Update on Electronic Submission for PRAC
Megan Columbus NIH Program Manager, Electronic Receipt of Grant Applications
January 19, 2006
NIH’s Electronic Receipt Goal
We continue working towards the goal of requiring electronic submission through Grants.gov using the SF 424 (R&R) for all NIH grant applications by the end of May 2007.
Announced in the NIH Guide, Aug. 19, 2005:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-067.html
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NIH’s Transition Strategy
NIH will transition by individual research program/funding mechanism ALL applications in response to these announcements for transitioned mechanisms will require electronic submission through Grants.gov on the SF424 family of forms Mechanisms not yet transitioned will continue to require paper PHS 398 submission
NIH will announce plans to transition mechanisms in NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts
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NIH Planned Transition Dates of Mechanisms for Electronic Submission using the SF424 (R&R)
SBIR/STTR (Dec. 1, 2005)
We have begun!
R13/U13 (Dec. 15, 2005) R36 (Feb. 17, 2006) R15 (Feb. 25, 2006) S10 (Mar. 22, 2006)
X02 (April 18, 2006)
Resource (G), Career Development (K), S11, S21, S22 (Feb. 1, 2007) Fellowship (F) (Apr. 5, 2007) Training (T&D), U45, D71/U2R (May 10, 2007) Centers (P), M01, S06, R10/U10, U19, U54, U56, R24/U24 (Jun. 1, 2007)
R03, R21/R33, R34 (Jun. 1, 2006) R01/U01, R18/U18, R25, C06/UC6 (Oct. 1, 2006)
2006
12 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
2007
01 02 03 04 05 06
Current as of January 5, 2006. Visit the Web site for the latest version: http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/
Mechanism Abbreviation Key: C06/U06 Research Facilities Construction Grants D71/U2R International Training Cooperative Agreement/ Phase 2 of FIC mechanism D71 R01 Research Project Grant Program R03 Small Grant Programs R10/U10 Cooperative Clinical Research Grants R13/U13 Support for Conferences & Scientific Meetings R15 Academic Research Enhancement Awards (AREA) R18/U18 Research Demonstration and Dissemination Projects
R21/R33 R24/U24 R25 R34 R36 SBIR STTR S06,S10,S11 S21,22 U X02
Exploratory/Development Research Resource Related Research Projects Education Projects Clinical Trial Planning Grant Program Research Dissertation Grant Program Small Business Innovation Research Small Business Technology Transfer Biomedical Research Health Disparities Endowment Grants Cooperative Agreement Awards Preapplication
It Works
Applicants can retrieve the application packages from the FOAs at Grants.gov
We provide a direct link to download the application package from the NIH Guide for grants and Contracts to make this easier for our applicants
Our systems can retrieve the applications from Grants.gov and check the applications for compliance with NIH business rules Applicants receive automatic e-mail notifications from NIH and Grants.gov alerting them to the status of their applications Applicants can log onto the Commons to get validation information and verify their application image The application images look good! NIH systems can assign the applications and make the images available for processing by NIH staff Applicants can track the progress of their applications in the eRA Commons.
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December Submissions
Small business (SBIR/STTR)
Over 1800 applications received In expected range Over 150 applications received In expected range
Conference grants (R13)
Very few applications submitted in paper
NIH provided flexibility in submission dates to accommodate error corrections
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Grants.gov Handled Load Well!
Submissions to NIH set a new Grants.gov daily record with 1,259 applications submitted on a single day (Dec. 1, 2005).
NIH and Grants.gov have developed a strong working relationship
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What’s next?
- R36 (Feb. 17, 2006) - R15 (Feb. 25, 2006) - S10 (Mar. 22, 2006) - Second round of SBIR/STTR (Apr 1, 2006) - ~ 2,000 applications expected - X02 (April 18, 2006) - R03, R21/R33, R34 (Jun. 1, 2006) - ~ 4,000 applications expected
56 NIH funding opportunity announcements currently require submission through Grants.gov and the SF 424 (R&R)
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Guiding Principles:
NIH will not hold applicants accountable for Grants.gov or NIH system problems Applicants are expected to:
Complete required registration processes prior to submission Complete both steps of application submission in a timely way
Submission to Grants.gov Application verification
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NIH Implementation Teams
Electronic Application Coordinating Group – maintaining link between policy, business process and technical development
Contingency Planning Policy Technical Development Mechanism Conversion Communications and Training OPDIV Coordination Helpdesk Coordination
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NIH Learning from December Experience - Major Issues
Helpdesk Overwhelmed –
Initial actions to address include:
Implementing web-based issue reporting for users Analyzing help desk statistics Implementing new model for help desk staffing Obtaining additional staffing resources
This is a new process for NIH staff as well
Continued in-house training and discussion to bring them up to speed so they can help field questions
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NIH Lessons Learned (cont.)
Volume of changed/corrected applications very high
Evaluating most common issues
Missing Credential (Commons ID) for PD/PI in Senior/Key Person Component Missing DUNS in Commons Profile for Organization
Resolving system quirks
Re-evaluating validation requirements
Recognizing automated validations are catching many application errors that might have gone unnoticed in the paper process System validations ultimately lead to improved accuracy & fairness but do require applicants to carefully follow instructions Reviewing business rules enforced by the system
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NIH Lessons Learned (cont.)
Revising instruction guides and funding opportunity announcements to incorporate helpful hints learned from initial submissions Looking for opportunities to improve the process
Re-evaluation of verification requirements
Will eliminate requirement for active Commons AOR/SO verification Discussions on-going with investigative folks (OIG & DoJ) re: PI verification requirement
Reviewing ways to shorten time for eRA Commons registration
Continued need for outreach and education to applicant community
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Collecting User Feedback
NIH has established an e-mail address to collect comments and/or suggestions from users: NIHElectronicSubmiss@mail.nih.gov. Share your successes and challenges!
Let us know what resources are most useful (Targeted e-mails, FAQs, Tips & Tools, Commons Alerts, Training tools) Share specific suggestions for improvement
NIH is carefully analyzing lessons learned and feedback from community to develop an action plan for addressing identified issues. This analysis includes an evaluation of the implementation timeline.
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Where to find more information
Tools to Educate the Community
Training http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/training.htm
Video library
Overview of NIH Transition http://helix.od.nih.gov/oervideo/grantsgov/sf424_application/index.html
A Walk Through the SF424 (R&R) http://helix.od.nih.gov/oervideo/grantsgov/A_Walk_Through_SF424/inde x.html
Registration in the eRA Commons Demo http://era.nih.gov/virtualschool/external/c101_GranteeRegistrationPr ocess.htm SF424 (R&R) application guides, sample application packages and related resources http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/index.htm Grants.gov’s How to Complete An Application Package Demo http://www.grants.gov/CompleteApplication#demo
Archive of the January 11, 2006 training session.
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Tools to Educate Yourselves and Your Communities (Cont.)
Demo Facility – By April, we plan to have an end-to-end demo facility for applicants to “practice” the entire process from finding an opportunity in Grants.gov through verifying a submitted application in the eRA Commons. Frequently Asked Questions http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/faq.htm Electronic Submission Timeline http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/strategy_timeline.htm Tips and Tools http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/tips_tools.htm Communications and Outreach resources (brochures, presentations, drop-in newsletter articles) http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/communication.htm
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Spread the word! ___________________ Thank you!
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