Grants.gov
- Description
- Functionality Available to UCI Investigators
- Preparation and Submission of Grants.gov Applications
- System Requirements
- Registration Requirements
- Preparation and Submission of Grants.gov Applications
- Grants.gov Provided Assistance
- Special Consideration: Proposals to the National Institutes of Health
Description
Grants.gov is being developed as the single point-of-contact for the grant community to access grant opportunities for all 26 Federal grant-making agencies that award over $400 billion in grants each year. The establishment of Grants.gov is a result of the President’s Management Agenda E-Government initiatives, and is intended to provide a simple, unified electronic storefront for interactions between grant applicants and the Federal agencies that manage grant funds.
Grants.gov will provide:
- A single source for finding grant opportunities.
- A standardized manner of locating and learning more about funding opportunities.
- A single, secure and reliable source for applying for Federal grants online.
- A simplified grant application process with reduction of paperwork.
- A unified interface for all agencies to announce their grant opportunities, and for all grant applicants to find and apply for those opportunities.
Functionality Available to UCI Investigators
There are currently two available modules in Grants.gov – FIND and APPLY.
- FIND – Effective November 7, 2003, all 26 Federal grant-making agencies were required to post funding opportunity announcements in the FIND section of Grants.gov. The purpose of the FIND module is to provide prospective applicants enough information to decide if they are interested in reading the full funding announcement, directions on how to obtain the full announcement, and to provide one commons website for potential applicants to search all existing funding opportunities. Many of the Federal grant-making are also continuing to use other avenues of advertising their funding opportunities such as the National Institutes of Health’s Guide for Grants and Contracts or the National Science Foundation’s Active Funding Opportunities website.
- APPLY – The APPLY module allows applicants to download Grant Application Packages and Application Instructions. Applications are completed off-line, at the location of the Applicant’s choosing. Completed application packages are submitted to the Office of Research Administration for review, approval, and submission to the sponsor. Each Federal grant-making agency is responsible for implementing Grants.gov as their grant application procedure, with conversion to Grants.gov taking place through 2006 and 2007.
Preparation and Submission of Grants.gov Applications
As Grants.gov is intended for use by all 26 Federal grant-making agencies, a commons set of forms was developed for use. The SF424 Research and Related (R&R) forms will be the primary set of application forms required for use by all agencies. Due to the special data collection needs of some types of grant programs, agencies may also receive approval from the Office of Management and Budget for additional agency-specific forms to be included as part of the application process. This new set of forms, including both the SF424 R&R forms and the agency-specific forms, will replace existing application packages currently available from Federal grant-making agencies. This includes the PHS398 application used by the National Institutes of Health and FastLane used by the National Science Foundation. Each Funding Opportunity Announcement will explicitly state which set of application forms to use for each application during the transition phase.
It is important to download a Grant Application Package and Application Instructions directly from each Funding Opportunity Announcement. Each Grant Application Package may contain different forms required for completion. In addition, each set of Application Instructions may provide deviation authorization for use of non-standard fields or inclusion of certain forms normally required by a particular sponsor.
Four sets of instructions are available to assist you when completing an application package:
- Agency Instructions - These are agency specific application package instructions and must be downloaded separately from the application package.
- Application Package Cover Sheet Instructions - These are additional instructions providing information about how to complete application package forms. These instructions are located on the cover sheet of the application package.
- Application Package Instructions - These are located at the bottom of the application package and provide information about filling out the application.
- Field-Level Instructions - These instructions are available by selecting the field-level help button and provide specific information about each field on the application.
Once the application has been completed, route the application for institutional approval the same as you would for any other application submitted for review and endorsement within your coordinating point. Proposals submitted to the Office of Research Administration for review and endorsement should include the original Administrative Approval form, the application instructions or Funding Opportunity Announcement, and an electronic copy of the application. This electronic copy can be provided via e-mail or on a disk. The Office of Research Administration will submit the completed application to Grants.gov using the institution’s registration and the authorized official’s password. It is recommended you allow additional time for review and submission of proposals being submitted via Grants.gov.
Please note that submission through Grants.gov does not negate any additional requirements an agency may have for electronic submission of post-proposal submission requests or post-award administration notifications and requests. Many agencies will continue to use electronic research initiatives such as the NIH eRA Commons or NSF FastLane to conduct business related to sponsored projects.
System Requirements
Contact your department technical staff for assistance. Grants.gov requires uses to download and install PureEdge Viewer, a small, free software package required to access, view and complete grant application packages. The software package can be downloaded from the Grants.gov website at http://www.grants.gov/DownloadViewer. A PureEdge Viewer Upgrade is also available for those users who downloaded previous version of the PureEdge Viewer.
System requirements for the PureEdge Viewer are:
- Windows 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, XP
- 500 Mhz processor
- 128 MB of RAM
- 40 MB disk space
- Web browser: Internet Explorer 5.01 or higher, Netscape Communicator 4.5 - 4.8, Netscape 6.1, 6.2, or 7
Non-Windows users currently must use a Windows Emulation program or access the applications using a Citrix Server. Information regarding the Citrix Server can be found at http://www.grants.gov/MacSupport. A non-Windows PureEdge program is currently under development.
System requirements for the Citrix Server are:
- OS X Version 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, or 10.4.
- 128 MB of RAM
- 10 MB Disk Space
- PowerPC Processor
In addition, users must have a software package that allows the creation of pdf documents. Files uploaded to Grants.gov application packages, regardless of platform used, are required to be in pdf format.
Registration Requirements
Anyone can access the Grants.gov website and access Grant Application Packages or Application Instructions, provided the computer being used contains the above system requirements. There is no registration requirement for UCI Principal Investigators, faculty, staff, or other UCI community members.
In order to submit applications through Grants.gov, the University was required to register and designate authorized representatives with delegated authority to submit proposals on behalf of the organization. Persons with the authority to submit applications through Grants.gov are staff in the Office of Research Administration.
Grants.gov Provided Assistance
Grants.gov Customer Support
1-800-518-4726 (Voice)
support@grants.gov
Grant.gov maintains a customer support website that includes a Tutorial, User Guide, Quick Reference page, Glossary, and Technical Library. The website is available at http://www.grants.gov/CustomerSupport.
Special Consideration: Proposals to the National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has provided supplemental instructions for proposals submitted for consideration by NIH through Grants.gov. For applications submitted after May 10, 2006, it is suggested applicants utilize the NIH eRA Commons to review submissions transferred from the Grants.gov site to the NIH. This review must be conducted within 48 hours of the application being made available in the NIH eRA Commons, and the file will be located using the Status bar. No further action will be required unless the PI would like to reject the application and resubmit. Rejection must be coordinated with the Contract and Grant Officer in the Office of Research Administration assigned to your unit.
As PIs will no longer be required to use the NIH eRA Commons to perform an electronic signature due to a change in business practices at the NIH eliminating the need for PI signatures on application forms, the PI will be required to provide ORA a written assurance as part of the application process to be housed in the file of record and made available upon request by the NIH. More information on this change can be found on the National Institutes of Health Change in Business Process webpage.
