Prepare to Apply

Know Your Role
Select Approach
Obtain Software
- Software FAQ
Register IMPORTANT!
List of application checks (Generic Validations)

Know Your Role

In Grants.gov

E-Business Point of Contact (eBiz POC)
[Identified by organization upon registering in the Central Contract Registration (CCR)]
An E-Business Point of Contact (eBiz POC) is responsible for the administration and management of grant activities in his/her organization. eBiz POCs give representatives of their organization the privilege of submitting grant applications through Grants.gov.
Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR)
[Designated by eBiz POC within Grants.gov]
An Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) submits a grant application on behalf of a company, organization, institution or government. AORs have the authority to sign grant applications and the required certifications and/or assurances necessary to fulfill the requirements of the application process.

In eRA Commons

Signing Official (SO)
[Designated by organization in eRA Commons]
A business official is the person authorized to act on behalf of an organization, including signing and submitting the grant application and agreeing to abide by all federal rules and conditions pertaining to the grant. A Signing Official can register the institution, create user accounts for PIs and modify the institutional profile. An SO in Commons is the equivalent of an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) in Grants.gov.
Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI)
[Designated by Signing Official in eRA Commons]
A Project Director/Principal Investigator is designated by the applicant organization to direct the project or program to be supported by the grant. The PI/PD is responsible and accountable to applicant organization officials for the proper conduct of the project or program. The role of the PI within Commons is to update his personal profile, check the status of the application and complete the grant process.

Select Approach

An applicant organization will determine how best to submit its application(s) to CDC via Grants.gov. Applicant organizations can choose from one of these three options:

Forms-based Submission
Organizations using forms-based submission will rely on the PureEdge forms viewer provided free of charge by Grants.gov.
System-to-System Transfer of Data
Organizations desiring a systems-to-systems approach can work with Grants.gov to develop their own data exchange system (XML datastream)
Service Provider
Applicant organizations or individuals can establish an agreement with an established commercial company (known as a Service Provider) that has already developed a system-to-system interface with Grants.gov to submit applications on their behalf.
See list of “Service Providers”

Obtain Software

PureEdge

In order to access, complete and submit grant applications, applicants need to download the PureEdge Viewer from Grants.gov.

Creating PDFs

The Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (HHS/CDC) require all text attachments to the PureEdge forms to be submitted as PDF files.

PDF creation software is needed to create the PDF (the free Adobe Reader will NOT create an Adobe file). Grants.gov has published a list of some available tools and software to assist you http://www.grants.gov/agencies/software.jsp#3.

Note: Attachments generated from PureEdge forms, such as the R&R SubAward Budget Attachment Form, should not be converted to PDF.

Non-Windows (Macintosh, Linux, etc.)

If the applicant does not have a Windows operating system, the applicant can download and complete PureEdge forms by:

Using a Windows emulation program
Using a free Citrix server

For details, go to the PureEdge Support for Non-Windows Users page (Grants.gov’s website)

Software FAQs

See “Frequently Asked Questions – Prepare to Apply”

Register

Prior to submitting a grant application online through Grants.gov to HHS/CDC, an applicant organization must complete a one-time registration both at Grants.gov and eRA Commons. Principal Investigators do not have to register at Grants.gov, but must register with Commons.

Registration Requirements for Electronic Submission

DON’T DELAY, REGISTER NOW!	Grants.gov			eRA Commons
DON’T DELAY, REGISTER NOW!	CCR 4 registration (requires DUNS #)	Obtain and register Grants.gov credentials	Authorize Organization Rep.	eRA Commons Registration (Org. registration requires DUNS #)
Principal Investigators 1, 2, 3
Institutions/ Organizations

1 Principal Investigators (PI) must be affiliated with applicant organization
2 PIs and Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR)/Signing Officials (SO) need separate accounts in eRA Commons (even if the same person has both roles) because if an AOR/SO is given a PI’s role, it overrides the AOR/SO’s privileges such as the ability to reject an application, submit Just-In-Time information, etc.
3 Internet Assisted Review (IAR) registration is not enough. PIs must work through their institutions for full eRA Commons registration.
4 New organizations should allow extra time to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)

Each registration is a multi-step process. Allow for 2-4 weeks to complete these registrations.

New businesses [i.e. those applying to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) to complete the CCR registration] should start the process at least two months (eight weeks) prior to the grant submission date.

eRA Commons Registration

See Registering in Commons (Commons module)
Registration in eRA Commons
The applicant organization registers in Commons. The Principal Investigator registers in Commons through the organization’s Authorized Organizational Representative (also known as the Signing Official).
Steps involved:
- Step-by-step registration in Commons
- HHS demo on registering in Commons
- To check if the organization is already registered, go to the List of Commons Registered Organizations
For questions about the Commons registration process, contact:
The Commons help desk at 301-402-7469; toll-free at 1-866-504-9552
TTY at 301-451-5939 (business hours Mon-Fri 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.)

Grants.gov Registration

See Register (Grants.gov website)

Grants.gov requires a one-time registration by the applicant organization
Steps involved:
An applicant organization
- Obtains an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the Internal Revenue Service. If your organization does not have an EIN, then you should start the registration process at least two months (eight weeks) prior to the grant submission date.
- Requests a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number.
- Registers the Organization and the E-Business Point of Contact (e-Biz POC) with the Central Contract Registration (CCR) (renewable annually).
- Authorizes the organization’s representatives (AORs).
An AOR:
- Registers with the Credential Provider at Grants.gov.
- Registers with Grants.gov.
An e-Biz POC:
- Approves the AOR.
- For more information, go to Get Started (Grants.gov website).
For questions about the Grants.gov registration process, contact:
The Grants.gov Contact Center at Tel.: 1-800-518-4726. Contact Center hours of operation are Monday-Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Note: As a result of obtaining a DUNS number, you might be included on D&B’s marketing list that is sold to other companies [Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) is the commercial company that provides the DUNS number].”
If you do not want your name or company name included on this marketing list, D&B has asked that you contact them anytime at 1-866-705-5711 to request removal from that list.

Registration FAQs

See “Frequently Asked Questions – Prepare to Apply”

Important Tips

All Applicant Organizations need to be registered in Grants.gov and the HHS Commons well in advance of the submission date.
If an applicant has started the eRA Commons registration process at least two weeks in advance of the submission date, CDC will consider it a “good faith” effort to prepare for electronic submission and the applicant will not be penalized for any Commons-caused registration processing delay.
If an applicant organization does not have a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) or Employer Identification Number (EIN), allow for extra time to complete registration with Grants.gov. Since Oct. 30, 2005, the CCR also validates the EIN against Internal Revenue Service records [See http://www.ccr.gov/newsdetail.asp?id=7&type=N]. In such instances, start the registration process at least two months (eight weeks) before the grant submission date.
Applicant Organizations need to obtain a DUNS number and register with the Central Contract Registration before they can register with Grants.gov.
Principal Investigators do NOT need to register in Grants.gov but MUST be registered in the HHS eRA Commons prior to electronic submission of an application.
SOs must update their Institutional Profile in Commons
PIs must update their Personal Profile in Commons
The applicant organization must include its DUNS number in its Institutional Profile in the eRA Commons. This DUNS number must match the DUNS number provided at CCR registration with Grants.gov.
HHS requires the Principal Investigator to fill in his or her Commons User ID in the PD/PI section Credential log-in field on the Senior/Key Person Profile Component.

List of application checks (Generic Validations)

eRA Commons checks each application against a series of policy guidelines. Here is a summary listing of those generic validations

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