Prepare to Apply

What not to do:

You don't need to register on Grants.gov.
The Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) Office has already completed this step for Harvard Medical School.
You don't need to register for a DUNS number.
Always use the HMS DUNS number on all of your applications -- 047006379. Get more information on the Institutional Information page.

What to do:

Get an NIH Commons account
For an application to be accepted by the NIH electronic system, Principal Investigators need to have an NIH Commons account. To get an HMS account, complete our online request form. Note: Grant Administrators and finance professionals who are assisting PIs in the application process do not need an NIH Commons account. You don't need to log in to prepare a Grants.gov application. However, the ASST role will continue to enable you to manage profile information and eSnap progress reports.
Get the PureEdge Viewer application
To view or edit applications for submission through Grants.gov, you first need to download and install the viewer application. This free software is available on the Grants.gov website. Please visit our PC and Mac pages for more detailed information on the steps you will need to take to prepare your computer. Or, you can go directly to the Download Application Viewer on the grants.gov website; this page provides instructions for both PC and Macintosh users.
Get Adobe Acrobat Professional and assess your scanner needs
All documents that you submit with an application must be attached in PDF format. For this reason, your department may need to consider purchasing Adobe Acrobat (Professional recommended) and, perhaps, assess the need for a scanner. Note for HMS Quad departments, the UIS website offers multiple license deals at a very good price. In most cases, the person responsible for purchasing computer equipment and software probably has an account to make purchases on this site. Learn more.