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How to Submit, Track and View Your Application


You must login to eRA Commons Link to Non-U.S. Government Site - Click for Disclaimer  and use the Status feature to access your submitted applications and grants. 

This page is an informational overview of the process used to submit, track and view your application.

At this point in the application process, your application preparation team should have already…

  • Verified all required registrations are in place and your System for Award Management (SAM) registration is active
  • Identified your funding opportunity and due date
  • Chosen your submission method (ASSIST, your own system-to-system solution, Grants.gov Workspace)
  • Prepared your application forms per the announcement and application guide instructions
  • Checked the related notices section of your announcement for any late breaking changes
  • Completed any internal reviews and sign-offs required by your office of sponsored research
  • Routed your application to the person authorized by your organization to submit (i.e. Grants.gov user with the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) role)

…and you, the AOR, are ready to submit. You're almost there; you just have a few steps to go.

  • Submit your application to Grants.gov by 5 p.m. local time on your due date using your chosen submission method
  • Track your submission in Grants.gov and eRA Commons and address any identified errors
  • View your assembled application image in eRA Commons to verify we got it and that it correctly reflects your submitted application information. If you can't VIEW it, we can't REVIEW it!  

Submission Process Overview

Once you submit your application to Grants.gov, they perform some basic application checks. If a problem is found, Grants.gov rejects your application with a "Rejected with Errors" status. You must address all errors and submit again. If no problem is found, Grants.gov places your application in a queue for agency retrieval.

Our eRA systems are constantly checking Grants.gov to see if they have any applications ready for us. When we retrieve your application, we check it against our own agency business rules and place the results in eRA Commons. We refer to these business rule checks as "validations".

You must check the status of your application in eRA Commons. If we identify problems with your application, we provide a list of errors and warnings. Errors are showstoppers and must be addressed. Warnings will not stop your application from progressing through NIH systems and on to NIH staff for further processing. Do not simply ignore warnings. Warnings alert you to potential problems that could lead to NIH staff withdrawing your application. Consider each warning carefully in the context of your situation and address any that apply. 

Once we receive your error-free application, we create a consolidated document of all your submitted forms and attachments in a consistent format. We add headers, footers, a table of contents, and bookmarks and place the assembled application image in eRA Commons Status for you to view. 

You have a 2-business day application viewing window to check your assembled application image and notify the eRA Service Desk Link to Non-U.S. Government Site - Click for Disclaimer of any assembly issues (e.g., missing attachment, garbled text). The day of submission is not counted towards the application viewing window. Your application automatically moves forward to our receipt and referral staff for further processing at midnight Eastern Time on the second day of the viewing window unless you explicitly reject Link to Non-U.S. Government Site - Click for Disclaimer the application in eRA Commons.

Submit

  • We recommend you submit early - at least 2 days before the due date. Submitting early provides time to track your application, correct any errors and view your application by the due date.
  • The specific actions you take to submit your application will vary by submission method (ASSIST, Grants.gov workspace, your organization's system-to-system solution).
  • Regardless of how you submit, your application will be assigned a Grants.gov tracking number (e.g., GRANT12345678).
    • Save this number. You will need it to track your submission and receive support.
  • You will also receive a Grants.gov timestamp that we will use to determine if you submitted on-time.
  • Your error-free application must be submitted by 5 p.m. local time for your organization.
    • We determine "local time" using the address in the Applicant Information section (item #5) of your SF424 (R&R) application form.
    • Grants.gov displays their timestamp in Eastern Time. Don't worry; we'll do the conversion to your local time before determining if you are on-time.
  • Check out our Submission Policies page for guidance on due dates that fall on holidays/weekends, late applications, how to handle system issues impacting your on time submission and more.

Track

Note that PIs can check status information in eRA Commons on the go, using Commons Mobile (see info).

View

  • Your assembled application image ("e-Application" in the Other Relevant Documents section in the eRA Commons Status screen) is the same document used by our staff and reviewers. Check it carefully!
    • The Cover Letter (attachment on SF424 R&R form), PHS Assignment Request form, and Appendices are not included in the assembled e-Application. If included in your application, they will be shown as separate links within the Other Relevant Documents section in eRA Commons. 
  • You have a 2 business day application viewing window (weekends and federal holidays Link to Non-U.S. Government Site - Click for Disclaimer don't count) to check your assembled application image before it moves on to our receipt and referral staff for further processing.
    • If you decide to make additional changes within this window, you must reject Link to Non-U.S. Government Site - Click for Disclaimer your application and then submit a changed/corrected application
    • You must complete any corrective submissions by 5 p.m. on the due date (even if making corrections within the viewing window) to be considered on time
    • For administrative supplement applications, NIH offers an option for a signing official (SO) to bypass the full standard 2-business day application viewing window in eRA Commons Status and move the supplement application forward for agency processing without waiting for the application viewing window to expire. See NOT-OD-23-011. As a reminder, applicants are encouraged to discuss potential requests with the awarding institute or center prior to submission. Organizations must carefully review their applications prior to using the Verify action to mitigate the need for resubmissions. 
  • You can no longer make changes to your application through Grants.gov after the application viewing window unless you officially withdraw your application from consideration
  • Your corrective submission (whether done before or after the deadline) replaces your previous submission. You cannot reject or withdraw your submission and return to a previous version (i.e., previous submission is void.)