Prepare to Apply | grants.nih.gov

Systems and Roles

Your grant application will flow through multiple systems and be touched by a team of people before reaching NIH. Learn how Grants.gov and eRA Commons, two federal systems, work together during the application submission process and explore key roles held by individuals involved in the process along the way.

Register

Registration in multiple systems is required in order to submit a grant application. In addition, some individuals involved in the application submission process or named on the application must have valid accounts in some of the systems. Organizations that are not yet registered should allow six weeks in their application planning to complete all registrations. Learn about registration requirements and how to tell if your organization already meets them.

Understand Funding Opportunity

Understand Funding Opportunities

NIH advertises availability of grant support through notices of funding opportunities (NOFOs). We previously used the term funding opportunity announcements (FOAs). NOFOs, FOAs, and "funding opportunities" are interchangeable terms. Learn about the different types of funding opportunities (parent announcements, program announcements, and requests for applications) and where to find them. Explore an annotated opportunity for tips and key information.

Types of Applications

Understanding the type of application you plan to submit (new, renewal, revision, resubmission) is an important step in the application submission process and can impact due dates, the ability to submit to a particular announcement, and the business rules enforced for your application.

Submission Options

Explore the various options available to prepare and submit your application, including key features and considerations.

Obtain Software

Learn about the software needed to prepare, submit and view a grant application - Adobe Reader, PDF generator, and a Web browser.