NOT-OD-09-126: Important Registration Reminders for Businesses Submitting in Response to New Recovery Act Funding Opportunity Announcements

Important Registration Reminders for Businesses Submitting in Response to New Recovery Act Funding Opportunity Announcements

Notice Number: NOT-OD-09-126

Key Dates
Release Date: July 22, 2009

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov)

Businesses applying in response to funding opportunities through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (RFA-OD-09-009, RFA-OD-09-008) are reminded that electronic registrations with Grants.gov and the NIH eRA Commons are required and must be completed before submitting an application to NIH.

NIH strongly encourages first time applicants to begin this process at least four weeks before the September 1, 2009 submission deadline. Failure to complete the registration processes before the due date is not considered a system problem and will not lead to acceptance of a late application. Registration instructions are available in Section IV of the Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs).

Important Reminders for Small Business Registration:

Registration with Grants.gov and eRA Commons is not sequential. Once an organization has obtained a DUNS number it can begin the registration processes in both Grants.gov and eRA Commons simultaneously. Waiting to complete one registration before beginning the other could delay progress and jeopardize the applicant’s ability to complete both registrations on time.
The applicant’s organization must be registered with both Grants.gov and eRA Commons.

An E-Biz Point of Contact (POC) must be designated at Grants.gov.
A Signing Official (SO) must be designated in eRA Commons.

Project Director/Principal Investigators (PD/PIs) must have an eRA Commons account with the PI role.

In the case of multiple PD/PIs, all PD/PIs must be registered and be assigned the PI role.
If the PD/PI has an existing account it must be affiliated with the applicant’s organization (see http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/faq_special.htm#2).

Registration Resources for Small Businesses and First-Time Applicants:

eRA Commons and Grants.gov Registration Fact Sheet: comprehensive step-by-step instructions on registration in Grants.gov and eRA Commons
NIH eSubmission Tips for Small Business Applicants: helpful registration tips for small businesses
NIH Electronic Submission of Grant Applications Web page: provides detailed overview of the electronic submission process
Small Business Research Funding Opportunities: NIH resource page for Small Businesses. On this page, applicants can find basic information about SBIR and STTR programs and registration, in addition to the latest small business news and a comprehensive list of SBIR and STTR funding opportunities.