1. Download PureEdge from Grants.gov if you are a Windows users. See the Citrix Solution for Grants.gov for Mac OS X document if you are a non-Windows user.
2. Search for the specific grant opportunity on the NIH website: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html
3. Download the specific instructions for the grant opportunity.
4. Click "Apply for Grant Electronically" within the specific instructions to download the NIH general instructions for the SF424 (R&R) forms and the grant application package. You can also download by opening Grants.gov and searching by the Funding Opportunity Number (do not search by CFDA number for NIH applications.)
5. Print or save the version provided of the NIH general instructions for the SF424 (R&R) forms. Save the application package locally to your desktop, serverÉ
6. Complete the application. Check for errors, fix any errors, and save it again.
7. Send application to RASP as an email attachment at Grants-gov@med.cornell.edu. The packages are often too large to send through Eudora so use the website transfer.med.cornell.edu. Also send internal forms to RASP at Grants-gov@med.cornell.edu (scan any forms that are signed) or bring them to Grants & Contracts (425 E 61st Street, suite 223) or the Institute for Clinical Research (1300 York Avenue, room A-131).
8. Work with your Grants and Contracts Specialist in RASP to edit your application as needed.
9. RASP will submit the application to Grants.gov on your behalf when it is complete.
10. Track the status of your submitted application package at Grants.gov or through the email messages sent from Grants.gov until you are notified via email by Grants.gov and then the NIH eRA Commons (https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/) that NIH has received it.
11. The NIH eRA Commons software then checks the application against NIH's business rules.
12. NIH notifies both the PI and RASP by email to check the NIH eRA Commons for results of the NIH validations check. Because email can be unreliable, PIs and RASP should periodically check the NIH eRA Commons for the status of an application.
13. The PI and RASP find out if the grant application passed or failed the rule check:


1. If it passed and everything is acceptable then no further action is necessary. The application will automatically move forward for processing by the Division of Receipt and Referral after two business days.
2. If it passed but the PI decides to edit and resubmit the application prior to the submission deadline, the PI can ask RASP to "Reject" the application. The PI then submits, through a RASP, a changed/corrected application, including a cover letter that provides the Grants.gov tracking number for the original submission and an explanation for why the corrected application is required, within two business days. This option should be used if the PI determines that warnings should be addressed.
3. If it passed but the PI decides to edit and resubmit the application after the submission deadline, the PI can ask RASP to "Reject" the application. This option should be used if, due to an eRA Commons or Grants.gov system issue, 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). The PI should contact the RASP Grants Specialist who will then contact the NIH eRA Commons Helpdesk (http://ithelpdesk.nih.gov/eRA/) to confirm the system error, document the issue, and determine the best course of action. NIH will not penalize the applicant for an eRA Commons or Grants.gov system issue. . The PI must include a cover letter that provides the Grants.gov tracking number for the original submission and an explanation for why the corrected application is required.
4. If it passed but the PI chooses to ask RASP to "Reject" the application after the submission deadline for a reason other than an eRA Commons or Grants.gov system failure, a changed/corrected application can be submitted through RASP. However, the application will be subject to the NIH late policy guidelines and may not be accepted. The PI should explain the reason for this delay in the cover letter attachment. The PI must include a cover letter that provides the Grants.gov tracking number for the original submission and an explanation for the reason for this delay.
5. If it did not pass validation, a list of the errors and warnings appears in the NIH eRA Commons. The PI must fix the errors (and any warnings that the PI chooses to addressed) and then submit, through RASP, a changed/corrected application within two business days. The PI must include a cover letter that provides the Grants.gov tracking number for the original submission and an explanation for why the corrected application is required.
   
   Note: To be on time, NIH grant applications must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. local time on the receipt date and then pass Grants.gov validation. Eventually, on time will mean that a "clean" application (i.e., pass Grants.gov and eRA Commons validations without errors) is submitted to Grants.gov by 5:00 p.m. local time on the receipt date. During this transition/learning period, we can submit changed/corrected applications in the two business days following the submission deadline, provided the changes made are needed to correct errors encountered during the eRA Commons validation process. This is not for tweaking the content of a research plan, but for working through specific errors identified through validation.


14. Both the PI and RASP will receive e-mail notifications when the application is rejected or when the application automatically moves forward in the process after two business days.
15. After the application moves forward, the NIH eRA Commons saves the data and grant image, and NIH begins processing the application.
16. Applicants can now track the progress of their application on the NIH eRA Commons.

NOTE: To submit a changed/corrected application, the PI makes the necessary changes, writes and uploads a cover letter explaining the reason for the changes, and submits the entire corrected application by repeating steps 6 Ð 13.

NOTE: The word warning characterizes any condition that is acceptable, but worthy of bringing to the applicant's attention. It is at the applicant's discretion whether a warning condition requires any action. Warnings do not stop further application processing. If an application submission results in warnings (but no errors), it will automatically move forward after two business days if no action is taken.