Stanford Report, March 15, 2006

New online portal for federal grant proposals being rolled out

BY RAY DELGADO

A new online portal for receiving federal grant applications that replaces paper proposals with online forms is being rolled out, but the system is not without problems.

The system, Grants.gov, will require grant applications to be submitted online once all federal granting agencies move to the system.

At least 17 investigators at Stanford already have begun using Grants.gov to submit proposals to federal agencies, and some have encountered problems with the system, said Pamela Webb, senior director of the Office of Sponsored Research.

"Experience on this campus and other campuses indicates that problems are likely and present a risk because the application is not considered 'submitted' until all submission procedures are ratified by both Grants.gov and the specific agency receiving the application," Webb said.

To help combat problems with the new system, the university formed a Grants.gov advisory group to ensure that university researchers and research administrators are prepared for the policy change. The group consists of three working groups that will address policy and process, technical infrastructure, and communication and training.

According to Webb, applicants will be required to download the agency's application instructions and forms, complete the application offline and then route it to appropriate university channels, where it will be reviewed prior to being electronically submitted to Grants.gov.

An institutional representative (the person who signs the proposal on behalf of Stanford) from the Office of Sponsored Research, the Research Management Group or the Engineering Research Administration Office is available to help applicants work through Grants.gov submissions.

Because of uncertainties with the new system, university officials recommend that all investigators submit a proposal to their institutional representative at least five days in advance of the deadline.

Important notes about Grants.gov system
  • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires a Grants.gov electronic submission for the June 1, 2006, deadline for R03 Small Grant Programs; the R21/R33 Exploratory/Development Research Grant Program; and the R34 Clinical Trial Planning Grant. All NIH R01 grants must be electronically submitted to NIH through Grants.gov for the Feb. 1, 2007, deadline. The NIH requires all investigators to register in the NIH eRA Commons prior to submitting an application through Grants.gov. If you are already registered, please verify that the information is current. The registration process can take as long as two weeks.
  • Principal investigators should not register in Grants.gov. This has been handled by your institutional representative (the person who signs your proposal on behalf of Stanford) and is valid universitywide for all applications submitted through Grants.gov. Contact your institutional representative as soon as you know you will be submitting through Grants.gov.
  • Investigators and administrators must become familiar with the Grants.gov process and stay informed of ongoing changes. To receive information and updates about Grants.gov at Stanford, register by sending an e-mail to majordomo@lists.stanford.edu (no subject line) and type in the body of the message "subscribe grantsgovinfo" followed by your e-mail address (e.g., subscribe grantsgovinfo patdoe@stanford.edu).
  • Specific questions about Grants.gov should be directed to either Pamela Webb in the Office of Sponsored Research or Kathleen Thompson of the Research Management Group in the School of Medicine.