Grants.gov at Stanford

MATERIALS FROM JANUARY 2007 BRIEFINGS

PI Briefing, Handouts, and Links

A Briefing for Principal Investigators January 2007
Handouts
- Sample Grants.gov Application Package
- Sample Grants.gov Application Package with the NIH Supplemental Material
- Stanford Instructions for completing the SF424R&R form
- Stanford Instructions for completing the Standard SF424 form
- Summary of the Six-Steps to Using Grants.gov at Stanford (PDF)
- Submission Deadlines
  1. All Submission Deadlines
  2. NEW NIH receipt Deadlines (PDF)
  3. NIH Transition Deadlines including transition from PureEdge to Adobe Forms (PDF)
- Unsolicited Proposals page
- Check the Stanford Institutional Facts page for important numbers (DUNS, Federal Tax ID, Human and Animal certifications, etc.).
- Instructions on creating PDF documents
- Some New NIH Terminology
- Sample NIH R01 (NIAID) Application: The sample annotated R01 Research Plan and Summary Statement NIH has prepared will guide you in preparing your research plan.
- Sample NIH K08 Application: NIH has provided this as a model for other applicants in developing their K08 applications for submission to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
Sponsor "Grants.gov Handbooks"
- NIH General Grants.gov Application Guide
- Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide
  NSF combined their two policy documents: the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and the Grant Policy Manual (GPM) into a single electronic policy framework. They will be effective for proposals submitted on or after June 1, 2007. This document supercedes all prior versions of the GPG and GPM.
- Grants.gov General Guide (start at Page 65)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND INFORMATION

Software Considerations

ICS PureEdge for the PC or Mac
A PDF Writer. Adobe Acrobat is the recommended (and inexpensive) solution at Stanford. Purchasing/licensing information is on the Stanford website. Additional PDF writers are available from Grants.gov but be cautioned that each has it's own set of caveats.
If you need an alternate web browser (for the PC or the MAC), Mozilla Firefox is an excellent alternative browser. You can download it free.
Intel Mac Purchasing Info
Many Stanford faculty use Mac computers. The Mac solutions for using Grants.gov are not desirable. For those who choose to upgrade to an intel mac, here are some purchasing hints:
- an Intel Mac (any one will do) with 2GB of RAM memory - an iBook should work for $1100
- Parallels software to provide a PC window on the Mac (http://www.parallels.com/) - about $80
- Windows XP operating system - about $80

Rejection – It’s All in the Intent

NIH noticed an increase in the number of applications that were “Rejected” prior to the February 5 R01 submission deadline. Some of the “Rejections” were to address identified Warnings, a few were to work through confirmed system issues and the rest…well, were not.

When is it OK to use the “Reject” option? It’s all in the intent. The bottom line is applications should not be submitted until there is an expectation that they are ready to go forward barring any unforeseen issues. Since applicants have no way to view the entire application until they submit, it is reasonable that they might want to make adjustments after viewing the assembled application if still before the deadline.

NIH does not condone the submission of "works in progress" or “test” applications. We have pretty strong feelings on this point – just don’t do it!

How Big is Too Big? Tips for keeping file size under control:

Neither Grants.gov nor NIH has set limits for application size. NIH has successfully tested applications up to 140 MB. However, based on analyses of current paper application size and experience gained from grant programs that have already transitioned to electronic submission, NIH expects an average R01 application to be in the 6-10 MB range with 99% of applications falling under 40 MB. If your application has grown substantially larger than these ranges and you are having difficulty working with the application due to its unwieldy size, we have posted some tips for keeping file size under control. These tips are on an NIH website, but the information is good for most applications, not just NIH.

eSubmit

eSubmit Electronic Drop-Box
eSubmit TEST site / training demo
Additional eSubmit Information

eSubmit login problems/solutions:
1. Incorrect SUNet ID: Everyone has one SUNet ID. Some people set up aliases and they won't work for the eSubmit login. If you cannot remember your correct SUNet ID, please check your "Stanford You" record (https://stanfordyou.stanford.edu/)
2. Multiple Employee IDs: Many faculty and staff have more than one Employee ID in the system. If you receive this message when logging into eSubmit: "Your SUNet ID and password are valid, but your user information is not available", please do the following:
  - Check your Stanford ID Card for your current Employee ID number
  - Submit a HelpSU ticket (helpsu.stanford.edu)
    - Request Category: Administrative Applications
    - Request Type: E-Submit
  - In the Request Description section, Please enter the following information: Prevented from logging into eSubmit because of duplicate Empl ID, current ID is XXXXXX [enter number].
  - We'll include this information to a login script that will allow you to get into eSubmit
3. You receive a message that your SUNet ID and Password are invalid: This can usually be resolved by resetting your password in Stanford You (https://stanfordyou.stanford.edu/). You can "update" your password to the same value as it is currently. Once this is done, you should be able to log in.
4. If none of these solutions works for you, please submit a help ticket (helpsu.stanford.edu)
  - Request Category: Administrative Applications
  - Request Type: E-Submit

email Updates on Grants.gov Issues
Do you want email updates on Grants.gov? Please add yourself to our Grants.gov Listserv! We will send information such as updates on the Mac solution, breaking news from Grants.gov and sponsors, etc.