1. PDS and Grants.Gov updates November 2007 RA Forum

2. Grants.gov PureEdge and AdobeForms Grants.gov has been transitioning from Ggov 2006 to Ggov 2007. Primarily this occurred during August and September of this year. What does that means to us?  Grants.gov is replacing PureEdge with AdobeForms  We will be using both during the transition. Choice will be dictated when manually downloading the FOA outside of PDS for non-S2S submissions. Biggest differences:  Looks and feels much the same as PureEdge  Employs Adobe functionality (ie: fillable forms, drop down selection, etc..)  You must move the form from left to right side of package before opening  Package is one big PDF form – so can scroll down through entire package  Hi-lights error with yellow – but has a red outline

3. Adobe Forms – Sample Package

4. Adobe Forms – Sample Cover Page

5. Grants.gov PureEdge and AdobeForms (cont) Initially, this required Adobe READER vers 7.0.9 As of 10.22.07 both 7.0.9 and 8.1.1 are supported: Grants.gov now supports the latest version of Adobe Reader (8.1.1), which is available for free download from the Adobe Website. Grants.gov continues to support Adobe Reader version 7.0.9. Only these two versions should be used when submitting grant applications. Other Adobe Reader versions are not supported. NOTE: These specific Adobe requirements refer to Adobe READER only. This is required for completing proposal packages using AdobeForms in the same way you would have used PureEdge. You may continue to generatePDF attachments (ie: cover letter, biosketch, research plan, etc.) for PureEdge, AdobeForms and PDS S2S using the same software. For Adobe and PureEdge FAQ’s navigate to: www.grants.govwww.grants.gov >About Grants.gov >Program Status >Program Status Archive >2007 >http://www.grants.gov/assets/AdobePEFAQs.pdfhttp://www.grants.gov/assets/AdobePEFAQs.pdf

6. Transition from Ggov 2006 to 2007 We must transition PDS S2S from Ggov 2006 to 2007 as well. We expect this transition to be transparent for the actual submission. However… As of 10.24.07 based on information provided from NIH: Applications submitted through the 2007 system will result in application images that look like the Adobe forms themselves - it has all the boxes and even the "Close Form", "Next", "Print Page" and "About" buttons across each page. Since all PureEdge applications come in through the 2006 system, the image generated for those applications will look different (like the actual hard copy form – as we are accustom) than any that come in S2S from the 2007 system, even for the same Funding Opportunity Announcement. (This will be resolved) For now, we (NIH) suggest that S2S systems continue to use the 2006 system in production to submit applications to NIH.

7. Grants.gov - Microsoft Vista Compatibility WU has the Proposal Development system (PDS) we use for assembling and submitting proposals - an internally developed/delivered application. We also utilize software packages provided by Grants.gov for this purpose. The two software products are PureEdge and Adobe Forms. Each are downloaded and function independent of PDS as desktop software. We have been utilizing PureEdge for well over a year now and will soon begin using AdobeForms (the replacement for PureEdge). We anticipate this transition from PureEdge to Adobe forms will occur over the next several months. During that time, we expect both will be utilized as needed. Grants.gov has published information outlining the compatibility issues of Vista with the products they offer and ways to address any problems: http://www.grants.gov/assets/Vista_and_office_07_Compatibility.pdf NOTE: AdobeForms relies on a specific version of Adobe Reader 7.0.9 or 8.1.1 Several other versions of Adobe may continue to be used to generate.PDF attachments (ie: cover letters, biosketches, science, etc..) NOTE: Office 2007 considerations are included in this document due to the fact that external documents (ie: science) are prepared and included as attachments to the research proposals that are prepared and submitted using PureEdge or Adobe Forms. Since Office 2007 has introduced new file formats/extensions (ie: DOCX, XLSX and PPTX), I believe this is the primary concern. However, internally, we all attachments must be in.PDF format which should reduce/eliminate this as a concern. But, still something of which to be aware.

8. NIH Items of Interest - Changes to eRA Commons submission status messages eRA Commons status changes: NIH will be updating the eRA Commons Status software on October 26, 2007 with a new look and functionality. This new version of Status incorporates user-requested features that will provide additional tracking capabilities and better application organization for improved system performance: New search feature: Ability to search for and track electronically submitted applications from the Status screen using the Grants.gov tracking number. The Grants.gov tracking number will continue to be searchable throughout the lifecycle of the application/grant - even after the NIH assigns its own application ID (i.e., accession number or grant number). Reorganization of the application/grant data into two separate sections: Grouping of multiple submission attempts for a single application. Provides a cleaner screen view and consolidated submission history. http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/news_aor_10-16-07.htm Revised text for eRA Commons e-mail notification changes: Revised text for the email notifications sent by NIH during the eSubmission process has been posted on the eSubmission website. The text was revised to match the new Commons Status screen. Note that the text of the last two notifications in the chart remains unchanged. http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/submit_app.htm#4

9. General Information: SSN visibility and usage in PDS – potential for Ggov XXX-XX-1234 format Package size and Individual Attachment sizes Visit the Grants.gov web site www.grants.gov to keep up with the latestwww.grants.gov Grants.gov support - hours of operations are Monday – Friday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST Peak Periods, Late Night, Weekend and Holiday submissions Be familiar with all submission methodologies, PureEdge, AdobeForms, S2S Be sure to View Attachments and Preview Forms Submit Early!

10. PDS Submission Statistics as of 11.06.07 Proposal Development System (PDS) was originally implemented in pilot October 2006. In full production, January 2007. Our recent round of November 5th submissions put us up over the 1000 milestone in terms of total number of S2S submissions. A goal has been to improve the potential of our applications reaching Grants.gov and then the agency - first time, error free. The goal for Grants.gov has been 100% and, ideally, the agency should fall in the 80% to 90% range as there are many reasons (other than errors) that a proposal might be withdrawn and resubmitted to the agency. In reviewing, our initial rounds of submissions (10.20.06 thru 03.15.07)..... Our stat for getting proposals to grants.gov error free started at 87% Our stat for getting proposals to the agency the first time started at 62% We have been seeing improvements as we gained experience and made adjustments to the application and process. And, in reviewing the most recent round of submissions (10.06.07 thru 11.05.07)..... Our stat for getting proposals to grants.gov without errors increased to 99% from 90% and Our stat for getting proposals to the agency the first time increased to 76% from 67% as compared to the prior submission period.

11. QUESTIONS ?? Thank You!