Montana Tech | Research

Grants.gov Warning

Grants.gov has been experiencing extreme system slowness due to the large number of users submitting proposals. This problem is expected to get worse as submission of economic stimulus package proposals begins. Many institutions are experiencing timeouts and multiple errors when attempting to submit research proposals.

If you are preparing a proposal to be submitted through Grants.gov, please notify the Research Office as soon as possible. It is imperative to submit the final proposal to Grants.gov several days in advance of the deadline, in order to fix errors and work through the system problems. Proposals submitted on the deadline date may not be completed in time causing you to miss the agency’s deadline, and some agencies will not accept late proposals even if it is a result of Grants.gov issues.

Grants.gov Application Guidelines

The following are basic steps to search and apply for Federal grant money through Grants.gov. Grants.gov is the only way to apply for most Federal research grants. You do not register with Grants.gov and it is nothing like the NSF FastLane Application process—your proposal will not be housed on a server in Washington; it is only available on your hard-drive after you have downloaded the Application Package from Grants.gov. If you have any questions, please call the Research Office.

As a Montana Tech employee, you do not need to register with Grants.gov or the CCR in order to search or apply for grants. Montana Tech is registered as an institution and all grant applications must go through and be approved by Dr. Joe Figueira, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Research (x4456) prior to submission to any funding agency.

Find Grant Opportunites on Grants.gov

Once you find the right grant, access the application package by clicking on the "How to Apply" button in the grant opportunity's synopsis. You will need to download and install the correct version of Adobe Reader to work on the package. All computers working on a package MUST use the same version of Adobe Reader. Information about supported software is available at: http://www.grants.gov/help/download_software.jsp

Develop Your Proposal

It is highly recommended that you familiarize yourself with the Grants.gov and funding agency application process before you begin and ask for assistance early. Use the Grants.gov help site.

You, as Principal Investigator (or your designees), will be responsible for completing all information in the Application Package. Be sure to save your Application Package several times during your development process. Note that any sections marked with yellow are mandatory. If the yellow sections are within the budget pages, you must at least insert 0.00 in order to prevent a later error.

In the weeks prior to the application deadline you should have

1) your Budget (Excel Spreadsheet) reviewed and approved by Carleen Cassidy, Director of Sponsored Programs and Grant Accounting (x4769)

2) alerted the Research Office (4102) that you will be submitting a proposal through Grants.gov and the deadline

3) obtained all approval signatures (including Dr. Joseph F. Figueira, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research) on the Proposal Certification Form (PCF). Contact the Research Office if you have questions on completing the PCF.

Apply

After you have completed all the required steps and forms described in the Application Package, it is a good idea to check that all your attachments are included by viewing and printing each one from the package. If you just use the Print button at the top of the main page, the attachments will not print.

Next, you need to check it for errors by clicking on the “Check Package for Errors” button at the top of your main Grant Application Package page.

Correct any errors found. If there are no errors, the submit button will be activated. DO NOT push the submit button. Send by e-mail or bring an electronic version of your Application Package to the Research Office for submission. Be sure your budget has been approved by Carleen Cassidy and that you have all signatures on your Proposal Certification Form.

Submission only by the Research Office

You CANNOT submit your Application to Grants.gov. Only an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) such as Dr. Joseph Figueira, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research can submit grant aplications to funding agencies.

Contact the Research Office at 4102 at least one week prior to the deadline to ensure a timely submission. Grants.gov has been experiencing extreme system slowness due to the large number of users submitting proposals. Many institutions are experiencing timeouts and multiple errors when attempting to submit research proposals.

It is imperative to submit the final proposal to Grants.gov several days in advance of the deadline, in order to fix errors and work through the system problems. Proposals submitted on the deadline date may not be completed in time causing you to miss the agency’s deadline, and some agencies will not accept late proposals even if it is a result of Grants.gov issues.

Submitting your application can be done either by e-mailing your application to mpatton@mtech.edu or by bringing an electronic copy of your Application Package to the Research Office (Museum 211). Be sure your Proposal Certification form and a hard copy of your proposal have been turned in to the Research Office prior to the deadline.

search: