The National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest funder of biomedical research in the world and one of eleven divisions that fall under the US Department of Health and Human Services. It is the US medical research agency and makes important discoveries that improve heath and saves lives. The NIH is made up of 27 different components called Institutes and Centers. Each has its own specific research agenda, focusing on particular diseases or body systems. All but three of these components receive their funding directly from Congress and administrate their own budgets. NIH organisational chart can be found here. 

The NIH is Imperials most commonly applied to US Federal Funding agency and we hold many awards both as Lead (Pass-Through Entity), and as a Partner (Subrecipient). The submission process has many unique features which will be explained below in this step-by-step guide.  

 

HOW TO APPLY FOR NIH FUNDING

Request an eRA Commons account

Applicants will first require an eRA commons user account to submit an application for NIH funding to Grants.gov using this submission platform. These details are mandatory to access the ASSIST portal. The Application Submission System & Interface for Submission Tracking (ASSIST) system on the eRA Commons platform is used to prepare and submit NIH applications (and those for other Public Health Service agencies) electronically to Grants.gov.  

All investigators applying for NIH funding must have an eRA Commons account regardless of whether Imperial is the lead institution. Account set-up's can be requested via email  from the Research Office.  Once an account has been requested, the RO systems team will create the account and the applicant will receive automated emails with username and password details.  

Imperial’s preferred submission route is via eRA commons as this method supports both single and multi-project grant applications as well as allowing control over application access for support staff.  If an applicant intends to submit their application by creating and submitting a Workspace document directly on Grants.gov (and will therefore not submit via the eRA Commons platform), then they will need to register for a Grants.gov account and follow the guidance here. NOTE; NIH has no visibility and cannot help with issues encountered in Workspace 

The NIH have a useful webpage which highlights the options and key features of submitting either by ASSIST/eRA Commons route or Grants.gov/Workspace here  

NIH Policy Specifics