Guide for Principal Investigators - Electronic Research Administration

ELECTRONIC RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION
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OVPRED Web Site

The Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development maintains a web site at http://research.unm.edu. The OVPRED web site includes, but is not limited to, the following information: points of contact and office location and hours; internal forms and links to external forms; funding opportunities; education & training; publications; policy & procedure, which includes applicable UNM and agency policies and procedures; databases, which includes access to the Midas Databases of Funding Sources, as well as the SMARTS|GENIUS databases and Proposal Tracking.

Health Sciences Center Pre-Award Web Site

SMARTS|GENIUS is a researcher profiling and matching system. GENIUS, the Global Expertise Network for Industry, Universities and Scholars, allows faculty and researchers within the University community to record their research profile and outline areas of research interest and expertise. GENIUS can be accessed by other academic investigators in addition to non-academic researchers and industry organizations, to locate potential partners and collaborators.

Users can also receive funding information automatically via email through SMARTS, the SPIN Matching and Researcher Transmittal System. Funding opportunities are from federal, private, corporate, foundation, foreign, and other sources. SMARTS|GENIUS can be accessed online via the OVPRED web site http://research.unm.edu/ERA.

Proposal Tracking

Proposal Tracking is a comprehensive web-based system that allows main and branch campus University principal investigators and University administrators to track and report on application and award information for sponsored projects. The ability to view records will permit the user to: check status of awards; obtain/verify account numbers; confirm end dates; review OVPRED activity comment section; and view awarded increments, subcontracts, subaccounts, agency information, etc. Proposal Tracking is available online for UNM main campus and branches at http://research.unm.edu/ERA .

Proposal Tracking is a useful tool for a wide array of users, including principal investigators, department/unit administrators, chairs, deans, and center/institute directors. It provides wider access to information by administrators and investigators; allows access to information and systems from various computer platforms; and presents information in a single format from several administrative systems.

There are up to 11 levels of security and system access to ensure that users will be able to view only as much of the system as their access rights permit. This provides both the advantages of customized views of the data in the system, as well as security for institutional data.

To register for Proposal Tracking, complete the Proposal Tracking Registration Form located online at http://research.unm.edu/ERA .

Electronic Agency Submissions

Funding agencies and Pre-Award administration are moving in the direction of electronic research administration (ERA), which requires the submission of proposals electronically through the Internet. Such proposals still require internal review and approval by the Pre-Award offices.

Fastlane

NSF Fastlane enables you to prepare proposals on-line, check the status of your pending proposals and awards as well as prepare and submit final reports on-line. This results in more efficient processing, quicker response time from NSF and direct access by users to pertinent day to day information. Further information regarding Search, Proposal Preparation, Proposal Review, Status Reports, Project Reporting and Post-Award Notifications and Requests can be accessed at www.nsf.gov.

Grants.gov

Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov is a central proposal receiving portal and storehouse for information on over 1,000 grant programs offered by 26 different federal grant making agencies. Grants.gov allows organizations to electronically find and apply for more than $400 billion in federal grants. UNM, as an institution, is a registered user of Grants.gov and is submitting on a regular basis through this portal. The principal investigator and departmental staff are not required to register separately with Grants.gov, as the proposal submission will flow through the respective Pre-Award office. The PI is responsible for uploading all required information in a PDF file and submitting to the Sponsored Projects Office for review and submittal.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Utilization of the Grants.gov portal is used by NIH in its electronic submission proposal process. The NIH application instructions will indicate if the principal investigator will submit electronically or with paper. NIH has included as part of the electronic proposal submission, an automatic business rule check. Because this additional step has been implemented, NIH electronic submissions must be submitted to Pre-Award 10 business days prior to the NIH due date. At the 10 day point, the principal investigator will submit all internal forms, all subaward hard copy materials, the funding announcement and the electronic application with UNM’s institutional information, subcontract data, budget, and justification in a final form; the technical portion may be in draft form at this point. Principal investigator’s are encouraged to submit earlier if possible; 10 business days is a minimum. A thorough review will be performed by the Pre-Award office to ensure the information and file are in compliance and accurate.

Five business days prior to the due date, the PI must email the FINAL electronic application, including the final technical portion, to HSC-PreAward@salud.unm.edu (for HSC) or CGA@unm.edu (for main campus) for submittal to Grants.gov. It will take anywhere from two hours to two full days for the proposal to move from Grants.gov to NIH. Generally speaking, the Grants.gov and NIH servers are slower to respond the closer they are to a major grant deadline. Please remember this internal longer lead time requirement is the result of NIH’s processing, not UNM, as we must ensure that the final package is accepted by Grants.gov and passes the NIH Business Rule process in time for the deadline.

After submittal, the application will be subject to Grants.gov and the NIH business rule validation. The respective Pre-Award office will be notified via e-mail as the application passes through each phase of the electronic submission process. Once all systems have validated the application, an e-mail will be sent to the Pre-Award office and the principal investigator indicating any errors/warning. “Errors” must be addressed and the application re-submitted through Grants.gov. The application will not complete the submission process until all errors are addressed. “Warnings” are considered notification of minor inaccuracies that will not stop the completion of submission, however the principal investigator may wish to address these items as well. Once the errors and/or warnings are addressed, and the application re-submitted, the principal investigator will be able to view and print the formatted application on NIH’s eRA Commons website. This will complete the electronic submission.