Electronic Submission > Electronic Application Process

Overview of Electronic Submission via Grants.gov

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• The National Institutes of Health is replacing paper grant applications with electronic applications and has begun the transition to requiring electronic submission of grant applications via the online portal of Grants.gov.
  
  
• NIH is simultaneously transitioning from the paper 398 application form to a new electronic application form called the SF424 (R&R).
  
  
• NIH is transitioning grant program by program. See the Transition Timeline (PDF - 64 KB).
  
  
• Once a grant program is transitioned, paper applications will no longer be accepted for that grant program.
  
  
• Applicants submit their grant applications online to Grants.gov and NIH retrieves the applications for processing. View Detailed Chart (PDF - 72 KB) of electronic submission process.
  
  
• Since the electronic submission process involves two separate systems, registration at both Grants.gov and (NIH) eRA Commons is required. All registration formalities must be completed prior to submission. Individuals are not required to register at Grants.gov. Principal Investigators have to go through their Signing Official to register at Commons.
  
  
• All applications must be submitted in response to a solicitation (now called Funding Opportunity Announcement in Grants.gov-speak). Umbrella announcements (called parent announcements) have been developed to attract investigators who previously submitted unsolicited applications. These umbrella solicitations can be identified by the word ‘parent’ in the FOA title. A list of Parent announcements can be found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/parent_announcements.htm
  
  
• Funding Opportunities with application packages attached can be found at both Grants.gov and NIH. Grants.gov requires the use of very specific Adobe Reader versions in order to open, download and save the application forms. Currently, applicants are advised to use Adobe Reader 8.1.3 or higher. Stay tuned to the Download Software page on the Grants.gov Web site for changes.
  
  
• Applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. local time of the applicant organization. Only Authorized Organizational Representatives (AORs) have the authority to submit applications to Grants.gov.
  
  
• Once submitted, applications undergo checks (called validations) at Grants.gov and at NIH. The Grants.gov checks are minor and straightforward — for instance, ensuring no viruses are attached to the application and ensuring the DUNS number is correct. At NIH, the application is checked against business rules — for instance, whether you have an assurance number if the human subjects is marked ‘yes.’
  
  
• After checking an application against the business rules, NIH may return an error or warning. An error stops an application in its tracks. A warning alerts the applicant to a less than ideal condition but allows an application to proceed.
  
  
• An application with an error must be corrected and submitted again via Grants.gov.
  
  
• If there are no errors, NIH assembles the entire application for viewing by the applicant in Commons. The submitting organization’s business official (Signing Official) and scientist (Principal Investigator) have two days to view the application before it moves forward to the Division of Receipt and Referral for processing.