Notice Number: NOT-OD-15-062

Key Dates
Release Date: January 30, 2015

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Purpose

ASSIST is NIH's on-line system for the preparation and submission of grant applications through Grants.gov to NIH. This notice announces the immediate availability of ASSIST as a submission option for NIH's Small Research Grant (R03) and Exploratory/Developmental Grant (R21) programs. ASSIST is not currently available for R21/R33 Phased Innovation Award applications.

Use of ASSIST is optional; Grants.gov downloadable forms and institutional system-to-system solutions remain viable options for application preparation and submission to NIH (learn more about options).

Background

ASSIST provides users:

• Secure web-based data entry
• Collaboration of multiple users
• Pre-submission validation of NIH and key Grants.gov business rules
• Pre-population of data from eRA Commons profiles
• Pre-submission print/preview of application in NIH format
• Submission status tracking for both Grants.gov and eRA Commons within a single system
• Ability to import subaward budget data from external sources
• Ability to copy application data (excluding attachments) from a previously prepared application

Previously, each NIH R03 and R21 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) posted in the NIH Guide for Grants & Contracts contained an 'Apply for Grant Electronically' button to bring applicants to Grants.gov to download an application forms package. R21 and R03 applicants may now select from two buttons in FOAs, "Apply Using Downloadable Forms" and "Apply Online Using ASSIST".

The following resources are available to help applicants prepare their applications using ASSIST:

• Getting Started: Preparing Your Single-project Application Using ASSIST
• ASSIST Online Help System
• ASSIST User Guide

Throughout 2015, ASSIST will become an option for additional grant programs (NOT-OD-15-044). The NIH hopes to open up ASSIST as an option for the NIH Research Project Grant Program (R01) by May 2015.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

NIH Grants Information
Email: grantsinfo@od.nih.gov (preferred method of contact)
Telephone: 301-945-7573