transferring to WU not changing affiliation.
        • Faculty with Reviewer status only.
• Grant application may only be submitted by organizational rep
  registered with grants.gov. (R/O & G&C)
• Entire application must be submitted as one file at the same time.
• Important date terminology:
    – Release Date - Date funding opportunity is posted on Grants.gov. Applicants
      may download application package and start working on application (e.g.
      05/01/06)
    – Opening Date - The first day the completed application can be submitted to
      Grants.gov (e.g. 06/01/06)
    – Closing Date -The last day the completed grant application/application can be
      submitted. Must be submitted by 5:00pm local time (e.g. 07/01/06)


                                                                                      6
    Grant Application Validation
• Grants.gov will validate.
   – E-mail notification to RO / G&C
   – Corrections must be submitted as a changed / corrected
     application.
   – Use grants.gov help desk for errors you don‟t understand.
• Grantor organization will also validate.
   – E-mail notification to RO / G&C & PI
   – NIH - Corrections must be submitted to grants.gov as a changed
     / corrected application.
   – NSF - Changes may be made directly to application in FastLane.
   – Use agency help desk for errors you don‟t understand.
   – Errors will prevent application from processing. Warnings are
     advisory only.
• Continue your relationship with the agency rep / program
  officer.

                                                                  7
    What is WU doing to meet this
            requirement?
We have two solutions:
• Long Term - We are enhancing Grants Budgeting to
  collect all grant application data, fill out the correct forms,
  package the application and upload it to grants.gov. The
  1st release will focus on NIH & NSF requirements.
   – October 2006 is our target for having this option available and
     we expect it will address the majority of funding opportunities
     published by NIH and NSF where electronic application
     submission is required.
• Short Term solution is PureEdge.
   – Provided by the government free of charge and available now.
   – We will use it whenever a grant application is required to be
     electronically submitted and Grants Budgeting is not yet ready to
     process that mechanism.
                                                                       8
                  PureEdge
• What is it?
  – Desktop application installed on a PC.
  – Uses down-loaded packet of forms from grants.gov.
  – Form based allowing the user to enter data into the
    appropriate forms.
  – Keeps a separate file for each grant application.
• Who will use it?
  – Potentially anyone who completes or reads grant
    applications prior to submission.
  – PIs
  – Department Administrators
  – Grant Analysts
                                                          9
               Changes to process
• Basic process flow will be the same. Your relationship with your PIs
  need not change.
• Budget data flow will be the same. Data originally entered in Grants
  Budgeting and the entered into PureEdge when approved.
• No paper documents submitted to grants.gov. Attachments must be
  electronic and stored in PDF format.
• Research plan must be broken up into separate PDF files by topic for
  submission.
• When ready to submit, all grant applications are sent to R/O or G&C
  for electronic application submission.
• Last minute updates or resubmittals will be more difficult as entire
  packet must be submitted.
• Grant applications will need to be completed earlier than they currently
  are to ensure timely submission. Working group recommendation is to
  be complete 3 business days before closing date.




                                                                       10
                Getting PureEdge
• Contact your local PC support to notify them you need to download
  an application from the Web.
• Ensure your PC meets minimum hardware requirements stated on
  this Web page:
        http://www.grants.gov/Apply

• For Macs there is no native application. You either need to have
  Virtual PC and WindowsXP, or Citrix client (grants.gov provides
  access to a Citrix server) running on your Mac to use PureEdge.
        (a) Please review the Special Instructions for Macintosh Users at:
  http://www.grants.gov/GrantsGov_UST_Grantee/!SSL!/WebHelp/MacSupportforPure
  Edge.pdf

• Read the download directions and tips before beginning the
  download.

• Select “Download PureEdge Viewer” or this page:
        http://www.grants.gov/DownloadViewer#download

                                                                             11
      Getting PureEdge (con‟t)
•   Select the download viewer option:
•   Do the download
     •   Save to Desktop
     •   When download completes -- Click Run
     •   Security Warning – Click Run
     •   Wish to continue? – Yes
     •   Welcome to Installshield -- Next
     •   License Agreement – Yes
     •   Customer Info – Your Name & Wash U -- Next
     •   Choose Destination – Next
     •   Program folder – Next
     •   Finish

                                                      12
 Downloading the grant application
             packet
• PI will identify funding opportunity.
  – If you have CFDA or funding opportunity
    number
     https://apply.grants.gov/forms_apps_idx.html
  – Search
     http://www.grants.gov/search/basic.do
     Select funding opportunity from the returned list.
• Synopsis page – Verify this is the correct
  opportunity
                                                          13
  Downloading the grant application
          packet (con‟t)
• Click on “How to Apply”
• Review page & click on “Instructions & applications”
  download
• Select option 1 “Download Application Instructions” –
  downloads a PDF.
• Select option 2 “Download Application Package”
• Takes about 1 minute. Be patient--it will sit and look like
  it‟s doing nothing….
• When it has finished, a PureEdge window will open with
  some of the cover page data pre-filled.
• Again, make sure this is the correct opportunity
• Save the packet.
   – Warning, ignore -- Yes
• Close window
                                                                14
               Completing the packet
•   Supplemental training: http://www.grants.gov/CompleteApplication
•   Working with the packet.
     – We recommend single focal point for assembly of packet. Try to keep a single
       copy of the packet.
     – Recommended approach to packet editing:
          •   Use a shared network drive to store the PureEdge packet.
          •   Copy the PureEdge packet to your desktop and work on that copy
          •   When finished, replace the copy on the shared drive with your updated local copy.
          •   Only 1 person at a time can edit a packet.
          •   On a Mac, with Virtual PC, working out of a directory shared between VP & the Mac can cause errors.
              Keep the packet in a Windows only directory and move attachments to that directory from a shared
              directory before attaching to packet.
•   Forms
     – Menu bar (icons) and action buttons below, use to save, print, etc
     – Save frequently. Exiting a form does not save the data. You must do an explicit
       save to preserve your work.
     – Mandatory & optional fields, most required fields in yellow. Will not edit for
       agency specific requirements.
     – Does field pre-population if data is repeated.
     – Move forms to right side when completed.
     – Error check button strictly looks for missing required fields. Packet must be free
       of errors before it is submitable.
                                                                                                               15
  Completing the packet (con‟t)
• Attachments:
   – All attachments must be PDF format documents.
   – Use Adobe versions 5 thru 7 or freeware CutePDF.
   – No paper forms. Use electronic files whenever possible. If an
     electronic version of a document is not available, e.g. letters, etc.
     it must be scanned and converted to PDFs.
   – If the attachment is being created on a Mac, do the PDF
     conversion on the Mac also, especially for Word documents.
   – Research plan must be broken up into several separate PDF
     files.
   – All attachments must meet document agency rules:
       • NIH -- http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/tips_tools.htm
       • NSF -- http://www.grants.gov/CompleteApplication


                                                                        16
        Submitting the packet
• DO NOT SUBMIT
• When the grant application is ready to go,
  send it to the RO or G&C office for
  submission.
     • Web file mover. See eSubmission web page for
       directions in using this tool.
       http://research.wustl.edu/
     • E-mail – small files (less than 10 meg)
     • Copy to physical medium (e.g. flash drive or cd)

                                                          17
                      Lessons Learned
• Submit EARLY – allow time for resubmission due to errors.
• Common grant application errors
   – Missing or incorrect PI NIH eraCommons User ID in the PD/PI section
     Credential log-in field on the Senior/Key Person Profile Component.
   – NIH eraCommons User ID must be all in caps
   – PDF Issues
        •   All attachments must be PDF, no Word docs, txt files, etc
        •   No special characters in file names
        •   Disable all security features in the PDF document. (e.g. „locked‟)
        •   Turn the “signature” off when you create original documents.
        •   No PDF documents with editable fields
   –   Total Cost Does Not Equal Direct and Indirect Costs
   –   Missing DUNS number in the eRA Commons Institutional Profile
   –   Missing PI/PD info on Detailed Budget Page
   –   Fee exceeds 7 percent of total direct and indirect costs
   –   Fee entered in null area for sub award / consortium budgets
   –   Preferred address not included in Personal Profiles of PI and SO
   –   The state code for US or Canada is invalid

                                                                                 18
•
                                Help
    WU eSubmission Web Page: http://research.wustl.edu/
•   Pre-submittal
     – Technical issue: Your local PC support
           • Can‟t get to web, Download problems, PureEdge won‟t run once downloaded,
             etc
     – Content issue: Your grants analyst
           • What do I put in this field?
•   Post-submittal
     – Grants.gov
           General help page: http://www.grants.gov/ContactUs
           Email: support@grants.gov
           Phone: 1-800-518-4726
     – Grantor help desk
           • NIH
                 IT help desk: http://ithelpdesk.nih.gov/eRA/.
                 Email: commons@od.nih.gov
                 Phone: 1-301-402-7469
           • NSF
                 Email: fastlane@nsf.gov
                 Phone: 1-800-673-6188
•   eSubmission Working Group
     Mike Farano
     Grant Application eSubmission Coordinator
     Phone-314-935-8165
     Michael_Farano@aismail.wustl.edu                                              19