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Grants.gov is the central portal that the federal government is implementing for grant submissions. Grants.gov is intended to be a simple, unified source to electronically find, apply for, and manage grant opportunities from all federal grant-making agencies. The various agencies are phasing in the transition to Grants.gov incrementally. The system was developed as part of the President’s Management Agenda and related E-Government Strategy.
Grants.gov is in the process of replacing PureEdge Viewer application packages with Adobe Forms. For information and news, see Grants.gov Program Status, Help and Applicant Resources pages. Adobe Reader 8.1.2 is the currently recommended compatible version for use with Grants.gov.
Adobe Acrobat 9 UPDATE (7/2/08): Adobe Acrobat 9.0 and Adobe Reader 9.0 have been released. The Grants.gov Project Management Office is currently testing this latest version of Adobe Reader and will notify the Grants.gov community when testing is complete. Until testing is completed, Grants.gov still requires the use of Adobe Reader version 8.1.2 until further notice. Until Grants.gov staff have verified that Adobe Acrobat 9 and Adobe Reader 9 are compatible with Grants.gov, SPO suggests that campus researchers and staff working with Grants.gov should not install Acrobat 9 or Adobe Reader 9.
Attention Macintosh Users - PureEdge Special Edition Mac Viewer does not work with Mac OS X Leopard. To submit Grants.gov PureEdge forms on a Macintosh computer, either stay at OS X 10.4.6, use a virtualization product, install emulator software, or use a Windows terminal service. See below for more information on PureEdge on the Mac.
Attention PC Users - PureEdge does not work with Microsoft Windows Vista, according to Grants.gov. To submit Grants.gov PureEdge forms, use Windows XP or follow Grants.gov guidance on Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 Compatibility. |
This page is a quick reference for Berkeley investigators and staff using the Grants.gov “Apply” function. Please also see:
Memos from Vice Chancellor for Research Beth Burnside:
Implementing Guidelines for Electronic Proposal Submissions
National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Grants.gov
Grants.gov: Common Errors
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SPO has developed two web-based applications to support principal investigators and campus departments in the Grants.gov application process: FormFiller and FormChecker. The SPO Electronic Proposal Drop Box provides secure uploading of electronic proposals instead of sending them as email attachments.
The FormFiller (https://www.spo.berkeley.edu:8443/gg/fill.jsp) application is designed to reduce the time required to prepare a PureEdge form package, and uses a simple three-step process. PureEdge must be installed before you begin.
1. Using a Google-like search interface, users search for the funding opportunity announcement in the federal opportunity database;
2. Then, the user searches the campus directory for the principal investigator’s contact information. The directory information can be edited before uploading to the form package;
3. Finally, by clicking “Finish,” FormFiller automatically loads program-specific information, PI information, and standard UC Berkeley information (“The Regents” corporate name, EIN and DUNS numbers, SPO institutional representative contact information) into the form package. You can then save the form package to your computer.
FormFiller is optimized for Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers. The Netscape browser is not recommended at this time, primarily for display reasons. We are working to resolve this. FormFiller can be used on a Macintosh as well as a Windows PC; see below for Macintosh instructions.
The FormChecker (https://www.spo.berkeley.edu:8443/ggchecker/) application can be used to review PureEdge form packages at any stage during preparation to find errors needing correction prior to submission.
1. Use FormChecker to browse your computer to locate the PureEdge file and click “Check for Errors”;
2. FormChecker will generate a list of errors and warnings, showing the nature, source, and location of the error;
3. Fix the errors and continue working on your application. FormChecker can be run iteratively as the form package is developed.
For assistance with these FormFiller and FormChecker applications, or with any questions, please contact Ken Geis (kgeis@berkeley.edu, 2-2246) or Nancy Han (nthan@berkeley.edu, 2-8121) in SPO Information Systems.
You may also want to visit Grants.gov directly:
Find - search for funding opportunities
Apply - download application packages, complete applications locally
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Steps for using Grants.gov “Apply”
Grants.gov is in the process of replacing PureEdge Viewer application packages with Adobe Forms. For information and news, see the Grants.gov Deployment Update at http://www.grants.gov/aboutgrants/program_status.jsp. Grants.gov now supports the latest version of Adobe Reader (8.1.1) and continues to support Adobe Reader version 7.0.9. |
1. Download and Install PureEdge Viewer
- PureEdge Viewer is a small, free program required by Grants.gov to access, complete and submit applications. The software should be installed by everyone who will be working on the submission. People who will be only contributing documents such as PDF files will not need the software.
- To install the viewer, go to http://www.grants.gov/resources/download_software.jsp and download the Viewer and the upgrade.
- For Mac Users
- PureEdge Viewer was written for Microsoft Windows. IBM has provided Special Edition Mac Viewers for PPC and Intel that are now available for download, that will run on Macintosh OS X 10.4.6. You may wish to use this software if you do not have access to a Windows machine, Windows emulation software, or the Citrix server. Please note that this software will not run on MacOS X Leopard and may not run on Mac OS versions prior to 10.4.6. To download the software and for more information, see http://www.grants.gov/resources/download_software.jsp#pureedgeviewer.
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If you are using a Macintosh running Leopard or with an operating system older than 10.4.6, you will need to install Virtual PC or other emulator software, use a virtualization product like Parallels Desktop, or use a Windows terminal service. With any of these, PureEdge Viewer and FormFiller should both work. Please START EARLY! especially if you are submitting a Grants.gov application for the first time.
- The free SPO Windows terminal service uses the Windows Remote Desktop Client over a connection to the SPO terminal server. To use the SPO Windows terminal service service, please contact Nancy Han in SPO Information Systems (nthan@berkeley.edu, 2-8121). (We would like to thank Mick Laver, Manager of Administrative Computing at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography for sharing this method with us.)
2. Identify and Download the Application Package (This step may be done using FormFiller.)
- Each application package is specific to a specific grant program and deadline and cannot be used for other grant programs.
- Use Grants.gov “Find” to search for and identify the grant program you want to apply for, and click the “Apply for Grant Electronically” button at the bottom of the page.
- Or, if you know the program-specific Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number or Funding Opportunity Number, go to https://apply.grants.gov/forms_apps_idx.html, type in the number, and download the application package and instructions. You can search for CFDA numbers on the CFDA web site.
3. Complete the Application Package
- Application instructions provide guidance on how to complete the application. The steps below should be sufficient to have your application accepted by Grants.gov. However, the agency may reject it in a later step if you do not follow all of the program application instructions.
- Complete all fields that are yellow, or the application package will not be validated. If a yellow question doesn’t apply, answer with a zero or N/A.
- For the SF424(R&R) form, the DUNS for UC Berkeley is
124726725, the Employer Identification number (EIN) is
94-6002123, and the Congressional District is CA-009.
- Open and complete all the forms listed in the mandatory box.
- Move all the forms in the mandatory box to the “Completed Documents for Submission” box.
- Move all optional completed forms and/or documents to the “Optional Completed Documents for Submission” box.
- Click the “Verify Package” button. Make sure no errors are returned. This can be done using FormChecker at any time during the preparation process.
- Click the “Save” button to save the final copy of the application.
- Make sure that the “Submit” button is now active, although you will not be able to submit the application.
- If you revise the application, you must repeat the last three steps.
Standard UC Berkeley information to use on Form SF 424 (R&R)
- Application Filing Name: PI LAST NAME - Agency Name
- Application Identifier: leave blank - for SPO use only
- Organizational DUNS: 124726725
- Legal Name: The Regents of the University of California
- Department: Sponsored Projects Office
- Street: 2150 Shattuck Avenue, Suite 313
- City: Berkeley
- County: Alameda
- State: CA
- ZIP Code: 94704-5940
- Person to be contacted on matters involving this application
- First Name: Patricia
- Last Name: Gates
- Position/Title: Assistant Director
- Phone Number: (510)642-8109
- Fax Number: (510)642-8236
- Email: spo_grants_gov@lists.berkeley.edu
- Employer Identification (EIN/TIN): 94-6002123
- Type of Applicant: Public/State Controlled Institution of Higher Education
(if that option is not available, use State Controlled Institution of Higher Education)
- Congressional Districts Of: Applicant: CA-009
- Is the Applicant Delinquent on Any Federal Debt: No
- Cognizant Federal Agency (on budget page): DHHS, Douglas Szucs, 415/437-8360
- Executive Order 12372
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4. Provide a Printed Copy and PRF to SPO for Review
- Submit a printed copy of the application to the appropriate SPO administrator for review along with the signed Proposal Review Form (PRF). This includes documentation of collaborative subagreements.
- SPO requests applications ten working days before the agency deadline to allow sufficient time for review. In order to insure successful submission for Grants.gov and all other electronic proposal submissions, it is crucial that SPO receives the fully completed proposal with a signed PRF a minimum of five working days prior to the agency receipt deadline. If the proposal is not submitted by this time, SPO cannot guarantee review and successful submission of the application. (Implementing Guidelines for Electronic Proposal Submissions)
- After SPO review, make any necessary changes in Grants.gov and provide SPO with the revised printed copy.
5. Provide the Final Copy to SPO for Submission to Grants.gov
- Submit a final electronic copy of the grant application to the appropriate SPO administrator by sending the file as an email attachment or delivering a copy on CD to SPO.
- SPO will then submit the application to Grants.gov.
6. After Submission to Grants.gov
- After the application is submitted, the SPO administrator will receive email and forward it to the administrator and the PI.
- Email from Grants.gov will confirm if the proposal was received and if it passed or failed data verification.
- Later, email from the agency will confirm that the agency received the application and if it passed or failed data verification.
- If there are errors in Grants.gov submission, you must correct them and email or deliver the application to SPO so that SPO can resubmit it.
- Once the proposal has been accepted by the agency, it is no longer in Grants.gov. The only way to check on its status is to query the agency (for example, FastLane for NSF proposals).
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