UNMC RESEARCH USER GROUP (RUG) GRANT DOCUMENTS & DEVELOPMENT Converting Word Documents to PDFs

RUG Planning Committee Linda Wilkie Institution Research Analyst-Coordinator Vice Chancellor for Research Kim Laursen IT Training Coordinator ITS Learning Environment/Internet Services Kirsten Stites Research/Education Service Manager Pathology & Microbiology Robin Taylor Project Coordinator Pharmacology & Experimental Neuroscience

Research User Needs  Grants  Writing, formatting, and converting Word documents to PDFs  Completion of forms and uploads in RAMS/grantsERA  Public Access Mandate  Graphics  Creation of charts, images, and figures  Use in lectures, posters, manuscripts, and grants  Presentations  PPT  Posters  Library research  Databases  Collection and storage of data in database  Security/Malware protection  RSS/CMMS animal studies  Branding compliance in research publications  Other

Sponsored Programs Administration Common Issues:  Electronic submission  Biosketch  Budgets  Resubmissions  RAMS/grantsERA

Today’s Session NIH SPONSORED GRANT APPLICATIONS:  Electronic submission processes  Pre-submission  Conversion  Submission  Discussion  Today’s topic  Future topics  Electronic submission processes  Pre-submission  Conversion  Submission

Instructions Filing System Grant Forms Documents Pre-Submission Process

Instructions Follow the program guidelines for the specific grant Read the program guidelines for the specific grant AND Before you start Get the program guidelines for the specific grant

Filing System  Keep filing system consistent  Suggested Samples Grants\PI Name\Grant Acronym\Year\File Name Grants\Rossi\RO1\2009\File Name Grants\Submitted\PI Name\Grant Acronym+Month&Year\File Name Grants\Submitted\Rossi\RO1June2009\File Name Create a folder named attachments and save your PDF files in that folder  More efficient Easier upload of attachments  More meaningful Now where is that submission I did two years ago?

What is in a name?  PDF File Title  Character limitations Number of Characters (≤ 30) No-No’s Spaces Hyphens Special characters Other punctuation Bad Example: The Voyage of the Be  gle/On the Origin of the Species!-Nat  ral Selection Good Example: DarwinAbstractR212009

Grant Forms  Grant is written and contained within a series of specific forms  Headers & Footers  PD/PI header  Form and page number footer  Most of grant is written and contained within a blank Word document(s)  Only a few specific forms  Biosketch  Human subject enrollment forms  No Headers & Footers Hard Copy Submissions: PHS 398 Electronic Submissions: SF424 (R&R)

SF424 (R&R)  Document Formatting  Margins = 0.5 inches  Font Style Type = Arial, Helvetica, Palatino Linotype, or Georgia Color = black Size ≥11 points (although captions can be smaller)  Do not include headers & footers Current system automatically generates a header with the name of the PD/PI and page numbers in sequential order for the footer - similar to PHS 398

Size Matters  Overall attachment size  > 0 byte  No max size, but can slow or stall submission Resize in Acrobat  Abstract  ≤ 30 lines  Narrative  2-3 sentences  Biosketch  ≤ 4 pages  No 2:2 rule currently  Research plan  RO1 = 25 pages  R21 = 15 pages  Resubmission Introduction RO1 = 3 page response R21 = 1 page response  Appendix  Follow the Program Guidelines

Writing & Formatting Research Plan  Create as a single document using any word processing software to track page limits  Write text  Use Item Headings within the document  Each item is a separate uploaded attachment within RAMS/grantsERA  Creates visual separation  Item Headings Introduction (if resubmission – not include in page limit) Specific Aims Background and Significance Preliminary Studies Research Design and Methods  Insert Section Break-Next Page between Item Headings while writing  More efficient during conversion process  Controls movement of figures  Format references and create bibliography  Insert figures

PDF files Converting Microsoft Word documents PDF file size Conversion Processes

PDF files  Portable Document Format (PDF)  Attachments are in PDF format SPA suggests Adobe Acrobat or higher Contact Work Station Support to get software  Avoid scanning text documents to produce the required PDFs  Remove all security features in the PDF document

Converting Microsoft Word documents  Open Word document that contains entire grant  Create PDF by…

PDF File Size  Double check individual PDF file sizes  RAMS/grantsERA - no set file size but large files slow down the submission of grant  Resize in Acrobat: Document Reduce File Size

RAMS/grantsERA Ready to Submit Submission Processes

RAMS/grantsERA  Open RSS

Ready to Submit Almost Done!  Save the final application document  Click “Validate” on Grant Application Package Screen  This checks for RAMS/grantsERA errors, not NIH-generated errors

Sponsored Program Administration - contact your representative Today’s session: Johna Belling: Kirsten Stites: Robin Taylor: Helpful Contacts

Software and Links  Software  Adobe Acrobat Professional 9.0 Work Station Support Help Desk (9-7000) sales.unl.edu $56.00  Links  NIH: Forms & Applications Avoiding Common Errors - PDF Issues  Sponsored Programs Administration Main Site: Rams User Manual:

Poster Presentations April 22, 2009 Bill Wassom – Printing Services Next RUG Session

Today’s Session Topics for further sessions Graphics for grants, manuscripts, and posters Grants Ideas? Discussion