Utah Tech University

Electronic Submission & Registration

Grants.gov

Grants.gov is the centralized portal, established by the Federal government, to provide a unified electronic source that will allow you to find funding opportunities and submit proposals. 26 Federal agencies have Grants.gov implementation plans and all 26 agencies continue to post both funding opportunities and proposal submission packages.

Registration: Utah Tech University is registered with Grants.gov; individual registration is not required.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) eRA Commons

If you are planning to apply to the NIH for funding, it is required to have an eRA Commons user account. For the purposes of exchanging research grants administration information, the NIH provides this “Commons.” The Electronic Research Administration (eRA) Commons is a virtual, online meeting place where NIH extramural grantee organizations, grantees, and the public can receive and transmit information about the administration of biomedical and behavioral research. The eRA Commons is divided into both unrestricted and restricted portions that provide for public and confidential information, respectively.

To access the system, users need a username and password. If you are a researcher with a username and password already assigned and your account has been activated by OSP, simply go to https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons and log in (left side of homepage). Your username and password are valid for as long as you are a member of UT, as it is registered through the institution. If you do not have an eRA Commons account, please see below.

Registration: An eRA Commons account is required to submit to NIH. PI’s and others wishing to use the eRA Commons system to establish an account, affiliate with Utah Tech, or transfer an affiliation from another university, must make a request through OSP. Email your sponsored projects officer and provide your name, department, email, position (PI; Assistant; Pre-doc; Post-doc; or Trainee) and whether you have ever had an eRA Commons account in the past. If so, provide your previous Commons ID. Once your account has been set-up, you will receive an email directly from eRA Commons with your username and password.

Commons also allows PI’s the ability to access summary statements and Notices of Award, and submit just-in-time information, no-cost extension requests; and eSNAPs. The xTrain module of Commons is used for the preparation and submission of statement of appointment forms and termination notices for the institutional research training, fellowship, education, and career development awards. In addition, the Internet Assisted Review module allows reviewers to submit critiques for the applications they have been asked to review.

National Science Foundation (NSF) FastLane

FastLane is the research community’s online portal to the National Science Foundation (NSF). FastLane covers the full range of transactions between a research organization, its investigators, and NSF. The public can search NSF awards and funding trends, apply for graduate research fellowships, submit nominations and letters of reference for awards, and work on the FastLane demonstration site. PI’s can prepare a letter of intent in response to an NSF solicitation, prepare and update a proposal, check on proposal status, submit post-award notifications and requests to NSF, report on award projects, sponsor a proposal for a postdoctoral fellowship, and submit letters of reference for a proposal. NSF reviewers and panelists can review a proposal, participate in a panel to make proposal-funding recommendations to NSF, and make travel and EFT arrangements to participate in a panel.

NSF requires electronic submission for all proposals, including revisions and supplements, using the FastLane system. OSP requires that submissions to NSF go through FastLane, rather than through Grants.gov. To initiate a proposal via FastLane, you first need to be in their system. Sponsored Programs will need to set up an account to generate an NSF ID number and will assign a temporary password.

Registration: If you have an existing NSF ID through another institution, you’ll want to log-in to your profile and update your institution. PI’s and others wishing to establish a new FastLane account must make a request through OSP. Email Programs and provide your full name, department, email address, title and your most recent degree and the year it was earned.

FastLane Help System offers screen shots with instructions: for example, for PI or Co-PI Login (in left sidebar select Proposal Functions, Log in to Proposal Functions, PI and Co-PI Login), or to Create a New Proposal (on main page, select Prepare a Proposal, Create a Proposal). Post-award, FastLane’s Project Reports System allows the PI to submit annual and final reports as well as post award updates to NSF.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

NSPIRES is the NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System. This web-based system supports the entire lifecycle of NASA research solicitation and awards, from the release of solicitation announcements through the peer review and selection process, to awards management and publication of research results. Cayuse can also be used for NASA proposals, but check the announcement to see if NSPIRES is required.

Proofreading

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