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Research administrators working in your organization's Office of Sponsored Research (or equivalent) can find resources to get acquainted with the grants process. Learn how to apply for a grant, develop an application, report on awards, find key grants policies, and more about NIH-funded grants.
Your Role
For the most part, NIH makes awards to organizations, not individual researchers. The organization is the applicant and award recipient. As a research administrator, your organization may give you signature authority, electronic system roles, and/or other duties in your Office of Sponsored Research. You must work in close partnership with the project director/principal investigator (PD/PI) to develop grant applications and ensure appropriate responsibility and accountability for the proper conduct of research.
Research Administrator Roles
When your organization completes Organization Registrations and sets up System Accounts, it assigns research administrators to the following roles. Depending on your organization's size and structure, you may have multiple roles:
- E-Business Point of Contact (POC). As your organization's Entity Administrator in the System for Award Management (SAM), you are responsible for the administration and management of the organization's award activities.
- Authorized Organization Representative (AOR). In this Grants.gov role, you are authorized to submit your organization's grant applications through Grants.gov to NIH and other federal sponsors. Learn about your electronic Submission Options to access and submit application form packages to NIH.
- Signing Official (SO). In the NIH eRA Commons, you manage user accounts and view status information for all of your organization's applications and grants. You also electronically sign and submit official grant documents.
- Some organizations include additional research administrators who support the staff assigned to the roles above, work with PD/PIs, and other functions in your Office of Sponsored Research. See eRA Commons Roles for a detailed list of available roles.
The POC, AOR, or SO act on behalf of your organization to assume the obligations imposed by the Federal laws, regulations, requirements, and conditions that apply to grant applications and awards. Learn more about these obligations in the NIH Welcome Wagon Letter – Information for New Recipient Organizations and the Policies section below.
Research administrators can also learn about NIH grant-related resources and other information relevant for NIH-supported Researchers with Disabilities. Topics include funding opportunities, relevant grant policies and requirements, peer review, notifying NIH of potential harassment or discrimination, how to improve accessibility, and more.
Funding
As you explore the NIH Grants & Funding website, we recommend that you start here:
- New to NIH
- Funding
- NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts – NIH's official publication of notices of grant policies, guidelines, and funding opportunities.
- Learn About Funding Categories – Includes research training and career development, small business, and other types of awards.
Grants Process
The Grants Process section covers all stages from planning through award reporting:
- Plan to Apply advises researchers on how to get started, work with your office, and find opportunities. Your organization decides which Submission Option you will use to access, complete, and submit application form packages.
- Write Application includes:
- The official How to Apply – Application Guide instructions.
- The Forms Directory provides PDF previews of application forms, attachments, and templates.
- Some organizations download PDF files from the Forms Directory to help staff prepare information for upcoming applications. However, you cannot use downloaded PDF files to submit an application to NIH.
- You must use one of the NIH Submission Options to access, complete, and submit the official application form package.
- General Grant Writing Tips can help you and your PD/PIs draft narrative sections.
- Advice on Application Sections covers specific attachments, including tips to develop your Budget and Budget Justification.
- Sample Applications and Documents lists example language, templates, and required formats.
- Submit describes how the AOR sends the application to NIH, how you and the PD/PI can track application status, and Submission Policies.
- Review covers receipt and referral, the peer review criteria, and your decisions after review.
- Award details NIH funding decisions, how and when to submit Just-in-Time (JIT) information, and the Notice of Award (NOA).
- Post-Award Monitoring and Reporting provides guidance on award monitoring, reporting (including progress, financial, and invention reports), audits, and closeout.
NIH eRA Systems
NIH eRA Systems are a suite of web-based modules that allow assigned research administrators, peer reviewers, and federal staff at awarding agencies to administer grants. eRA systems include:
- eRA Commons – Access and share administrative information on your organization's grant applications and awards.
- ASSIST – NIH's web-based service for the preparation, submission, and tracking of grant applications. ASSIST is one of the Submission Options.
Policies
Find detailed guidance and requirements through the NIH Policy & Compliance website. It includes the following topics and many more:
- NIH Grants Policy Statement (GPS) – Requirements that serve as the terms and conditions of NIH grant awards. We update the NIH GPS annually.
- Animal Welfare – Resources on animal assurances, reporting, policies, and related guidance from the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW).
- Human Subjects – NIH’s definition of human subjects, institutional review boards (IRBs), certificates of confidentiality, inclusion, and more.
- Intellectual Property – Requirements for inventions arising from federally funded research projects.
- Sharing – Includes policies for data management and sharing (DMS), genomic data sharing, public access, and model organisms.
- Research Integrity – Promote the highest levels of scientific integrity and public accountability in the conduct of science.
- Rigor and Transparency – How to address scientific rigor and transparency in NIH grant applications and progress reports.
- Additional Policy Topics – The full list includes policies for early stage investigators, family friendly initiatives, public access, and many more.
You may also find the NIH Welcome Wagon Letter – Information for New Recipient Organizations helpful as a summary. Consider our advice on how to Follow NIH Application Policies and Requirements.
Data on NIH Grants
Use the RePORT system to explore NIH funding data, which may help your organization understand the big picture of NIH research funding, find other organizations for collaborations, and more. Try these RePORT features:
- Search for Funded Grants (RePORTER)
- Awards by Location
- Summary Information on NIH Grants (NIH Data Book)
Stay Connected and Informed
Check News & Events for blog articles, event announcements, videos, podcasts, and other NIH updates:
We also encourage you to share NIH news and updates with researchers in your organization.