Ensure all registrations are active

The second step of the grant submission process.

SAM.gov

SAM.gov is the official site used by the federal government to document and track the eligibility of an individual or entity to receive federal funds. Some things to know about SAM.gov:

  • Must be renewed each year. Serious technical issues requiring months of back-and-forth with SAM.gov technical support have been reported by NIH Training Directors, even when changing only basic contact information. If your intramural program does not have an active SAM.gov registration, you cannot submit grants for your program.
  • All SAM.gov registrations for the NIH intramural research program are visible through a centrally managed dashboard (contact: Paulette Smith, smithpm@od6100m1.od.nih.gov).
  • When you have a submission coming up, you can confirm that you have an active registration through the central dashboard- however, each program in SAM.gov is typically listed as “National Institutes of Health” as opposed to the specific IC name. You will need to know your IC’s Unique Entity ID (UEID) or CAGE code in order to find your registration easily.
  • In the case that your SAM.gov registration has lapsed, another intramural program may submit the grant on your behalf (can link to a new page for this process if necessary). If another IC agrees to do this, keep in mind that on the cover page, the trainee must build a new application using the submitting IC name and information (if using NIH ASSIST) and have written “National Institutes of Health” as opposed to the IC name in fields where this information is both requested and editable. A grant from another IC will not progress past the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR) if the information is IC-specific for the wrong IC.

We strongly recommend using NIH ASSIST for grant submission due to its ease of use compared to other systems.

eRA Commons/NIH ASSIST

eRA Commons is a web-based system for applicants and institutions to participate in the grant administration process. Some things to know about eRA Commons:

  • Requests annual validation of personal information.
  • The same password that enters eRA Commons also provides access to NIH ASSIST. Using the NIH ASSIST dashboard (vs. using grants.gov directly) for submission allows the trainee to prepare the entire application, check for errors on their own, and then route it to the SO. This is a streamlined process compared to submitting through grants.gov.
  • eRA Commons is the system through which you create an eRA Commons user name (required for submission) to a new grant applicant.

Need to create a new account? Follow these steps.

How to create a new account for a grant applicant in eRA Commons

This is what to do if a trainee wants to apply for a grant and needs an eRA Commons username/account. You can find the detailed steps with screen shots directly through the eRA Commons website here.

  1. Log into eRA Commons: https://era.nih.gov - You must be an SO, AO, AA, or BO in order to create an account. *Please keep in mind that only an SO has the ability to create/modify another SO account*
  2. Click on: Commons Login (button at the top)
  3. Enter username & password
  4. Click Account Management (Admin).
  5. Click on Admin >> Accounts >> Account Management [this will open a new window]
  6. Search for the applicant using username OR first and last name (not both). You must conduct a search in order for the “Create New Account” button to be available.
    1. Note: If an account already exists for the applicant, please do not create another account, rather create an affiliation by clicking on “Manage” and add the appropriate “Roles”.
    2. If the applicant does not have an existing account, please proceed with the steps below:
  7. Click “Create New Account”
    1. Complete the required fields (red asterisks indicate a mandatory entry):
    2. User Type – Defaults to Commons
    3. User ID – Create a username/ID (must be unique)
    4. Organization – Defaults to your organization
    5. First name
    6. Last name
    7. Applicant’s email address
  8. Select ‘Add Roles' and select roles to add (to multi-select, please use ctrl or shift keys)
    1. Click “add roles”, then “create”
    2. The applicant will receive an email with a username and a temporary password.

Grants.gov

Grants.gov is designed to enable federal grant-making agencies to create funding opportunities and applicants to find and apply for these federal grants. Some things to know about grants.gov:

  • You must have an active grants.gov account to submit a grant application on behalf of your IC, even if you submit through NIH ASSIST (see below for instructions on how to register for a new account in grants.gov).
  • Password must be changed every 60 days.

Need to create a new account? Follow these steps.

  1. Go to https://www.grants.gov/register.
  2. Follow the prompts through the registration process.
  3. Have your IC Unique Entity Identifier (UEID) or DUNS number ready.
  4. An email will be sent to the IC AOR/eBiz POC to verify your account. Once that is done, you will be able to move forward with the approval process.

Move on to Step 3

Review submission details with the trainee