NIH ASSIST Application Procedures

1. InfoEd eRA Electronic Routing Form must be completed and include the following information:
   1. ASSIST Application Identifier (This helps the OGC Preaward Specialist identify the SF424 Application Package in NIH)
   2. NIH Funding Opportunity Number
2. Must complete summary budget in PD File in InfoEd eRA (Must Include direct, indirect and total cost for all years)
3. Must include Excel file of internal detailed budget (Upload in UCD|AMC Documents Tab in PD)
4. Complete SF424 Application Package must be ready to preview in NIH ASSIST
   1. It is not required to include the SF424 application package as part of the InfoEd eRA routing
   2. OGC PreAward Specialist will retrieve SF424 Application Package that is available in NIH ASSIST at the time the routing is received
   3. Proposal review will be delayed for all applications where the SF424 Application Package cannot be retrieved from NIH ASSIST​
      

OGC ERA Support

1. Provide assistance with UC Denver’s electronic routing process in InfoEd eRA if needed
2. OGC eRA will be unable to provide technical support since NIH ASSIST is a Federal system

NIH eRA Commons Helpdesk

1. Provide technical assistance to troubleshoot any systems issues that involve NIH ASSIST System
   

OGC PreAward Specialist

1. Retrieve the SF424 Application Package from NIH ASSIST at the time of routing and save in InfoEd eRA PT file
2. Review routed SF424 Application Package in accordance with the policies and procedures outlined by the University, SF424 Application Guide and proposal Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)Announcement (FOA)
3. Provide assistance with interpreting SF424 Application Guide if needed.
4. Provide assistance with interpreting the FOA if needed
5. Provide assistance with programmatic proposal development questions as they arise
   

Roles and Responsibilities of the School/Department Staff

1. Complete the SF424 Application Package in accordance with the policies and procedures outlined by the University, SF424 application guide and the proposal FOA
2. Review SF424 Application Guide
3. Review NIH ASSIST User Guide
4. Review proposal FOA
5. Route the SF424 Application Package so that it is received by OGC no later than 12 business days prior to the application due date
6. Include an internal detailed budget for review
7. Add all personnel to the personnel tab in the InfoEd eRA PD file to ensure they are compliant with the PHS COI policy
8. Ensure InfoEd eRA Routing Form has the necessary NIH ASSIST application information for the OGC reviewer to retrieve the SF424 Application Package from NIH ASSIST (FOA Number and application identifier)
   1. The application identifier should be included in the ‘Notes’ section of the InfoEd eRA routing form
   2. The FOA number should be included in the 'Sponsoring/Funding Agency Information' section under 'Funding Opportunity Number (e.g. PA, FOA, etc.)' on the InfoEd eRA routing form
9. Ensure a preview of the SF424 application of the proposal is able to be generated in NIH ASSIST at the time of routing for review
   1. The entire SF424 Application Package must be complete and in final format except for the scientific portions
   2. The department will need to work with the eRA Commons helpdesk if they are unable to generate a preview prior to routing
   3. All routings where a preview is unable to be generated by OGC will be returned to the department for completion (OGC PreAward Specialists are unable to review SF424 Application Packages that cannot be previewed in NIH ASSIST)
10. Work with eRA Commons helpdesk to troubleshoot any technical issues that may arise during the proposal development process​
    

1. InfoEd eRA proposal submissions include full technical and programmatic support from proposal development to submission. This includes the InfoEd eRA support team, UIS technical support and, if needed, the vendor InfoEd Global
2. OGC will only be able to provide programmatic support for NIH ASSIST proposals
3. The PI/Department Staff will need to coordinate all necessary technical support through the eRA Commons Helpdesk for NIH ASSIST proposals
4. InfoEd eRA automatically pulls institutional data into the application as follows. This data will have to be entered manually for proposals completed in NIH ASSIST
   1. Institutional Data
      1. Legal Institutional Name
      2. DUNS Number/UEI
         
      3. Employer Identification Number
      4. Type of Applicant
      5. Congressional District
      6. Performance Site address
   2. People Data - This data consists of name, address, job title, department, phone, fax, email, and the NIH eRA Commons ID for the following:
      1. UCD Principal Investigator
      2. All other proposal personnel
      3. Subcontractor Personnel
      4. OGC Contact Person (Garrett Steed)
         
      5. OGC Authorized Representative (Garrett Steed)
   3. Budget Data - InfoEd eRA populates budget data as follows
      1. Persons name, job title, department
      2. UCD F&A Rates
5. InfoEd eRA Profiles - The people and institutional data in InfoEd eRA is constantly updated as people, departments and roles change. When people leave UCD, their profiles are inactivated. When people are hired, they get a profile. When people move between departments, that data is updated. All of the data sites within the UCD Organization chart, ensure that the department data is accurate and up to date
6. Proposal Routing - Proposal routing will have to be changed to the UCD Template rather than the NIH Template which requires additional steps for adding people to proposal personnel tab in InfoEd eRA for routing purposes
7. Access to proposal while in development – While ASSIST does have a feature allowing for others to access the proposal in the ASSIST portal while under development, it is not as widely available. With InfoEd eRA, department administrators, chairs and deans can all see the details of the proposal while under development in InfoEd eRA. To accommodate this in ASSIST would require an additional step by the Department Administrator of the PI to manually add access for additional personnel. The person would then have to login to ASSIST to view the proposal data
   

​Funding Opportunity Announcement – official notice of a grant funding opportunity

InfoEd eRA - The InfoEd eRA Portal is the official web-based electronic research administration system adopted by the University of Colorado to mana​ge the research lifecycle from start to finish including proposal application and submission, sponsor award, renewals and project closeouts. This system enables faculty, administrators and staff to efficiently track grants and contracts through its life span with 24-7 availability

InfoEd eRA PD (Proposal Development) File – Module in InfoEd eRA portal used for preparing and submitting a proposal

InfoEd eRA PT (Proposal Tracking) File – Module in InfoEd eRA portal used for tracking and reporting on proposal data. Provides up to date review status and stores proposal attachments

Multi-Project Application - A Multi-Project Application is a single submission with multiple, interrelated components that share a common focus or objective. Examples are P01, P30, P50 U54, etc

NIH ASSIST – NIH’s web-based system used to prepare applications using the SF424 Research and Related form set and to submit electronically through Grants.gov to NIH and other participating agencies. Technical support for this system is managed by the eRA Commons Helpdesk

NIH ASSIST Application Identifier - Unique, system-generated number assigned to the application in NIH ASSIST. Located under ‘Application Information’ on the ‘Summary’ tab in NIH ASSIST

NIH ASSIST User Guide – Discusses the step by step process for preparing an application in NIH ASSIST. Applications should refer to the SF424 Application Guide for instructions on how to complete all the option and required forms in the SF424 Application Package

SF424 Application Guide – Used as a companion document to the SF424 Application Package. Includes instructions for all option and required forms

SF424 Application Package – Consist of the forms required by the SF424 Application guide and Funding Opportunity Announcement

Single Project Application - discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing the investigator's specific interest and competencies, based on the mission of the NIH. Examples are R01, R03, R21, etc

System to System (S2S) Submission – The proposal application is transferred electronically from the UC Denver InfoEd eRA interface directly to Grants.gov or other participating sponsor portals​