eSubmission News and Updates

January 2013

• Continuous Submission: Do I or Don't I?
• ASSIST Has Landed!
• Flag on the Play – Referee Reference Letters

November 2012

• The Wrong Tools for the Right Job
• Handouts that are Handy? No Way! WAY!
• OER Facelift – New Look, Same Great Info

October 2012

ASSIST is coming, the Application Submission System & Interface for Submission Tracking.  ASSIST is a web-based system designed to accept multi-project applications that incorporates many features requested by users. Using ASSIST, applicants will be able to pre-populate applications with information from Commons profiles, work concurrently with others, and control access to various parts of the application. The system also allows users to run a complete check against NIH and Grants.gov business rules before submission and view a complete application image before submission.

The transition to electronic multi-project applications will be accomplished in two phases by activity code,  following this transition timeline, and be completed in January 2014. As each activity code transitions, all applications submitted in response to funding opportunity announcements for programs associated with that activity code will require electronic submission. For more details on the transition to electronic submission of multi-project applications and ASSIST, read the Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-161.

August 2012

eRA Commons will be unavailable at 6 p.m. ET tonight, Wednesday, August 1, due to emergency maintenance.

The maintenance is expected to take up to an hour and a half.

July 2012

General Services Administration (GSA) is launching the new System for Award Management (SAM) that combines eight federal procurement systems into one new system. CCR is transitioned to System for Award Management (SAM) this week, July 24 – July 30.  The CCR system is being phased out and will be part of SAM starting Monday, July 30. New registrations will not be processed after Monday, July 30. Registrations needing renewal have been extended 90 days. See this update for more.

May 2012

Please note that General Services Administration (GSA) has announced that the launch of the System for Award Management (SAM) will be delayed until the end of July 2012.

From the Grants.gov blog page:
“The General Services Administration (GSA) is moving the implementation date of the System for Award Management (SAM) from May 29, 2012 to the end of July 2012. The additional sixty days will allow federal agencies to continue preparing their staff, give agencies and commercial system providers even more time to test their data transfer connections, and will ensure SAM contains the critical, documented capabilities users need from the system.”

For more information concerning the SAM implementation and services, please visit https://sam.gov.

Original message below posted Friday, May 18, 2012 10:29AM.

An active Central Contractor Registration (CCR) is required to successfully submit an NIH grant application through Grants.gov. It is also an NIH requirement to keep CCR information current and active from application submission through grant closeout (see NOT-OD-11-004).  Although CCR services are managed outside of NIH through the General Services Administration (GSA), we want to make you aware of upcoming CCR changes that could impact registrations requests or updates.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012 through Monday, May 28, 2012 the CCR system will not be available for new or renewal registrations.  Tuesday, May 29, 2012 CCR services will be migrated to the new System for Award Management, or SAM.

Per the SAM.gov Web site:

If you currently have an active CCR registration, you need not do anything until it is time to renew your current registration.  At that time, the following steps will occur:

1. You’ll create a new SAM User ID and Password
2. Your CCR/FedReg permissions will be verified via your email account
3. Your CCR registration information (Entity Information) will be waiting for you in SAM

If your record was set to expire between May 15, 2012 and July 15, 2012, the expiration date will be extended by 90 days. You will receive an e-mail notification from CCR when your expiration date has been updated. You will receive standard e-mail reminders to update your record based on this new expiration date. Those e-mail notifications will come from SAM.

After May 2012, when users go to the CCR/FedReg, ORCA, or EPLS websites, they’ll be automatically redirected to the SAM website. The redirect will be in place for one year.  You may wish to update your bookmarks or browser favorites during that time.

For more information on SAM, please visit the CCR web site and SAM.gov. Note that NIH does not manage CCR, so all questions should be directed to the points of contact listed on the SAM.gov  web site.  You can also get more info from the Grants.gov blog page.

October 2011

CCR must be renewed yearly. Since August 2011, Grants.gov has been rejecting applications from organizations that do not have a current CCR registration. 

Check CCR Registration Status by visiting http://www.bpn.gov/CCRSearch/Search.aspx and searching using your organization’s DUNS.  Some CCR-registered users may choose not to display their information in the public search. If your information is not available publicly, your organization’s e-Biz Point of Contact must determine current status.

September 2011

The September 29, 2011 Items of Interest e-mail reminds applicants how to avoid Grants.gov errors, including expired CCR registration and more.

July 2011

The July 19, 2011 Items of Interest e-mail introduces ADOBE-FORMS-B2, explains new Grants.gov error checking in relation to CCR registrations, and announces updated e-mail notification text from eRA and Grants.gov.

A new guide notice announces NIH’s plan to release updated electronic application forms—ADOBE-FORMS-B2. Read NOT-OD-11-096 for more information.

NIH and Other Agencies Serviced by eRA Commons Extend Deadline for Applications Due on July 12, 2011

Today’s K series application deadline (renewal/resubmission/revision) has been extended to tomorrow, Wednesday July 13, in light of today’s extended eRA Commons system issues. Please refer to NOT-OD-11-095 for more information.

February 2011

The February 11, 2011 Items of Interest e-mail reminds K, F, T & D applicants that they must use the new ADOBE-FORMS-B1 form set for all application submissions. The message also discusses eSubmission system issues and how to resolve them.

Newsletter article describes a way for Authorized Organization Representatives to view all application submissions for their organization.

Newsletter article describes what an applicant should do if his or her institution’s closure affects the ability to submit an application on time.

January 2011

The January 21 Items of Interest e-mail highlights and comments upon portions of NIH’s updated Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications. The e-mail also includes helpful clarification for E-Biz Points of Contact (POCs) on the Grants.gov password security changes that took place last fall.

NIIH has released an updated policy on the late submission of grant applications. This new notice consolidates policy from previous notices and updates the policy on late applications in relation to other recent policy changes at NIH, including the elimination of the error correction window (effective January 25, 2011). In this notice, applicants will find information including what is considered on-time submission, what is defined as the window of consideration for late applications, and what are the acceptable/not acceptable reasons for a late submission.

December 2010

The December 30 Items of Interest e-mail highlights timely advice to applicants from various departments at NIH, including the Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration, the Division of Receipt and Referral, and the User Support Branch (eRA Help Desk). Read their valuable advice for submitting successful grant applications in the New Year!

The December 7 Items of Interest e-mail highlights new page limits for Individual Career Development (K) applications that will be enforced after the January 7, 2011 AIDS deadline. The e-mail also reminds applicants not to rely on e-mail notifications as a way to track their application status. Additional reminders are in regard to the upcoming discontinuation of the error correction window and a Grants.gov downtime.

October 2010

Newsletter article announces updated versions of SF424 (R&R) application forms (ADOBE-FORMS-B1). The article discusses implementation dates, as well as points applicants to related guide notices and resources.

The October 27 Items of Interest e-mail highlights recently released guide notices about the transition to ADOBE-FORMS-B1 application forms, discusses new Grants.gov security requirements and applicant resources, and explains a common budget error.

September 2010

Newsletter article describes NIH’s decision to eliminate the error correction window from the electronic grant application submission process and points out resources that can assist applicants in submitting error-free applications.

September 29, 2010
Beginning in October, NIH will begin adding a new form package, referred to as ADOBE-FORMS-B1, to all funding opportunity announcements (FOAs). Please refer to Guide Notices NOT-OD-11-007 and NOT-OD-11-008 to determine when the new forms will be required for your application of interest.

September 28, 2010
A new flyer (PDF) to help applicants ensure that they have chosen the right application forms for their NIH application. 

September 1, 2010
Ensure successful submission by avoiding common errors!  The “Avoiding Common Errors” page now provides applicants with a list of “10 Checks Before You Submit” New “annotated application forms” take applicants through the SF424 with field-by-field tips to help achieve an error-free application. 

August 2010

Newsletter article announces availability of new sets of “annotated” grant application forms on the Resources page of the Applying Electronically website. These forms include field-by-field tips to help applicants avoid common errors on the SF424 (R&R) application forms.

August 16, 2010
The error correction window has been eliminated from the electronic submission process for all applications with due dates of January 25, 2011 and beyond.  See NOT-OD-10-123 to learn more.

August 16, 2010
The August 16 Items of Interest e-mail introduces new resources, provides helpful details about the closing of the error correction window, discusses how to reject submissions and more!