Questions and Answers Table of Contents
General Info
Planning
General Info
How do I know whether I must apply electronically?
If the NIH mechanism (e.g., R01, R03, T32) you wish to apply for has made the transition to electronic application, you must submit electronically -- NIH will not accept a paper application.
Find transition timelines on NIH's Transition Plan. Eventually you will use the electronic route for all new and renewal grants.
You must prepare and submit your application electronically. You may not print the SF 424 forms and PDF attachments and then mail them to NIH.
See our Grant Application portal.
Which NIH funding opportunities are published as Grants.gov FOAs?
Since October 2003, NIH lists all its opportunities in Grants.gov as funding opportunity announcements (FOA). Grants.gov posts FOAs from virtually the entire federal government.
Therefore, you can find funding opportunities that require a paper PHS 398 in Grants.gov. In those cases, the FOA simply points to the NIH Guide announcement.
Who are the people I will deal with for electronic application?
Your organization has a business official for Grants.gov. Grants.gov calls this person the authorized organizational representative (AOR). Your AOR submits your application to Grants.gov and receives email notifications about its status.
The business official for Grants.gov may or may not be the same person who serves as the eRA Commons signing official, who handles all interactions with the Commons.
Outside your organization, you can get help from Grants.gov or eRA Commons. For details and additional questions, go to Signing Up to Apply Electronically.
How do authorized organizational representatives get their privileges?
A staff member of your organization, the Grants.gov e-business point of contact, approves one or more authorized organizational representatives to submit applications on behalf of your organization.
How do I get news about electronic application?
Sign up for NIH's Electronic Application Listserv at Receive News and Updates. Sign up for the NIAID Funding News newsletter at the Subscription Center. Where can I find resources to explain electronic application?
See our Grant Application portal.
Where can I find resources to help me write my application?
NIAID's NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal can guide you though the substantive parts of your application as well as basic NIH processes, e.g., whether to include a cover letter or request assignment to a study section.
Though predating electronic application, our Annotated R01 Research Plan and Summary Statement has a top-notch Research Plan and is annotated to highlight the features that make it outstanding.
Where can I find help for Grants.gov?
Call the Grants.gov Contact Center at 1-800-518-4726, Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. EST.
Where can I find help for eRA Commons?
Call the Commons Help Desk at 301/402-7469 or 1-866-504-9552 (toll free) or 301/451-5939 (TTY) Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET.
How do I apply if a program announcement uses both paper and electronic application?
Some program announcements have mechanisms that use electronic application and others that haven't yet made that transition.
For example, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Pathophysiology and Treatment supports R01, R03, and R21 mechanisms, all switching to electronic application at different times.
Apply electronically using the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) if the mechanism has made the transition; use a paper PHS 398 if it hasn't. The NIH Funding Opportunities Relevant to NIAID tells you how to apply for each NIAID announcement.
Find more answers about FOAs and applying under a program announcement in Funding Opportunity Announcements.
Planning
How should I begin preparing for electronic application?
At least a month before you plan to apply, make sure all registrations are in place -- see Signing Up to Apply Electronically. Even before they are, you can begin preparing:
- Work in stages -- complete the parts you can, e.g., the Research Plan, on your computer.
- You can start
using the Grant Application Package as soon as it's in Grants.gov; it may appear there even before the open date.
- Find out about your internal deadlines. Talk to the people in your business office.
- Also ask your business office about your local technical processes. Become familiar with the Grants.gov site
and the SF
424 if you are going to apply electronically.
Read more in Signing Up to Apply Electronically and Preparing Your Electronic Application.
How should I plan my submission timing?
Factor in plenty of time for submitting, and possibly correcting and
resubmitting, your application. See the NIAID R01 Application to Award Timeline.
- Ask your business office how much time it needs for the submission. For a basic Grant Application Package, start filling out the forms at least two weeks before that deadline.
- Allow at least two weeks to successfully submit to Grants.gov and eRA Commons.
- Most people fail validations at least once.
- With each failure, you start the application process over.
- It can take up to two business days to get through either system.
- Avoid applying or having to resubmit around the deadline.
- As the due date approaches, Grants.gov and the Commons may get bogged down by NIH applicants as well as those from other agencies, and response times will be slow. There may also be overlapping submission dates you don't know about, so avoid crunch times.
When are the submission deadlines?
You can submit your application to Grants.gov
anytime between the open date and the deadline stated in the NIH
Guide announcement. If a deadline lands on a weekend or federal
holiday, it moves to the next business day.
The FOA lists a closing date, which is actually when the FOA expires. This can be misleading for program announcements (PA), which are often issued for three years. Apply for a PA using Standard Due Dates for Competing Applications.
To avoid a late application, you must submit to Grants.gov by the deadline. Later,
you have a chance to reject the application image in the eRA Commons.
- Your business official for Grants.gov, the authorized organizational representative, submits your application to Grants.gov by 5:00 p.m. your institution's local time by the due date.
- Grants.gov immediately gives your application a time stamp and tracking number. Any processing after that does not affect the submission time.
- After your application passes NIH validation, your Commons signing official has two business days to reject the application image. If not rejected, the application moves forward to NIH review.
You should be watching the Commons so you know when your application has passed validation. Don't rely on the email notification or your busy business office staff.
When planning your submission, allow at least two weeks to complete these steps, including time to resolve any errors that Grants.gov or Commons finds. See Corrected or Late Electronic Applications.
Do all applications go through Grants.gov?
All electronic application data go through Grants.gov before reaching NIH, even if your organization is using a service provider or a proprietary system. Check locally to find out how to apply at your
institution.
What do service providers do?
Service providers offer a range of products and services including systems using
HTML-based forms and PDF attachments that populate fields from individual
and institutional profiles.
They provide customer support and
workflow controls and may offer
tools for managing awards and reporting. Find out if your organization is using a service provider.
If
you wish to engage a service provider, as a small business, for example,
allow plenty of lead time for installation and training
as well as application submission. Find a list in the Service
Providers section of NIH's Electronic
Submission Web site.
If your organization decides not to use a service provider or custom system, you'll use the default Grants.gov forms.
How do I know if my computer is compatible?
Check the instructions at Grants.gov's Download Software. Install the software early, so you can preview the application forms. Then you can fill out Grant Application Packages.
Why can't I open the PDFs?
If you're having trouble opening PDF documents -- for example, the SF
424 application guides -- you may have an old PDF reader. Try upgrading
to the latest version of the free Adobe
Acrobat Reader or your reader of choice.
Where can I find more questions and answers about grant applications?
See Preparing Your Electronic Application for the next set of questions and answers on electronic grant applications. Also go to Applying for a Grant, Writing a Great Grant Application, and other Application questions and answers.
What if my question wasn't answered here, or I'd like to suggest a question?
Email deaweb@niaid.nih.gov with the title of this page or its URL and your question or comment. We answer questions by email and post them here. Thanks for helping us clarify and expand our knowledge base. |
