What should I know if I am using a Mac rather than a PC?
At this point the PureEdge software that is required to complete and submit an application via Grants.Gov is fully functional on PCs but is not native to Macs. A permanent solution is still in progress, but at this time there is a workaround called Citrix (a tunneling program which Mac users will need to download) that allows Mac users to connect to a government server that is running PureEdge in a PC environment. Although this is the best solution at this time, there are a number of things to note: in order to open an XFD document you must be connected to internet and connected via Citrix, after 20 minutes of inactiveity Citrix will automatically disconnect and any unsaved changes will be lost (so save often!), peak hours (business hours) can get very slow so be patient if possible try to connect at non-peak hours.
In the future many Grants.Gov applications will be able to be submitted via the Harvard GMAS system which is fully Mac compatible. Additionally, Grants.Gov has said they continue to work to release a platform independent submission system.
In all cases you should check your funding announcement to know which version of the PureEdge 424 forms are required for your application. There are, however, general guidelines:
As of June 15, 2006 all Funding Announcements required version 2 of the PureEdge 424 forms. Announcements posted prior to this date may be able to be completed using version 1.
In November 2006 version 2A was released which allows for up to 40 key personnel and multiple PIs.
After I have downloaded a grant application package, how can I know that I have the latest version?
The version is noted on the Grant Package Shell. After you have downloaded and opened your XFD file you can double check the form version listed on the Grant Package Shell against the version requirements in the funding announcement.
Can I make a template that I can continue to use for subsequent applications?
No. A new grant application package (XFD file) should be downloaded fresh for each application that you complete and submit. As grant mechanisms continue to be transitioned to Grants.Gov the NIH will release the Parent Funding Announcement for the grant mechanisms that accept unsolicited applications.
Why do I need an NIH Commons account, and how do I get one?
NIH uses the PIs NIH Commons username to track all of the PIs pending and awarded grants. When an electronic submission reached NIH Commons it is added to the portfolio of the PI; without a valid username the NIH Commons will reject the application because it will not know to which PIs portfolio the application should be linked. Additionally, eSNAPS continue to be submitted via NIH Commons and for all applications (paper and electronic) the review comments (formerly known as the pink sheets) are no longer mailed and are only available to the PI by logging into the NIH Commons.
PIs and administrators at HMS, HSDM, and HMI can request a new NIHCommons username be setup by completing the NIH Commons Account Setup Form. Please note, that we can only setup account for those with grants running through HMS, HSDM, or HMI. If your grant(s) run through one of the HMS affilites you should contact the affiliates sponsored programs office to setup your account.
SPA still requires that Proposal Routing Form and Conflict of Interest forms be completed all applications whether they are submitted electronically or on paper. Additionally, for our records SPA requires letters of intent from any subinstitutions and a detailed budget for applications using a modular budget.
Some forms are listed under optional, are they really optional?
Optional forms are not truly optional. This designation is simply meant to show that certain forms are not required for all projects; they are required in certain circumstances. For example, a project with a subcontract requires a subaward budget, but a project with no subcontacts would obviously not require this form.
What is the difference between 'Type of Submission' and 'Type of Application'?
Type of Submission refers to point in the electronic application validation process at which an aplication is being submitted.
Any application of any type (new, continuation, renewal, etc.) submitted for the first time selects "New."
Any application that was submitted electronically but was rejected by Grants.Gov or NIH Commons due to validation error(s) needs to be corrected and resubmitted before the same deadline -- in this case choose "Resubmission."
Pre-application refers to Letter of Intent, but this is rarely used at this stage in the Grants.Gov transition.
Type of Application refers the point in the overall grant cycle at which an application is being submitted. However, the NIH terminology has been changed. The following terminology should be used in Box 8 and has nothing to do with how many times an application has had to been submitted multiple times due to electronic validation errors:
Brand new applications should choose "New."
All non-competings (type 5) are now referred to as continuations (but this option will never be chosen as the NIH will continue to use NIH Commons to accept electronic non-competings.)
Competing continuations (type 2) are now renewals.
Revisions (submitted for a 2nd or 3rd time after being fully reviewed and rejected by an NIH peer review group) and amendments are now both referred to as Resubmissions.
All HMS, HSDM, and HMI applications should use the DUNS# 047006379 and EIN# 042103580
Some PIs, if they have previously been a member of a peer review committee, may have had a personal DUNS# assigned to them. Personal DUNS numbers should not be used on any application.
The detailed budget form calculates the cumulative budget after all of the budget periods have been completed. This is really the only place that the detailed budgets are autocalculated. In order to ensure that your numbers are adding up, SPA suggests initially creating the budget in an excel spreadsheet and then entering the excel sheet figures in the detailed budget form. The modular budget form, if it can be applied to your project, will let you avoid much of this manual entry.
What should be entered as the 'Application File Name' on the Grant Application Shell?
The Grant Application Shell asks for an 'Application File Name.' This is not meant to be used for the official project title or the filename of the XFD file. This is used by the Grants.Gov system as the name of a submission. So that SPA can easily tell which submission Grants.Gov is referring to, we ask that you include the PIs last name, grant mechanism, and a few key words that distinguish the application from any others that the PI may be submitting. E.g., 'Smith R01 Cancer Research.' This field can contain spaces.
Have there been any changes to the margins and font requirements?
All margin and font requirements, as well as page limitations have not changed. The one thing that has changed is that all attachments should not have any headers or footers (no page numbers, PI names, etc.). All of this informations will be added in automatically durung the Grants.Gov/NIH Commons validation process.
What types of files can be uploaded to a Grants.Gov application?
All applications to the NIH via Grants.Gov will only accept PDF files as attachments. PDFs cannot contain any fillable fields and cannot be protected in anyway (take patricular note of this if uploading the PDF versions of publications that sometimes include protections that were added by the article's publisher.) Anything else besides a PDF will cause an application to be automatically rejected by the NIH Commons. The one exception to this rule is that the subaward budget (if applicable) must be attached as an XFD file.
How can I be sure that the total length of the uploaded documents are within the page limitation?
Since the 424 breaks up the application so that each components has its own page. This causes many pages with only a small amount of text and a significant amount of whitespace -- this whitespace is not counted against the page limitations. In order to ensure that when the white space is eliminate that you are still within the page limitations, SPA suggests that you create the application in one word documents that conforms to all font, margin, and page constraints and then from that Word document break each component as determined by the 424 into its own PDF file ready for attachment to the XFD file.
What format should the uploaded documents be in when I upload them?
All attached documents should be PDF, contain no headers and/or footers, and should follow all font/margin/page limitations. You can continue to use the headings as they have always been used (e.g. Project Narrative, etc.) You can name attached PDF files whatever follows your preferences and business process, but the filename cannot contain any spaces, hyphens, or special characters (e.g. #, $, @, etc.).
Yellow fields indicate all fields that are required by Grants.Gov regardless of sponsoring agency the application will ultimatey be sent to. The sponsoring agency may require additional fields that are not yellow (this information can be found by reading the sponsoring agency's guide to the 424). An important example of this is the 'Login, Agency Credential' field on the Key Personnel form - this field is not yellow but is always required by the NIH for the PI and is strongly suggested for all other key personnel.
The co-PI category is only be used in the rare circumstance that an application is being submitted under the NIH's new multiple PI initiative. In such cases you should always consult with your SSRA at SPA.
Each form page in the XFD has a print button at the top. This button should be used for printing XFD pages in order to ensure that the printouts are readable, but you must press print on each page of a form (some forms are multiple pages and the print button will only print the page currently being viewed.) If you simply want to print the final application for your records, it is best to wait until the application has gone through validation and has been linked to the PIs NIH Commons username. The application will then include a table of contents, headers and footers and will be available under the PIs NIH Commons username as one downloadable PDF file.
You can name the XFD file whatever follows your preferences and business process, but the filename cannot contain any spaces, hyphens, or special characters (e.g. #, $, @, etc.). This naming convention also applies to attached files.
When do I need to have my application to SPA for review?
For all electronic application SPA must receive all drafts no later than 7 business days prior to the sponsor's deadline. All final applications must be ready to submit and received at SPA no later than 2 days prior to the sponsor's deadline. This added time is to allow for the time it takes for a application to completely go through the sponsors electronic validations.
The Proposal Routing Form, Conflict of Interest Forms, and if applicable detailed budget and/or subinstitution letters of intent are still required by SPA when submitting an electronic application.
How complete should by draft be before I send it to SPA for review?
In order to submit a draft proposal to SPA the administrative information should be complete so that your SPA rep can do a thorough review of the proposal. Science portions of the proposal can be incomplete at the draft stage. A final version should not be submitted to SPA until both the administrative and science portions are complete.
XFD files can get very large and somewhat fragile, especially once the numerous PDF attchments have been uploaded. In order to prevent clogged email boxes SPA has setup a dropbox in HMS eCommons that is designed specifically for uploading XFD files to SPA. When you upload your XFD file to the eCommons dropbox your SPA rep will receive an email notifcation and will download your file for review.
Where can I find the SPA dropbox for electronic applications?
You can log onto HMS eCommons at http://www.ecommons.med.harvard.edu. Click search under the 'Shortcuts' column on the left-hand side of the screen and search for SPA. Once you are on the Sponsored Programs Administration Page you will see a link in the lower right-had box for the Dropbox. Click on that and follow all instructions to upload a file for SPA.
Who should be making the changes to my application after SPA has reviewed?
SPA will ask the department to make any necessary changes to the application. This is to ensure that there is no confusion as to who (SPA, PI, or department administrator) has the latest electronic version.
Why does the PI have to be the one to upload the final application into the SPA dropbox?
SPA only accepts final versions of an application that have been uploaded to the eCommons dropbox in order to have record that the PI approves that SPA can submit the uploaded version to the sponsor.
SPA now submits all applications going via Grants.Gov. The institutional AOR is the only person that has the ability to submit electronic applications via Grants.Gov. The PI and/or department administrator work with SPA to schedule a time when SPA will submit the completed application. The PI should be available by phone at the scheduled time in case any last minute questions arise.
