1. ASSIST https://public.era.nih.gov/assist

2. Benefits of Using ASSIST It is a web-based system. One can log in to ASSIST with eCommons user name and password. One can delegate application preparation responsibilities to multiple users within and outside the university.

3. Benefits of Using ASSIST (continued) Multiple people can be in the application at the same time but they cannot be in the same component at the same time. Application access can be controlled across three variables:  Edit vs View.  Entire application vs Specific component within an application.  Budget data vs Non-Budget data.

4. Benefits of Using ASSIST (continued) The system will auto-populate data from established eRA Commons profiles. The system will run validations on federal-wide and agency business rules prior to submission. It will generate the Table of Contents, headers, footers, page numbers, and composite budget automatically. One can view the applications as a PDF file prior to submission.

5. Potential Pitfalls  Data entered can be easily lost if not saved.  The architecture of the proposal needs to be created right away (i.e. cores and projects) in order to assign access rights and privileges to the various components of the application.  Because the web-based application is large, it takes time for each page to load. It is not a fast process.

6. Potential Pitfalls (continued)  It takes a long time to enter budget data. The sooner the budget data can be completed, the better.  Application cannot be submitted until all projects and cores are designated as final. For Institutional Officials  To access, edit, or review the application, log in to ASSIST with eCommons username and password. Upon clicking the submit button enter your grants.gov username and password to submit application.

7. Now lets briefly look at ASSIST https://public.era.nih.gov/assist