1	The Future: Electronic Research Administration(eRA) NIH’s vision for the 21^st century. It’s coming, get ready Infrastructure for conducting interactive electronic transactions for the receipt, review, monitoring, and administration of NIH grant awards.
2	E-submission advantages Saves trees! over 200,000,000 pieces of paper/year Reduces scanning, printing, and data-entry costs. Eliminates need to chase FedEx planes! Copies of your applications always are clear and in full color!
3	Learn New Vocabulary: FOA = Funding Opportunity Announcement SF424 R&R SF = “standard form” R&R = “research and related” SF424 consolidates forms for all Federal granting agencies
4	Rethink NIH submissions Each FOA package that NIH posts on Grants.gov includes application instructions and forms. You download the application package for the specific FOA. You use this specific package to apply for the FOA (PA, PAR, PAS, RFA, et cetera). Some mandatory application fields are completed for you
5	Key dates for changes for several mechanisms June 1, 2006: Small (R03) and Exploratory/Developmental (R21) research October 1, 2007: Research project (R01) April 5, 2007: Fellowships (e.g., F31, 32) June 1, 2007: Centers (e.g., P, M01, R/U10, R24)
6	Getting with the e-program: GRANTS.GOV Your institution must register at least four weeks before your application is due. Your Sponsored Research Office likely has completed this one-time-only registration good for electronic submission to all Federal agencies. Detailed instructions: http://grants.gov/GetStarted Grants.gov registration requires institutions to, Obtain a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, and, Register in Central Contractor Registry (CCR) Registration required only to submit completed application.
7	E-submission steps Find your FOA on www.Grants.gov. Download the corresponding application package. Complete the application. Submit it through Grants.gov (or Authorized Organizational Representative/ AOR). eRA software checks application’s compliance with NIH business rules.
8	More e-submission steps NIH notifies PI and Signing Official (AOR) via email to check the eRA Commons for results of NIH compliance check. If application passes NIH rules, you’ll see your SF424-based application image. If not, you’ll see a list of errors and warnings. Fix errors and (re)submit through Grants.gov. Once you see your SF424-based grant image, you (PI and SO) review application. If acceptable, PI and SO each verify application in Commons. If not, PI/SO rejects the application in Commons, makes changes, and (re)submits via Grants.gov