The eRA Commons system is an online interface where grant applicants, grantees, and grantor agencies can access and share administrative information relating to research grants as they are received by NIH via ASSIST or Grants.gov. The eRA system allows Principal Investigators to track their applications; view summary statements and score letters; view notice of awards; submit just in time information; access eSNAP Progress Reports, Financial Status Reports and final closeout reports; and no-cost extensions.
eRA Commons registration is required prior to initiating an NIH proposal. To register for an eCommons account, complete the NIH eCommons Account Registration Form below. If you already have an ID and password, click on the second link below to login to eRA Commons.
NIH & Grants.gov
The University of Connecticut is already registered with Grants.gov. Investigators and departmental personnel need not register. NIH provides guidance on submitting applications through Grants.gov at the following sites:
Instructions for Routing NIH Proposals via Grants.gov. Internal paperwork must be routed through SPS before it is submitted electronically through Grants.gov.
- The routing process should be initiated 5 business days before the deadline date. This allows SPS to review and approve the proposal prior to submission.
- The proposal will not be submitted electronically to NIH until SPS receives the complete proposal package, and it has been reviewed and approved. The “complete proposal package” consists of:
- Internal Proposal Review Form with signatures
- Budget and Budget Justification
- Grants.gov application
The PI does not submit the proposal to NIH. Only SPS has the authority to submit the proposal to NIH after receiving full access permission from the PI.
- The PI will complete the electronic application and email to preaward@uconn.edu.
- SPS will print the application, review for compliance with application instructions and request additional information and/or corrections as necessary.
- The PI will be notified when the application has been reviewed and approved.
- The final version must be reviewed prior to submission.
The Principal Investigator may submit a draft application to SPS for review and approval. The PI may submit draft attachments in the application for review and continue to update their science during the review process.The final application should be submitted to SPS 2 business days before the deadline date.
Do not wait until the last minute to deliver the final proposal package.
The grants.gov server has been known to “bog down,” particularly on deadline dates. This may result in missing the deadline.
Remember: Submission to Grants.gov and the NIH is a multi-step process. Grants.gov processes a series of validations prior to sending the application to the NIH. NIH, in turn, processes a series of business process validations prior to accepting the application.
A series of email messages will be sent to the PI and SPS when the proposal is submitted via Grants.gov.
The PI must have an eRA Commons account in order for the application to be validated by NIH. Once an application completes validation by Grants.gov, it is sent to the NIH. In order for the application to be validated by the NIH, each PI must have an eCommons account (Credential Log-In) in the NIH eRA Commons system.
If the application meets NIH validation requirements, the application is posted in the PI’s eRA eCommons account. The PI and SPS need to check the assembled application in eCommons to ensure the application is complete and has no system conversion issues. If the application did not meet NIH validation requirements and errors were generated, a corrected application must be submitted prior to the submission deadline. If warnings were generated upon validation and the PI would like to address, the previous application must be rejected and a corrected application must be submitted prior to the submission deadline.