New Financial Officer to be Listed on Grant Applications

The name of our "Financial Officer" to be listed on Grant Applications is now Paul Gasior. To view the address and phone number to list with this name, along with other helpful information you will need for your application, click here: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Research/FMIP/InfoForProposalPrep.html.

COEUS training in April

Click here to view training dates for April. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Research/ora/training/COEUS.html.

eIS training in April

A training session will be held on April 17th. For complete details, click here: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Research/ora/training/eIStraining.html.

REMINDER: Electronic Proposals Due in ORA Five Business Days Prior to Deadline

To be considered timely filed with the Office of Research Administration (ORA), a proposal must include both (1) a paper copy of the final version of the application, including a signed eInformation Sheet (eIS) and (2) the uploaded electronic proposal (including all technical portions and administrative parts) must be provided to ORA not less than five working days prior to the due date. Please note this policy includes all Grants.gov submissions via PureEdge forms and COEUS.

The combination of proposal formatting errors and sponsor system mistakes has made it very difficult to effect electronic submission. Typical errors include inaccurate eCommons Personal Profile information for the principal investigator and attachments not being in PDF format.

Although ORA staff make every effort to submit late electronic proposals, ORA cannot continue to put all other timely proposals at risk to accommodate late submissions. Recently it has taken an average of several days per proposal to complete electronic submission successfully following ORA review, correction and approval. Proposals that are filed after the ORA deadline for filing will not be processed until all timely filed proposals are complete and there is no guarantee they can be processed prior to deadlines.

After Submission:
1) Investigator responsibility during submission process: Applications will remain in the eRA Commons for two business days, allowing time for the PI to view the application if desired. If no action is taken during the two-day period, the application will automatically be forwarded for processing. If the PI discovers an error in the assembled application during the two-day period, only the AOR/SO will have the ability to "Reject" the application to prevent processing. Additional details regarding the verification process are outlined here: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-055.html.

2) Submission rejection will be made by the AOR/SO if errors are due to an eRA Commons or Grants.gov system issue or the application does not correctly reflect the submitted application package (e.g., some part of the application was lost or didn't transfer correctly during the submission process); ORA will not reject the application for typos in the uploaded documents. Before converting documents to pdf format, use a spell-check system within your word processing program.

3) If the PI chooses to have the AOR/SO "Reject" the image after the submission deadline for a reason other than an eRA Commons or Grants.gov system failure, a changed/corrected application still can be submitted but it will be subject to the NIH late policy guidelines (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-030.html) and may not be accepted. The reason for this delay should be explained in a cover letter attachment.

4) Investigators/Departmental personnel using Coeus for electronic submissions may check the submission status in Coeus. Instructions are posted at http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Research/ora/training/COEUS_Training_Slides.html

Success with COEUS

Johns Hopkins University submitted 106 system-to-system (Coeus to Grants.gov) applications for the February 5, 2007 deadline. Of the 106 submissions, 72 were from the School of Medicine.

Implementation of NIH Fiscal Policy for Non-Competing Grant Awards

To implement the FY2007 fiscal guidance, non-competing research awards will be awarded at 97.1% of the FY 2007 committed level. Future year commitments also will be adjusted accordingly. Institutes and centers (ICs) will maintain the flexibility to supplement such non-competing awards on a case by-case basis according to scientific and programmatic imperatives. However, such supplements will not be considered as part of the base for future budgetary adjustments.

Non-competing awards previously issued in FY 2007 at reduced levels will be revised to restore funds to the level indicated above. This policy does not apply to Career Awards, SBIR/STTRs, and Ruth L. Kirschstein-National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowships & Institutional Training Grants. For complete details click here: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-049.html.

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Stipend and Other Budgetary Levels Effective for Fiscal Year 2007

The fiscal year (FY) 2007 Training Related Expenses previously announced are applicable only for new and competing renewal institutional Kirschstein-NRSA awards made in FY 2007 and for non-competing institutional training awards in FY 2007 that received competing awards in FY 2006. The FY 2007 institutional allowances for fellows apply only to competing individual Kirschstein-NRSA awards made in FY 2007. The stipend levels for FY 2007 Kirschstein-NRSA awards for undergraduate, predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees and fellows remain the same as in FY 2006. To view all the details, including the stipend levels, training-related expenses and institutional allowances, click here: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-07-057.html.

Institute-Specific Funding Strategies

A new web page lists (at the bottom of the page) the specific funding strategies for each NIH institute: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/financial/index.htm. Not all of the listings are current/complete, but some of the institutes are very specific and helpful, listing their current funding pay lines for specific types of grants. See NIAID for one of the best examples: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/budget/default_budget.htm.

Return to top of Grant and Contract Procedures