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The Submit step of the grants process includes three distinct actions: submitting your application, tracking your submission in Grants.gov and eRA Commons, and viewing your final assembled application in eRA Commons. This page explores each of these actions in detail.
Submit
All applications to NIH must be submitted electronically using one of the Submission Options:
- ASSIST,
- Grants.gov Workspace, or
- Your organization's system-to-system solution.
The interfaces of these submission systems vary, but the high-level process and guidance is the same.
Your application must be submitted by someone in your organization who is authorized to assume the obligations imposed by Federal laws, regulations, requirements, and conditions that apply to grant applications and awards. These individuals are called authorized organization representatives (AORs) in Grants.gov and signing officials (SOs) in eRA Commons.
Once an AOR hits the Submit button, your application is processed first by Grants.gov and then by NIH’s eRA systems. If any errors are found along the way, your application will not complete the submission process.
Upon submission to Grants.gov, 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 on the due date specified in the funding opportunity.
- 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 timestamps in Eastern Time. Don't worry; we'll do the conversion to your local time before assessing if you are on-time.
Submit early and measure “early” on a calendar, not a clock
We recommend submitting at least two days before the due date to provide time to track your application, correct any errors, view your application, and address any unforeseen issues by the due date.
Track
A series of Grants.gov and eRA email notifications are sent as your application is processed. Grants.gov emails are sent to the email address on file with Grants.gov for the submitting authorized organization representative (AOR). NIH emails are sent to the three email addresses listed on the SF424 (R&R) form (field #5 person to be contacted, field #14 PD/PI, and field #19 AOR).
It takes anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to process an application through both systems. If you don’t receive an email within several hours of submission, proactively track your application status.
- Grants.gov resource: Track submission status in Grants.gov
- eRA Commons Online Help: How Does an AOR or SO Check Submission Status?
- eRA Commons Online Help: How Does a PI Track Submission Status?
During processing, Grants.gov systems will perform some basic application checks that apply across federal agencies.
- If a problem is found at Grants.gov, your application is rejected with a "Rejected with Errors" status. You must address all errors and submit again.
- If no problem is found at Grants.gov, your application is queued for agency retrieval.
NIH’s eRA systems retrieve the application from Grants.gov, check it against agency business rules, and place the results in eRA Commons. We refer to these business rule checks as "validations."
- If a problem is found by eRA systems during the validation process, we provide a list of errors and warnings in eRA Commons Status.
- Errors are showstoppers. You must submit a changed/corrected application addressing all errors before the submission deadline.
- Warnings will not stop your application from progressing through NIH systems. Do not simply ignore warnings -they 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.
- If no problems are found by eRA systems, a consolidated document of your submitted application forms and attachments is created and placed in eRA Commons Status. You have two business days to view the application before it moves forward to NIH staff for further processing and consideration.
View
Once we receive your error-free application submission, eRA systems 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.
Your assembled application image ("e-Application", found 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!
- Note, the following documents, if included in your application, are excluded from the e-Application and instead are shown as separate links within the Other Relevant Documents section in the eRA Commons Status screen. This allows us to limit access to these documents as needed. Although maintained separately, the electronic sign-off by the AOR at time of submission applies to these documents. We highly recommend, viewing these individual documents as well.
- Cover Letter (attachment on SF424 R&R form)
- PHS Assignment Request form
- Data Management and Sharing Plan (attachment in Other Plan(s) field)
- Appendices
You have a 2-business day application viewing window to check your e-application and associated relevant documents and to notify the eRA Service Desk of any assembly issues (e.g., missing attachment, garbled text).
- Weekends, federal holidays, and the day of submission are not counted towards the application viewing window
- The viewing window expires at midnight Eastern Time on the second business day
The viewing window does not extend the deadline. If you want to make updates to your application within the viewing window, an SO must reject the submitted application in eRA Commons and then submit a changed/corrected application by the original application deadline.
Once the viewing window expires, your application automatically moves forward to our receipt and referral staff for further processing and funding consideration. You are unable to make any additional changes to the application unless you work with NIH staff to officially withdraw your application from consideration.
Special process exception 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.