Proposal Preparation

Electronic Proposal Submission and Registration Information

A wide range of sponsors requires proposals to be submitted online; this requirement is typically indicated in the sponsor's program announcements or the sponsor's web site.

Grants.gov:

• Several federal agencies require applications to be submitted via grants.gov.
• To apply for a federal grant, you will need to inform our office what grant you are applying for so we can download a grant application package  for you. Once the application package is downloaded, our office will guide you through the steps of submitting your proposal.  An overview of the process of applying through grants.gov can be found here.
• Your application is sent on behalf of the President and Fellows of Harvard College and, therefore, you are not required to register on grants.gov as an individual. 
  
  When your application package gets submitted by HU-OSP, grants.gov will generate an automated email message to indicate the package was received. Please note your application package may not be accepted by grants.gov due to compliance issues. This is why it is important to follow the submission steps for accuracy.  Our experienced staff will guide you through the application process.

NSF FastLane:

• The National Science Foundation has its own portal for proposal submissions called FastLane. While a PI's application is submitted on behalf of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, each PI needs to have an individual user name and password to apply through FastLane.
• Similar to grants.gov, FastLane allows a grant seeker to submit, review, and track his/her proposal in the system.
• In order to apply for an NSF grant, an applicant needs to register through Harvard University and be affiliated with the school. Registration is completed by HU-OSP. Please contact our office if you need to be registered prior to applying for an NSF grant. The following is the information needed for registration in FastLane:
• Applicant's full name
• Applicant's email address
• Applicant's most recent degree and graduation year
• Upon registration, an email is generated with the user name and password.
• Once an applicant locates the funding opportunity s/he is interested in applying, our office will assist with submission. It is recommended the applicants supply our office with their user name and password so we can enter all the data in FastLane upon submission.
• Once a proposal is complete in FastLane, the PI (or our office) will give access to the proposal by clicking on "Give SRO Access," thereby allowing HU-OSP to review and submit the proposal, as the final steps of the proposal submission.
• In addition to allowing proposal submissions, FastLane allows tracking the proposal status, proposal resubmission, and submissions of a revised budget and no-cost extension.
• To read more information about FastLane, please click here . 

NIH eRA Commons:

• Whereas most NIH proposals must be submitted through grants.gov, NIH eRA Commons serves as a portal for managing current NIH grants. All those who are funded through the NIH must be registered in eRA Commons and be affiliated with the school. Registration is completed through HU-OSP. Please contact our office if you need to be registered in eRA Commons. The link to NIH eRA Commons can be found here.
• In order for a PI to use NIH eRA Commons, s/he must register with the following information:
• First and last name
• Social security number
• E-mail address
• Birth date
• Prior NIH support (Yes/No)
  
• Once a proposal is submitted to the NIH, the following link provides the information on tracking the proposal: Electronic Receipt.
• In addition to tracking a submitted NIH proposal, eRA Commons requires a PI to submit all reports related to the award through this portal. 

NASA NSPIRES:

• NASA has its own portal called NSPIRES. Whereas proposals to NASA can be submitted either through NSPIRES or grants.gov, the Notice of Intent (NOI) can be submitted only through NSPIRES.
• Here are the registration instructions:
• Go to http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/
• Click on either: "Getting an Account" or "Registration Information"
• On next page, click "Begin Registration"
• Complete all required fields for each registration page, there will be multiple pages to compete.  Note: When searching for affiliated institutions use President and Fellows of Harvard College
• Once registration has been completed, submit registration request
• HU-OSP will be notified by email that the request has been made and will finish the registration process 

Harvard Financial Applications

GMAS

GMAS (Grants Management Application Suite) is utilized to store and process all data and information related to sponsored projects. The application is web-based and serves to connect those involved in and responsible for sponsored research administration.

GMAS provides participants with critical visibility and robust information. Faculty, grant managers, department administrators, school and central administrators are supported with access to one system that pulls together the work performed during the life of a sponsored award.

To request access to GMAS, the form (insert link or upload the form) needs to be completed and sent to Eric Asetta (insert link from the SEAS directory)

CREW

CREW is a parameter-driven system that draws data from a variety of sources, which are updated on a nightly basis. Types of CREW reports include financial, budget, receivables, HR management, benefits, costing, payroll, pension, security, grants management, and sponsored reports. Users can submit report requests for immediate processing or schedule reports to automatically run on a recurring basis.

Obtaining access to CREW needs to be coordinated with Thomas Bourgeois.

HCOM

The Harvard Crimson Online Marketplace (HCOM) is a procurement and vendor payment system that approves purchases in a more efficient workflow and provides access to selected vendor inventories.

Web Voucher

Web Voucher is a web-based tool for processing vendor invoices and fees, reimbursements to employees and non-employees, direct payments to JPMC Corporate Card on behalf of cardholders, employee travel advances, travel authorizations, honoraria to invited guests, and to replenish petty cash accounts. You can also use Web Voucher to look up the payment details and account coding of previously submitted vouchers.

Proposal Checklists

Not all sponsoring agencies require the same information when submitting a sponsored proposal, so below are different checklist forms to assist you in submitting your proposal to a selected agency:

• NASA Checklist
• NSF Checklist
• NIH R01 proposal
• General Checklist Form for Any Type of Proposal

Make sure to double check the program announcement under which a proposal is submitted for any additional or deviating submission requirements.

Commonly requested proposal information

• Corporate/Legal Name (Applicant Name): President and Fellows of Harvard College on behalf of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
• Address:
  Harvard University
  Office for Sponsored Programs
  Holyoke Center, Suite 600
  1350 Massachusetts Ave.
  Cambridge, MA 02138-3800
• Type of Organization - Corporate Status: Private non-profit educational institution incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts
  Tax Status: Tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code: letter dated September 14, 1993
• IRS Employer (Entity) Identification Number (EIN): 04-2103580N, University Area NIH proposals only: 1-042103580 B1
• Dun & Brandstreet (DUNS) Number: General 082359691
• OMB State Single Point of Contact Status: Massachusetts is NOT a single point of contact state, and is not subject to Executive Order 12372.
• Cognizant Federal Government Audit Agency: Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

Budget Information

Overhead rates (University Area)

Fringe rates

*includes the vacation assessment rate

Graduate student tuition rates

*Confirmed; amounts thereafter are projected

Updated: January 21, 2011