Preparing a Proposal in Grants.gov Penny Weaver Assistant Director, OSPRA

Before you even begin preparing the application…  Registration – –OSPRA has registered in Grants.gov on behalf of the University. PI’s do not need to register in order to download and prepare an application package. –Be aware that some sponsors may require PI registration or affiliation. Some that do are:  NIH requires PI’s to be registered in the NIH Commons  NSF requires registration in Fastlane

Before you even begin preparing the application…  Adobe compatibility – Make sure you have a compatible version of Adobe Reader installed on your computer or the computer of anyone who will participate in the preparation of the application (Adobe Reader or higher is recommended). THIS IS REQUIRED FOR SUCCESSFUL SUBMISSION! Grants.gov offers a tool that will verify whether you have an acceptable version of Adobe installed on your computer. The link to this tool is: oningTestOnly.jsp

Before you even begin preparing the application…  Review sponsor specific guidelines for: –Page limitations –Funding limitations –F&A guidance –Deadline (time zone) –Details of acceptable attachment format – many, but not all, sponsors require documents to be uploaded in PDF format –Sponsor requirements outside of the Standard Form 424 formset –Sponsor-specific forms

What is the SF424 (R&R)?  Stands for Standard Form 424 – Research and Related.  Is a combination of separate forms focusing on the many aspects of a proposed grant.  Is used government-wide –Used by over 15 different Federal agencies –Based on overall needs of the agencies, not tailored to specific agencies, funding opportunities or grant programs –Agency-specific forms are allowed where appropriate

What is the SF424 (R&R)?  The applicant must complete the application using the package attached to the specific Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).  Sample forms or forms from other FOA’s should not be used.  Forms/formsets may change from one submission cycle to the next so they are not interchangeable or recyclable – start from scratch each time

What is the SF424 (R&R)? A formset includes required and optional components; however, “optional” forms are not necessarily optional. What forms are typically required as a part of the SF424 formset? –SF424 (R&R) Cover –SF424 (R&R) Project Performance Site Locations –SF424 (R&R) Other Project Information –SF424 (R&R) Senior/Key Person Profile(s) –SF424 (R&R) Budget

 Let’s complete an application!

The Process  Identify a funding opportunity to which you want to apply  Download the application package and solicitation  Review the sponsor’s Grants.gov application guide if one is available  Complete the forms  Provide the final proposal to OSPRA  Post Submission process

Preparing an Application Download the Application Package and Announcement  The Grants.gov application package may be accessed through Grants.gov ( and in some cases (e.g., NIH, USDA) may also be accessed through the sponsor’s websitehttp://grants.gov

Preparing an Application Locating the Application Package through Grants.gov  There are several ways to search for opportunities in Grants.gov –Basic search (CFDA #, keyword, funding opportunity #)  Browse category  Browse agency  Advanced search – search by specific criteria –Recovery act funding

Preparing an Application Locating the Application Package through the Sponsor Website  USDA AFRI Childhood Obesity Prevention –Funding opportunity announcement USDA-NIFA- AFRI –CFDA #10.310

Preparing an Application The Application Package  Application Filing Name: We recommend using the PIs name, agency name and deadline date. This makes it easier for OSPRA to identify it when the first validation is received from Grants.gov. Mandatory Forms  SF 424 R&R Cover Sheet: Refer to the OSPRA website (Sponsor ERA) for guidance on completing this form.  R&R Project/Performance Site Location(s ) –Enter ‘Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois as the organization name. –DUNS Number: –The primary performance site is normally the UIUC campus. The official performance site for UIUC is:  506 S. Wright Street  Urbana, IL (the entire nine digit ZIP code is now required)  Project/performance site congressional district: IL-015 –Enter the same information for all additional performance sites.

Preparing an Application The Application Package Mandatory Forms  R&R Other Project Information –Respond to questions 1-5, as applicable –Upload Project Summary/Abstract and Project Narrative making sure to comply with guidelines for size limitations. –Sections 8-11 – Upload attachments as applicable and in accordance with guidelines. –Remember: No spaces or special characters in the file name and the document must be in the required format. Keep the file name short (less than 80 characters).

Preparing an Application The Application Package Mandatory Forms  R&R Senior/Key Personnel Profile –PD/PI, Senior/Key personnel from all participating institutions (required) and other significant contributors (if desired) should be listed. –The project role must be selected from the drop down list for all participants except the PD/PI. –Degree type and year – enter the highest academic or professional degree plus the year it was obtained.

Preparing an Application The Application Package  R&R Senior/Key Personnel Profile –A biographical sketch is required for all key personnel. –Current and Pending Support is not indicated as a mandatory form, but it may be mandatory. Consult the guidelines. –Senior/Key personnel entries will not populate the budget pages.

Completing the Budget Component R&R Budget Component  A separate detailed budget must be prepared for each year of support requested.  The form will generate a cumulative budget for the total project period.  All of the required fields must be completed (i.e., those fields that are highlighted and noted with a “*”). If no funds are being requested for a required field, enter “0”.  Round to the nearest whole number.

Completing the Budget Component R&R Budget Component –Direct Costs A. Senior/Key Person – allows eight as separate named individuals –All mandatory (yellow) fields must be completed. –The base salary may be left blank, if desired. –Total effort on the project should be included even if no funding is requested and should be represented in person months. B. Other Personnel –Postdocs, Grad Students and Undergrads: Enter # of personnel, salary and fringe benefits. Some sponsors may require effort (in person months) entered. Consult the guidelines. –Consultants should not be included in this section. C. Equipment –Equipment is defined as an item of property that has an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more. –Each item of equipment should be listed separately and justified in the budget justification. –General purpose equipment is generally not allowable. D. Travel –Domestic travel includes travel to Canada, Mexico and US possessions.

Completing the Budget Component R&R Budget Component-Direct Costs E. Participant/Trainee Support Costs –Unless otherwise stated in the announcement, this section should be left blank. Graduate student tuition remission should be included in section F, Other Direct Costs. F. Other Direct Costs 1.Material and Supplies  Categories less than $1,000 do not have to be itemized. 2.Publication Costs 3.Consultant Services  The names and organizational affiliations of all consultants, along with a description of the services to be performed should be provided in the justification.

Completing the Budget Component R&R Budget Component-Direct Costs 4.ADP/Computer Services 5.Subawards/Consortium/Contractual Costs  Include both direct and indirect costs for all subaward/consortium organizations. 6.Equipment or Facility Rental/User Fees 7.Alterations and Renovations Use lines 8-10 for costs such as patient care, tuition remission, human subjects, etc. Limit of three other costs. H. Indirect Costs –Indirect cost type – typically MTDC (Modified Total Direct Costs) –Cognizant Federal Agency – Office of Naval Research, Linda Shipp, –Indirect Cost rate agreement date – 2/20/08

Completing the Budget Component R&R Subaward Budget Component  A complete subaward/consortium budget component may be required as an optional document. Regardless of sponsor requirements, OSPRA still requires a SOW, letter of institutional authorization, and a detailed subaward budget for internal purposes.  The budget may be completed by the subawardee or the UIUC PI/department. Regardless of who completes the budget, it should be prepared in much the same manner as the budget is prepared for the lead institution (UIUC). A compatible version of Adobe must be used by everyone involved in the preparation.

Completing the Budget Component R&R Subaward Budget Component –Extract and save the budget attachment using the first 10 letters of the subawardee organization’s name as the file name. –The name of the organization and the DUNS # are required fields. –The subaward/consortium box should be checked. –All mandatory (yellow) fields and other sponsor- fields must be completed. –Effort should be represented in person months and some effort should be entered for all Senior/Key personnel even if funding is not requested. –The file must be in a format that is acceptable to the sponsor.

Completing the Budget Component R&R Subaward Budget Component  If the budget is being completed by the subawardee organization, –Extract and save the budget attachment using the first 10 letters of the subawardee organization’s name as the file name. – the saved document to the subawardee. Stress the criticality of using a compatible version of Adobe. –Advise the subawardee to return the completed budget component. –Review the budget to ensure compliance. –Attach the budget to one of the blocks provided on the form.

Completing the Budget Component R&R Subaward Budget Component What if the subawardee’s budgets are not active for all periods of the prime grant? –Limitations in existing forms do not allow an “empty” budget period and do not allow submission of a subaward budget with zero effort to skip a budget period. For example:  Suppose a prime has filled out a budget form with the following periods: –Period 1: 1/1/11-12/31/11 –Period 2: 1/1/12-12/31/12 –Period 3: 1/1/13-12/31/13 –Period 4: 1/1/14-12/31/14 –Period 5: 1/1/15-12/31/15

Completing the Budget Component R&R Subaward Budget Component  Suppose a subawardee performs support in year 1 and does not become active again until year 4. The subawardee would fill out the first two periods of their budget form as follows:  Period 1: 1/1/11-12/31/11 (dates correspond to prime period 1)  Period 2: 1/1/14-12/31/14 (dates correspond to prime period 4)

Submitting the Application  When the application is complete and ready to be submitted, –Click on “Check Package for Errors” on the first page of the application to ensure that all of the Grants.gov mandatory fields have been completed. Correct any errors that are identified. –Upload the final application into Netfiles using the process described on the OSPRA website. –Send the transmittal form via the OSPRA portal ( “Contact OSPRA”) or fax the proposal transmittal form to –You are no longer required to provide the original proposal transmittal form to OSPRA, but it should be retained by your unit for auditing purposes.

Submitting the Application  Upon receipt of the transmittal form, it will be provided to the OSPRA proposal coordinator/backup who is assigned to your unit.  The coordinator will be in contact during the course of the review for clarification and/or revisions.  When the review is completed, the proposal coordinator will submit the proposal to Grants.gov. REMEMBER: THE FINAL VERSION OF THE PROPOSAL SHOULD BE PROVIDED TO OSPRA AT FIVE (PREFERABLY MORE) BUSINESS DAYS IN ADVANCE OF THE DEADLINE

Post Submission Process  Once the application has been submitted, Grants.gov will send a series of messages to the proposal coordinator who submitted the application which contains status information. 1.Submission Receipt: The application has been received by Grants.gov and is currently being validated. This is forwarded to the PI and departmental business contact by the OSPRA proposal coordinator. In this there will be a link that will allow you to track the status of your proposal. If your proposal is not available for tracking, check back again later.

Post Submission Your application has been received by Grants.gov, and is currently being validated. Your submission was received at 16-Jan-10 02:11:51 PM ET Validation may take up to 2 business days.To check the status of your application please click here g_num=GRANT Type: GRANT Grants.gov Tracking Number: GRANT We will notify you via when your application has been validated by Grants.gov and is ready for the Grantor agency to retrieve and review. DUNS Number: AOR name: Penny Weaver Application Name: Verify CCR Update_ Opportunity Number: PA Opportunity Name: Research Project Grant (Parent R01) plicantLogin.jsp&loginpage=/jsp/ApplicantLoginGetID.jsp

Post-Submission Three more s from Grants.gov to the proposal coordinator should follow. –Submission Validation Receipt: The application has been received and validated by Grants.gov and is being prepared for Grantor agency retrieval. –Grantor Agency Retrieval Receipt: The application has been retrieved by the Grantor agency. –Agency Tracking Number Assignment for Application: The application has been assigned an Agency Tracking Number.

Remember…  OSPRA needs to be provided the application at least five business days before the deadline.  The entire proposal should be in its FINAL state when it arrives at OSPRA.  Grants.gov registration is not required for the PI.  Consult the sponsor’s Grants.gov application guide when available.  The program-specific guidelines should be obtained and carefully reviewed as soon as possible in advance of the deadline.  Complete the SF 424 R&R cover sheet first – it populates fields in several other forms.

Remember….  All attachments must be in a format that is acceptable to the sponsor and the file names should be short and contain no special characters, spaces, etc.  A compatible version of Adobe must be used.  Make sure to complete all mandatory documents and fill in all mandatory (yellow) fields. In addition, make sure that all fields/forms required by the sponsor are completed.  Hover over help is available for many fields.  Do not recycle previously submitted applications or use sample applications.

Reference Materials  Grants.gov:  OSPRA Website

Contact Information Penny Weaver, Assistant Director, OSPRA , Grants.gov (800)

Questions?