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Guidelines for Submitting Proposals Electronically
Guidelines included are:
Grants.gov (www.grants.gov)
National Science Foundation FastLane (www.fastlane.nsf.gov/fastlane.jsp)
National Science Foundation Grant Proposal Guide Changes (http://www.nsf.gov/)
eRA Commons (sponsored by the National Institutes of Health) (https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/)
Grants.gov Application Guidelines
Attention all active and potential researchers using Grants.gov (Please review and save for future reference):
In light of recent grant application “near disasters;” the following information is being provided as “BASIC” steps to ‘search for’ and ‘apply for’ Federal grant money through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov/). Grants.gov is the only way to apply for most Federal research grants. NOTE: 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. The following contains more details on all of these cautions. If you have any questions, please call us early and often.
SEARCH http://www.grants.gov/
- As a Montana Tech employee, you DO NOT need to register with Grants.gov or the CCR in order to search for OR apply for grants. Montana Tech is already registered and all grant applications must go through, and be approved by, Dr. Joe Figueira, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Research (4456) PRIOR to submission to any funding agency.
- The link above will take you to the main Grants.gov site. Click the link for “Find Grant Opportunities” on the left side bar. Please note that you DO NOT need to register to search for OR apply for grants! There are several ways to search for grant opportunities (by keyword, by category, by agency and by advanced search).
- Once you find the right grant, access the application package by either:
- Clicking on the "How to Apply" button in the grant opportunity's synopsis.
- Entering the Funding Opportunity Number (FON) or Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number on the Download Application Package page.
NOTE: You will need to download and install their software (PureEdge Viewer), PRIOR to downloading an Application Package.
DEVELOP YOUR PROPOSAL
ALERT: It has come to our attention (of course learned the hard way) that Grants.gov does not yet “fully” support Microsoft VISTA or Microsoft Office 2007.
- According to their Website, they anticipate to have changes finalized in February 2008 that will support these programs.
- Until then, we are recommending that you do not prepare your proposals for Grants.gov using either of these programs.
- In addition, the Research Office does not yet support these programs, so if you need to send us anything electronically, please save it down to XP or older and MS Office 2003 or older.
- 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 at http://www.grants.gov/help/help.jsp.
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 an error occurring later.
- In the WEEKS PRIOR to the application DEADLINE, you should have 1) had your Budget (Excel Spreadsheet) reviewed and approved by Carleen Cassidy (Contracts and Grants Director, 4769); 2) alerted the Research Office (4102) that you will be submitting a proposal through Grants.gov (including deadline); and 3) obtained all approval signatures (including Joe Figueira’s) on the Proposal Certification Form (PCF). This form and other beneficial information can be found on the Research Office Web site at http://www.mtech.edu/research/policies/Policies_and_Procedures.html.
APPLY
- When 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. (NOTE: 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 BY RESEARCH OFFICE ONLY
NOTE: You CANNOT submit your Application to Grants.gov. Only an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) such as Joe Figueira can submit any grant Application to funding agencies.
Contact the Research Office at 4102 at least 48 hours prior to the deadline to ensure a timely submission.
Submitting your application can be done either by e-mailing your application to ikavanagh@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.
QUESTIONS
Be sure to utilize the HELP pages on Grants.gov.
Please contact the Research Office at 4102, if you need additional assistance. Thank you for your time and attention. Please save this important information for future reference. Also, please share with others who may not be on our Research Faculty Distribution list.
National Science Foundation FastLane
Montana Tech is already registered with the CCR and you DO NOT need to register separately. This is not clear in their instructions, but you will need to make sure that any of your subawardees named in your proposal are registered with the CCR before you submit your proposal. As a reminder, Principal Investigators planning to submit proposals to National Science Foundation through FastLane will need to register through the Research Office (4102).
GRANT PROPOSAL GUIDE 08-1
G. How to Submit Proposals
1. Electronic Requirements
Proposals to NSF must be submitted electronically via either the NSF FastLane System or grants.gov. Those programs that require electronic submission via Grants.gov will be so noted in the applicable NSF funding opportunity. For proposers who cannot submit electronically, an authorization to deviate from the electronic submission requirements must be approved in advance of submission of the paper proposal in accordance with GPG Chapter II.A.
Special instructions for proposals that contain high-resolution graphics or other graphics where exact color representations are required for proper interpretation by the reviewer
For cost and technical reasons, the Foundation cannot, at this time, reproduce proposals containing color. PIs, therefore, generally should not rely on colorized objects to make their arguments. PIs who must include in their project descriptions high-resolution graphics, or other graphics where exact color representations are required for proper interpretation by the reviewer, must submit the required number of copies of the entire paper proposal, including the proposal Cover Sheet, for use in the review process. This submission is in addition to, not in lieu of, the electronic submission of the proposal via FastLane. Given that many NSF programs have converted to use of a primarily electronic review process, PIs are strongly encouraged to contact the cognizant Program Officer prior to submission of the paper copies of a proposal. The cognizant NSF Program Officer is ultimately responsible for reviewing the color materials submitted and making a determination of whether or not to send the paper copies out for merit review.
Upon submission of the proposal, the proposing organization will be notified of the required number of paper copies of the proposal that must be submitted to NSF. The exact number of copies required will appear in an electronic message at the time of FastLane submission and will depend on the NSF Division/Office selected. Such proposals must be postmarked (or provide a legible proof of mailing date assigned by the carrier) within five working days following the electronic submission of the proposal.
2. Submission Instructions
The same work cannot be funded twice, so a proposal should be submitted only once to NSF. If the proposer envisions review by multiple programs, more than one program may be designated on the proposal Cover Sheet. The submission of duplicate or substantially similar proposals concurrently for review by more than one program without prior NSF approval may result in the return of the redundant proposals. (See GPG Chapter IV.B for further information.)
Research proposals to the Biological Sciences Directorate (not proposals for conferences or workshops) cannot be duplicates of proposals to any other Federal agency for simultaneous consideration. The only exceptions to this rule are: (1) when the proposers and program officers at relevant Federal agencies have previously agreed to joint review and possible joint funding of the proposal; or (2) proposals for PIs who are beginning investigators (individuals who have not been a principal investigator (PI) or co-principal investigator (co-PI) on a Federally funded award with the exception of doctoral dissertation, postdoctoral fellowship or research planning grants). For proposers who qualify under this latter exception, the box for "Beginning Investigator" must be checked on the proposal Cover Sheet.
In submission of a proposal for funding, the Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) is required to provide certain proposal certifications. (See GPG Chapter II.C.1e for a listing.) This process can occur concurrently with submission of the proposal for those organizations where the individual authorized to submit a proposal to NSF also is a designated AOR, or as a separate function for those organizations that choose to keep the certification process separate from the submission function. For those organizations that designate separate authorities in FastLane for these functions, the AOR must provide the required certifications within 5 working days following the electronic submission of the proposal.
A proposal may not be processed until NSF has received the complete proposal (including the electronic certifications from the AOR.)
National Science Foundation Grant Proposal Guide Changes
The National Science Foundation has announced Changes to their Grant Proposal Guide (see below). The first requirement you will notice is for proposers to register with the Central Contractor Registration (CCR); HOWEVER, Montana Tech is already registered with the CCR and you DO NOT need to register separately. This is not clear in their instructions, but you will need to make sure that any of your subawardees named in your proposal are registered with the CCR before you submit your proposal. As a reminder, Principal Investigators planning to submit proposals to National Science Foundation through FastLane will need to register through the Research Office (4102).
The other major changes to the guidelines are identified below. You can access the complete NSF Grant Proposal Guide at http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg
Please give me a call (4102) if you have any questions.
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Grant Proposal Guide
Summary of Significant Changes
Chapter I – Section G.3, Registering in the Central Contractor Registration, has been added to instruct potential proposers of the requirement to register in the Central Contractor Registration prior to submitting a proposal to NSF. This requirement also applies to any known subawardees at the time of proposal submission.
Chapter II – Section B.2, Proposal Margin and Spacing Requirements, has updated guidance on fonts that may be used when preparing an NSF proposal. (Note: non-compliance with this section could result in your proposal being returned without review).
Chapter III – Section A, Review Criteria, includes revised language to the intellectual merit review criterion. The criterion now specifically includes evaluation of proposals for potentially transformative concepts.
Chapter III – Section F, Review Information Provided to PI, has been added to clarify what review information is available to the PI when a decision has been made on his/her proposal.
Chapter IV – Section C, Declinations, has been revised to provide more information on what is available to a PI if his/her proposal has been declined.
eRA Commons (sponsored by National Institutes of Health)
Principal Investigators need to contact the Research Office (4102) to Register with eRA Commons. Principal Investigators will be required to supply date of birth, SSN, and, if prior support is indicated, IC (Institute Code) and Serial number are required also.
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