Grants.gov Presentation August 2006

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Grants.govPresentationAugust 2006
By Kerri Santos Olivia Viloria
Chris Wang Laura Baxter

• Electronic Grant Submission

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The Grants.gov Program is

• The result of a legislative initiative aimed at
  streamlining the federal granting process
• A unified storefront for all customers of
  Federal grant-making agencies to
• - Find grant opportunities
• - Apply for grants
• Used by all 26 federal grant-making agencies
  (ie. NIH, NSF, CDC, NASA, DOD. Etc.)

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Focusing on the Relationship Between Grants.gov
and NIHs eRA Commons

• Grants.gov
• Clearinghouse
• for all federal grant
• applications

• eRA Commons
• NIHs research administration website

Applicant UCSF
Agency-Specific Website eRA Commons
Broker Grants.gov
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Past Submission Model

• Many-to-Many model
• Non-standardized forms and submission method
• Resource- and labor-intensive

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Present and Future Submission Model
Applicant 4
Applicant 3
Applicant 2
Applicant 1
Agency 1
Agency 2
Agency 4
Agency 3

• Broker-based model
• Standardized forms (SF 424) and submission method
• Shorter turn-around time?

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NIH Transition Plan for All Funding Mechanisms
Resource (G7, G8, G11, G13, G20), Career
Development (K), S11, S21, S22 (Jun. 1, 2007)
SBIR/STTR (Dec. 1, 2005)
R13/U13 (Dec. 15, 2005)
R18/U18, R25, C06/UC6 (Oct. 1, 2006)
Fellowship (F) (Aug. 5, 2007)
R36 (Feb. 17, 2006)
Potential R01 Multi-PI Pilot (Oct. 1, 2006)
R15 (Feb. 25, 2006)
Training (TD), U45, D71/U2R (Sep 10, 2007)
S10 (Mar. 22, 2006)
X02 (April 18, 2006)
DP1(Jan. 22, 2007)
Project/Center (P), G12, M01, S06, R10/U10, U01,
U19, U54, U56, R24/U24 (Oct. 1, 2007)
X01 (May 18, 2006)
R01(Feb. 1, 2007)
R03, R21/R33, R34(June 1, 2006)
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• Updated February 21,
  2006
• Source http//era.nih.gov/ElectronicR
  eceipt/

We Are Here
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Some Important NIH Transitional Goals to Remember

• February 2007
• All R01s required for submission through
  Grants.gov (CG estimate 140 proposals)
• September 2007
• All NIH applications required to be submitted
  through Grants.gov
• Transition from PHS 398 forms to SF424 forms

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Overview of Online Submission Process
What should be in place before PIs can submit
online?

• Need an NIH eRA Commons account
• PI must hold a PI account and be affiliated with
  the applicant organization
• PIs currently registered only for Internet
  Assisted Review(IAR) must work through UCSF
  Contract and Grants Office for full eRA Commons
  Registration

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What is a Funding Opportunity Announcement(FOA)?

• FOA Program Announcement (PA) or request for
  application (RFA)
• NIH will continue to use RFAs and PAs, but all
  solicitations will also be referred to as FOAs
  in Grants.gov
• New Requirement all grant applications submitted
  through Grants.gov must be in response to an FOA

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What is an FOA? (Continued)

• Applications that were previously considered
  unsolicited or investigator-initiated by NIH
  will be submitted in response to a generic or
  parent FOA for the specific grant mechanism
• FOAs will continue to be posted in the NIH Guide
  and Contracts, and will simultaneously be posted
  to Grants.gov
• Button added to NIH Guide announcements allowing
  applicants to access the Grants.gov application
  package directly from the NIH Guide

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New Business Processes FOAs

• Each FOA will have the appropriate application
  package for the accompanying solicitation
• Some fields of application are pre-filled from
  announcement
• PureEdge software required to download the
  application form
• Applicants CANNOT use any sample form packages or
  other packages from other announcements

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New Business Process FOAs (Continued)

• FOAs will be posted in Grants.gov and will be
  available in the APPLY section generally 2
  months before the submission date
• Other important dates to know
• Release Date - The date an application in posted.
  Posting announcement allows downloading if
  application package and the ability to start
  working on the application (text attachments,
  like the research plan, can be started earlier)
• Opening Date - the first date the completed
  application can be submitted to Grants.gov
  (generally 1 month before submission date)

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Electronic Submission Countdown
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Features of SF424 (RR)

• The SF424 (RR) is an application form that is
  comprised of common data elements developed for
  use by federal agencies funding Research and
  Research-Related programs.
• A complete application to NIH will include a
  combination of (RR) components and PHS398
  components.

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Overview of Online Submission Process

• Mandatory fields are designated by yellow boxes
• Information input into fields will transfer to
  other fields throughout application

SF424 Face Page
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SF424 Research Plan

• Research Plan
• Needs to be broken up into different sections
• 25 page maximum is still in effect re sections
  A-D

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What Pis Need to do Differently for Online
Submission

• In figuring out budgets, calculate for Calendar
  months. Work with Grant administration team on
  this
• Need to create pdf documents now
• Plan ahead differently

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Main Differences Between PHS 398 and SF 424
PHS 398
SF 424

• Electronic Submissions
• Salary calculated on calendar months
• .PDF documents are the only format allowed

• Paper Submissions
• Salary calculated on effort
• Print outs of Word/.PDF documents allowed

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Grants.gov Attachments

• Multiple attachments must be attached to
  Grants.gov forms (Science, Abstract, Resources,
  Budget Justification, etc.)
• PDF is the only format that is accepted as a
  Grants.gov attachment
• Word documents will cause Fatal Errors during
  validation checks
• There can be up to 60 PDF attachments per
  proposal

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Technical Issues With Grants.gov
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PureEdge Viewer

• A free program which allow you to access,
  complete and submit applications electronically
  and securely on Grants.gov.
• Similar to Adobe Acrobat Reader

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Relationship between PureEdge Viewer to
Grants.gov

• PureEdge Viewer
• Mandatory viewer allows you to see Grants.gov
  forms
• Without PureEdge, you cannot see Grants.gov
  package
• Is NOT compatible with Mac Format
• Need only download and install on computer once

• Grants.gov
• Grants.gov is the portal where the form sets,
  FOAs, that proposals are created in are found.
• FOAs are downloaded from the Grants.gov website,
  and are compliant with Mac and PC.
• Once FOA is downloaded, it is on your hard drive
  and can be worked on locally.

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PureEdge Drawbacks

• Not compatible with Macs, only PC compatible!!
• Mac version projected to be released as of
  November 2006 (hopefully)

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Various Solutions Around the PureEdge Issue

• PC Laptops
• Computer environment that PureEdge is compatible
  with
• No third party solutions necessary
• Good speed
• Drawback
• Only have 2 in the Business Office

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NIH Dial In Server

• Citrix Server
• Free application from NIH
• Allows PC environment on Macs
• Allows for file access between Mac and PC
• Drawbacks
• Slow
• Timeouts/ dropped connections
• Possibilities of corrupt files

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PC Emulation Software

• Boot Camp
• Allows you to boot up your computer in either a
  Mac or PC environment
• Drawback
• Cannot toggle between Mac and PC environment
• Cannot access files without a Flash drive
• From feedback with other departments, it is
  expensive, need Windows software and license
• Had hard time reading the thumb drives to get
  info

• Parallels
• solution that gives Mac users the ability to run
  Windows alongside Mac OS X in a secure, isolated
  virtual machine
• Drawback
• Runs only on Intel Macs
• Plus, need Windows software and License
• We have tried this in previous submissions, was
  really slow
• Did not read thumb drive at times

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System to System Datastream

• System to System transmits XML data through
  Grants.gov to the federal Agency
• Eliminates need to re-key data
• Platform neutral
• Not a department solution, but a University wide
  solution
• Requires PeopleSoft enhancement or 3rd party
  service providers
• UCSF has not yet implemented this solution yet,
  but it is in the works

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Recommended Solution

• We recommend using a PC when processing a
  proposal via Grants.gov
• If there are no PCs accessible in a
  neighborhood, an option is the PC laptops in the
  business office until the Mac PureEdge viewer is
  available for Macs
• Please plan ahead for borrowing the laptops,
  since there are only 2
• If needed, contact Laura Baxter,
  lbaxer_at_biochem.ucsf.edu, for arrangements

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Overview of Submission Process
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PI eRA Commons Account

• In the PERSONAL PROFILE tab of PIs Commons
  account,update data requested under the
  Employments menu
• Employment information
• Contact information (check that zip code is
  correct for Mission Bay)
• - System will confirm that this email
  address is to be used by the Commons to
  contact PI.
• The related data you provide on the Grants.gov
  application should match the information in this
  profile.

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Submission of Application to the Department
Grants Office

• Formats required
• Flash Drive or CD with PureEdge application, plus
  Word and pdf versions of all uploaded documents
• Two hard copies of the form pages and
  alluploaded documents.
• Attached to these copies
• the signed OSR (CG) submission form
• PI Federal Certification form (financial
  disclosure)
• relevant IACUC or CHR approval letters

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Department submits to CG

• Format and process used
• One hard copy of application materials sent to
  CG
• AND
• The PureEdge application is uploaded to the CG
  FTP server
• Standardized naming convention for
  electronic files PI last name.OSR
  form .Version
• (each resubmission of this application
  will use a different version )
• Example Smith.P0004321.v1

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What happens after submission to Grants.gov?

• PI and SO will receive emails from Grants.gov
• Confirmation of receipt of proposal -
  Application will be given a tracking number
• Validation In Process
• Application Forwarded to eRA NIH Commons

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Errors in Grants.gov

• Errors occur when a virus is detected or the
  application has not followed Grants.gov rules.
• If an error notice is received by the PI
• Only the PI can see the specific errors in
  the STATUS tab in the Commons account.
• PI sends specific error info by email to
  the Dept grants office.
• The PI or AA corrects the errors and
  RESUBMITS proposal as a
  changed/corrected proposal type no later than
  the submission date or within a 2-day
  period specified by the system.
• Notifications repeat as before.

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What happens after submission to eRA NIH Commons?

• PI and SO receives email notices from eRA
  Commons.
• If no warnings or errors occur, the sequence is
• Validation In Process
• Validation Complete / Check Assembled
  Application within the next 2-business days
  (M-F, including holidays)
• If applications appearance does not accurately
  reflect the proposal, the SO
  rejects the application, and it is RESUBMITTED
  via Grants.gov within the 2-day deadline.
• Advanced to Referral
• Assignment to a Study Section (will include
  a link to the membership of the
  Scientific Review Group)

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What happens when Warning orError notices are
received fromthe Commons?

• In BOTH cases
• Only the PI can see the information specifying
  what the warnings or the errors are by
  checking the STATUS tab in the PIs Commons
  account.
• PI forwards this detailed information by email
  to the Department grants office.

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Warning Notices

• Warnings occur when there are application
  anomalies.
• Examples garbled text PIs personal
  information (e.g., job title) doesnt match the
  Commons profile
• PI can choose to take no action on a warning,
  but first
• - checks that the proposal has not been
  compromised
• - checks the appearance of the assembled
  application.
• If SO does not reject the application or stop
  the validation process within 2-business days
  (for resubmission of proposal within that time)
  the application moves forward.

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Error Notices

• Errors occur when the NIH-specific business rules
  arenot followed or the system cant recognize
  uploaded documents.
• Examples Commons user name for PI omitted
  A-D of the research section exceeds page
  limitation titles of pdf files include spaces
  or odd characters (e.g., !,/,,_at_,,, etc.)
• Corrected proposal must be submitted within
  2-business days via Grants.gov
  (changed/corrected proposal type).
• Notification process repeats as before.

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Will the 2-business daydeadline always extend
the original submission deadline?

• During the transition of the R01 mechanism, NIH
  will
• accept a resubmission -- in response to an error
  or
• warning notice -- even if the 2-day deadline
  extends
• beyond the February 1, 2007 submission deadline.
• For submission deadlines after February 1, 2007,
  applications cannot be resubmitted beyond the
  submission deadline, even for error and warning
  corrections.

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What is Next?

• Department internal deadline
• ONE month before NIH deadline
• Example
• NIH deadline (new RO1, R21, R03) 2/01/07
• Department deadline 1/02/07(1st working day)
• NIH deadline (competing renewal) 3/01/07
• Department deadline 2/01/07

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Impact on Campus CG

• UCSF Projected NIH Proposals via Grants.gov

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UCSF Experience With Grants.gov

• Historical table of UCSF grant submissions via
  Grants.gov

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Why ONE MONTH before NIH deadline?

• Only for initial Grants.gov transition of new
  R01s on 2/01/07 and competing renewals on 3/01/07
• Due to major impact of R01 Grants.gov transition
  to the entire research community and UCSF campus,
  we need Biochemistry proposals to be submitted
  well in advance of the deadline ahead of the
  pack
• CG will request a 2-week advance deadline for
  Grants.gov proposals (vs. 4-day advance deadline
  for all others)
• Possible technical glitches or system overload if
  applications are all being submitted at the last
  minute
• New process and learning curve for PIs, AAs,
  Biochemistry grants administration, UCSF CG
• Need to allow plenty of time for system error
  corrections and resubmissions via Grants.gov
• Your involvement doesnt stop after the research
  plan is completed and entire application is
  assembled for submission

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Why ONE MONTH before NIH deadline? (Continued)

• All e-mails to be sent by Grants.gov and NIH eRA
  Commons will go to PI and SO. PIs need to
  forward e-mails to AAs and department grants
  administration so we are in the loop.
• E-mail can be unreliable applicants should
  check the status of their applications in NIH eRA
  Commons after submission
• Need permission for department grants
  administration to access your NIH eRA Commons
  account as PI so we can help track the
  application and view/correct errors timely
• It could take anywhere from ¼ hour to 4 days for
  the application to get through both systems
• We dont want you to lose the opportunity to
  submit
• Once you missed the deadline, it is gone
• As a practice, inform the Biochemistry grants
  administration office of any tentative plans to
  submit ANY grants (NIH and other funding
  agencies) so we can anticipate workload

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Training to Staff

• Separate Grants.gov presentation to staff -
  8/2/06
• Ongoing dissemination of relevant NIH and CG
  updates via e-mail and staff meetings
• Possible town hall meeting presentations by CG

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Who To Go To For Assistance

• Please contact Laura Baxter, Pre-award Manager
• Phone [phone]
• E-mail lbaxter_at_biochem.ucsf.edu
• If you cannot reach her, contact
• Kerri Santos, Grants Analyst
• Phone [phone]
• E-mail ksantos_at_biochem.ucsf.edu
• Olivia Viloria, Finance Manager
• Phone [phone]
• E-mail oviloria_at_biochem.ucsf.edu

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Additional Resources

• General information on Electronic Submission and
  the SF424 (RR)
• http//era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt
• Grants.gov registration, submission and Pure Edge
  behavior questions
• Visit http//www.grants.gov/CustomerSupport
• Grants.gov Customer Service
• E-mail support_at_grants.gov
• Phone [phone]
• eRA Commons registration and post submission
  questions on Commons functionality
• Support Page http//era.nih.gov/commons/index.cfm
  
• eRA Commons Help Desk
• Web support http//ithelpdesk.nih.gov/eRA/
• Phone [phone] OR 301-402-7469
• Forms transition and questions on NIHs overall
  plan for electronic receipt
• NIH Grants Information
• E-mail grantsinfo_at_nih.gov
• Phone [phone]
• Grants.gov resources Website http//www.grants.go
  v/applicants/applicant_help.jsp