Avoiding Common Errors
Invalid or Missing eRA Commons Username
Missing Organization Name for Senior/Key Person
PDF
Issues
Senior/Key
Person Effort on SF424 R&R Budget Form Must be More Than Zero
Federal
Identifier Format
Avoiding Common Warnings*
Role
of Co-PD/PI not used by NIH
No degrees submitted for PD/PI
How To Submit A Corrected Application
Invalid or Missing eRA Commons Username
The assigned eRA Commons Username must be entered in the field called “Credential, e.g. agency login” for anyone assigned the PD/PI role. This field is located on the R&R Senior/Key Person Profile(s) component of the grant application. The field is not marked as required on the application form (federal-wide form and not all agencies need this field), but is required by NIH as indicated in the application instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.
The eRA Commons Username is used to link the submitted application to the PD/PI records in the Commons system. Without this information, the system cannot determine where to display application status or store the assembled application image.
Missing Organization Name for Senior/Key Person
The Organization field of the R&R Senior/Key Person Profile(s) component is required by NIH for all Senior/Key Persons listed. This information is used by NIH staff to determine such issues as conflict of interest with potential reviewers.
PDF Issues
NIH requires all text attachments to be in PDF format. To avoid PDF problems, keep these guidelines in mind.
Senior/Key Person Effort on SF424 R&R Budget Form Must be More Than Zero
The effort included on the SF424 R&R Budget form calendar months, academic months, or summer months fields must be greater than zero for Senior/Key Persons listed. Use either calendar months or a combination of academic and summer months. For information about calculating person months, see http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/policy/person_months_faqs.htm.
Federal Identifier Format
Avoiding Common Warnings*The Federal Identifier field of the SF424 R&R cover component should be filled in as follows:
If “Type of Application” is “New”, you can leave the Federal Identifier field blank on the first submission attempt. However, the Federal Identifier field becomes a required field when submitting a Changed/Corrected application to address errors/warnings. When submitting a Changed/Corrected “New” application, enter the Grants.gov tracking number of the previous submission attempt (e.g. GRANT00123456). If you are unable to find the tracking number, enter “N/A”.
If “Type of Application” is “Renewal”, “Revision” or “Resubmission”, enter the IC (Institute/Center) and serial number of the prior application/award number. The IC code is a two-letter code immediately following the activity code/grant program. The six-digit serial number follows the IC code. For example, the IC and serial number for application number 3R01CA123456-04S1A1 is CA123456.
* Remember that warnings may be fixed at the applicant's discretion but do not require action for the grant application to move on.
Role of Co-PD/PI not used by NIH
The role of 'Co-PD/PI', indicated for Senior/Key Person on the Senior/Key Person page, is not used by NIH. For multiple Principal Investigators, use the PD/PI role. Otherwise, select another role.
No
degrees submitted for PD/PI
No degrees have been submitted for the PD/PI. If you want the degrees to be displayed on the face page of the application image, you should include them on the PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement.
How To Submit A Corrected Application
If your application had errors and did not make it through the eRA Commons application checking process (i.e. validations), you must correct the error(s) and submit a changed/corrected application to Grants.gov before your application can proceed further.
Here are the steps to take:
- On the first page of the SF424 (R&R) application form, check the Changed/Corrected application box in the Type of Submission field located in box 1.
- Once the Changed/Corrected box is checked, box 4, the Federal Identifier, becomes a required field. If you are submitting a “New” project application (including corrected submissions for “New” applications), enter the Grants.gov tracking number of the previous submission attempt (e.g. GRANT00123456). If you are unable to find the tracking number, enter “N/A”. For “Renewal”, “Resubmission” or “Revision” applications, the Federal Identifier field should contain the IC and serial number of the prior application/award number (e.g. CA123456).
- If after the submission deadline, include a cover letter with an explanation of your changes and why the application is late. Include information from any previous cover letter(s) since that information is not retained. The cover letter must be in PDF format and attached to the PHS Cover Letter component of the application.
- The entire Changed/Corrected application must be submitted through Grants.gov.
