February 15, 2006

This is message #2 in our series of communications to the campus research community as we prepare for the transition to electronic preparation and submission of Federal grant applications via the Grants.gov system. Let me apologize for the length of this note -- discussions of Grants.gov issues do not lend themselves to brevity.

DRDA has now submitted over 50 applications using the new system, gaining valuable experience each time. Most of these submissions, however, have been in response to funding opportunities for which there were only one or two applications. Much of our focus now is on improving the handling and routing processes within the University to ensure our ability to deal with multiple submissions (i.e., big deadlines).

This message contains information on:

1. PureEdge problem for non-Windows PCs
2. Sending your Grants.gov PureEdge file to DRDA
3. Lead time for Grants.gov proposals to DRDA (aka, deadline policy)

We have agreement from the Michigan Administrative Information Services (MAIS) staff to permit access to the MAIS Citrix client server by UM Mac users. This means UM will not have to use the Grants.gov-provided version of Citrix that we have found to be somewhat unreliable.

Individuals must request access to the Citrix client server. To eliminate some of the burden in this access procedure, MAIS helped us create a batch process. DRDA will collect information about each individual requesting access to the Citrix client server and forward to MAIS as a single request. If you are a Mac user and need access to Citrix for Grants.gov applications, please go to: https://packrat.research.umich.edu/CitrixReg/ [This is a secure site. You may be asked to login with your kerberos password.]

At this site you will be asked to provide your first and last name, uniqname, and Department name and ID. This is a limited time offer. All of you who opt for this abbreviated process prior to February 28th, can be given access without the need for processing individual requests. Starting March 1st, you will need to prepare and submit individual requests. I will describe that process in March.

Either the PI or others can upload final Grants.gov files. The depositor must 1) enter the site using UM uniqname and Kerberos password; this opens the Add File page; 2) enter the PI's last name, the proposed sponsor, and the DRDA project representative to whom the application file is being sent; 3) upload the PureEdge file from the computer to the server, and 4) click Upload File to DRDA at the bottom of the screen.

More detailed instructions, including screen shots will appear at the UM Grants.gov home page soon.

Two requests:

• This upload site should be used for Grants.gov PureEdge files only, and
• Please upload only complete, final applications, as incomplete files will certainly lead to version control problems for our staff.

After DRDA completes its review of the PAF and Administrative Shell and the final Grants.gov application, the PureEdge file is submitted by DRDA staff. The submission action results in a two-step validation process by both the Grants.gov system and the sponsoring agency. If Grants.gov or the sponsor identifies problems during either validation process, a notification is sent to DRDA and the PI informing us that the error must be corrected by preparing and submitting a complete replacement application. The PI generally must make these corrections and the replacement application must again be uploaded to DRDA for review and submission through Grants.gov. The replacement application will again go through the dual validation process and must be verified as error-free by the sponsor, PRIOR TO the published receipt deadline for the grant competition.

With these extra validation steps in mind, DRDA developed a deadline for Grants.gov applications that 1) affords the PIs the maximum time to prepare the substantive parts of the proposal; 2) leaves sufficient time for the Grants.gov and sponsor agency validation processes; and 3) recognizes DRDA's need to resubmit multiple other applications refused during validation processes.

The policy, for Grants.gov applications:
The Administrative shell (defined below) must be to DRDA no fewer than 7 full working days prior to the application deadline, and
The final Grants.gov PureEdge file must be uploaded to DRDA no fewer than 4 full working days prior to the deadline.

Please remember that these time lines are in addition to the time required by your units to complete their review processes.

1. Proposal Approval Form (PAF) signed by all appropriate unit officials,
2. All pages of the Form 424 or the form 424 R & R or other electronic form a sponsor may use,
3. All budget pages for all years of the project,
4. All budget justification pages,
5. An abstract or statement of work, and
6. For NIH applications, the checklist page.

Though the lead times are aggressive, they are necessary to ensure that applications will pass the validation processes prior to the grant competition closing.

Jim Randolph
nihjim@umich.edu