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Frequently Asked Questions

1. How far in advance do I have to submit my grant application to Grants & Contracts?
2. How should I transmit my e-Grant Proposal to Grants and Contracts?
3. If I have a question, who should my point of contact be at GCA under the new team structure?
4. Is there a way for me to find out the status of my grant or contract online without having to take time away from my GCA Team members?
5. Where can I find NIH applications?
6. How can I save fillable PDF forms? It won't work in Acrobat Reader. Help!
7. How can I find out about NIH Career Development Awards?
8. Do I have to use the new NIH forms? Is it okay to mix the NIH forms?
9. Where can I get the ProSum?
10. Who has to sign the ProSum?
11. Who is the Institutional Official who signs grants?
12. What documents are required in order for the Office of Grant and Contract Administration (GCA) to review, approve and submit a proposal?
13. Where can I find information on fringe benefit rates and stipend rates?
14. How long does it take to obtain animal care and human subjects approvals?
15. What is COI?
16. Who is required to take Human Subjects Training?
17. Who processes Material Transfer Agreements (MTA) at Yale University?
18. Who can be a PI (principal investigator) on a grant?
19. What is the difference between a postdoctoral associate and a postdoctoral fellow?
20. Where can I find information and instructions for submitting proposals through Grants.gov?
21. Where can I find information about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act at Yale University?
22. Per NIH Notice NOT-0D-09-139 dated August 29, 2009, NIH revised its PHS 2590. What significant changes were made to the Biographical Sketch?
23. What are the requirements of NIH's New All Personnel Report?
24. What happens if a Postdoc is a PI on an NIH individual fellowship application and is a Postdoc on another investigator's grant? Is there a need for two eRA Commons User IDs?
25. Who processes award set-ups for the University?

1. How far in advance do I have to submit my application to Grants & Contracts?
   University policy requires 5 (five) working days to review your grant application. There are a large number of applications flowing through our office daily. The five day requirement allows us to review your application properly for compliance and other administrative issues, and allows for time needed to resolve any potential problems.
2. How should I transmit my e-Grant proposal to GCA?
   GCA has seen rapid growth in the number of electronic proposals transmitted to its office. We want to help you ensure that each proposal you send to our office is received, reviewed and submitted to the sponsor in a timely manner. The File Transfer Facility (FTF), which is accessed at http://www.yale.edu/its/email/transfer.html, is a great tool to submit e-Grant proposals to GCA. Please read our GCAlert! article entitled, Transmitting e-Grant Proposals to GCA for more information about how to work around the one email address limitation of the FTF.
3. If I have a question, who should my point of contact be at GCA under the new team structure?
   Questions about administrative matters involved in a sponsored program that cannot be readily answered from a basic understanding of policies and regulation, or from consulting the GCA Log, should be directed to the GCA Team Leader or her designee. The Team Leader or designee is responsible for providing guidance on regulatory, policy or administrative measures. Often providing a through answer requires some investigation or internal consultation at GCA. Once an answer is known, the Team Leader or designee will convey the answer to the interested party.
4. Is there a way for me to find out the status of my grant or contract online without having to take time away from my GCA Team members?
   GCA has an electronic log showing the status of all work currently assigned to any of the teams. ITS gives online access to the GCA Log when the Department Business Office approves an individual's request. Interested parties are encouraged to consult the GCA Log before calling or emailing the GCA tam simply to find out the status of their proposal or award. Refer to our GCA Log Instructions and Form to Request Access to the Log, for more information.
5. Where can I find NIH applications?
   NIH applications are available from the NIH site at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm as always. But, you might just want to stop in at the Forms page of our Grant & Contract Administration website at http://www.yale.edu/grants/forms/ for forms that already have standard Yale information inserted.
6. How can I save fillable PDF forms? It won't work in Acrobat Reader. Help!
   Please see your department’s business manager for a copy of the current version of Adobe Acrobat. Copies can be obtained through the ITS Computing and Media Center located at SHM I-E90 at a very reasonable price. (http://www.yale.edu/its/help/cmc.html)
7. How can I find out about NIH Career Development Awards?
   Go to the K Kiosk for a list and description of all Career Development awards. http://grants.nih.gov/training/careerdevelopmentawards.htm
8. Do I have to use the current NIH forms?
   The current forms (rev. 06/09) are required. Applications using older forms will be returned.
9. Where can I get the ProSum?
   The Proposal Summary & Certification Form are available at: http://www.yale.edu/grants/forms/docs/ProposalSummaryandCertificationForm.xls
10. Who has to sign the ProSum?
    Your Department Chair, Department Business Administrator, and the Business Administrators of any departments with which collaborators are attached if those collaborators are providing effort under the grant application.
11. Who is the Institutional Official who signs grants?
    Your department's Grant & Contract Manager, Grant & Contract Administration
12. What documents are required in order for the Office of Grant and Contract Administration (GCA) to review, approve and submit a proposal?
    To help facilitate the proposal review process, GCA would like to remind faculty and departments that the following documents are required in order for GCA to review, approve and submit a proposal: 1) A completed and signed Proposal Summary and Certification Form (ProSum), 2) Grant application, 3) In-house budget, 4) PI Exemption Form (if applicable), 4) Current VA MOU (if applicable), 5) Subrecipient documentation (if application). The ProSum, in-house budget and other relevant documents must accompany each (i.e. new, revised, renewal, supplementary, continuation) proposal routed to your GCA Team. Once all materials are received, GCA will review the entire proposal package. Please remember that the ProSum must be completed and signed by the PI, as this provides certification that he information contained in the proposal and on the ProSum is accurate, complete and in compliance with Yale University and sponsor policies. GCA is not authorized to submit proposals to external sponsors without the assurances provided on the completed and signed ProSum.
13. Where can I find information on fringe benefit rates and stipend rates?
    Please contact your department's business administrator for current rates.
14. How long does it take to obtain animal care and human subjects approvals?
    Typically, this can take several months. Please check directly with the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at http://iacuc.yale.edu and the YSM Human Investigation Committee (HIC) at http://info.med.yale.edu/hic/ or the Yale Human Subjects Committee (HSC) at http://www.yale.edu/hsc/ for procedures to obtain approval and an estimated time for approval.
15. What is COI?
    COI is the acronym for Conflict of Interest. Yale University requires annual disclosure of Conflict of Interest. This must be in place and current before any award can be activated at Yale. See: http://www.yale.edu/provost/html/coi.html for policy and disclosure statements.
16. Who is required to take Human Subjects Training?
    All key personnel involved with the conduct or design of research involving human subjects. Please go to the following links for additional information: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-00-039.html http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/hs_educ_faq.htm
    Training Management System (TMS), click on Human Subjects Training
17. Who processes MTAs at Yale University?
    Incoming MTAs and Outgoing MTAs to academic and non-profit institutions are negotiated and signed by the Grant & Contract Administration (GCA) Office. Complete information and forms required for Material Transfers are available at: http://www.yale.edu/grants/mta/.
18. Who can be a PI (principal investigator) on a grant?
    Per the Faculty Handbook, a principal investigator on a grant must be employed full-time by the University and hold an appointment as assistant professor, associate professor, professor, research scientist/scholar, or senior research scientist/scholar. Exceptions require approval of the Provost, or where appropriate, the dean of the relevant professional school. (In some cases, the Provost or dean may delegate approval to the department chair.) See: Faculty Handbook, item X.B.1.f. at: http://www.yale.edu/provost/handbook/handbook_x__university_policies
    _concerni.html#T3
    See: PI Exemption ~ Review of Proposals from Individuals Who Require Special Approval to Serve as PI (including form) at: http://www.yale.edu/grants/forms/docs/PI-exemption.doc
19. What is the difference between a Postdoctoral Associate and Postdoctoral Fellow?
    The primary difference is that Postdoctoral Associates are funded internally while Postdoctoral Fellows are funded with external funds.
20. Where can I find information and instructions for submitting proposals through Grants.gov?
    Grants & Contracts has posted a user-friendly site addressing Grants.gov procedures and training at: http://www.yale.edu/grants/grantsdotgov/.
21. Where can I find information about the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act at Yale University?
    The Office of Grant and Contract Administration has created a webpage at http://www.yale.edu/grants/funding_info/ARRA.html which is entirely devoted to the ARRA of 2009. As information becomes available about implementation of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), it is posted to the "ARRA" webpage.
22. Per NIH NOT-OD-09-139 dated August 29, 2009, NIH revised its PHS 2590. What significant changes were made to the Biographical Sketch?
    A personal statement has been added. The statement is for the senior/key personnel to address why their experience and qualifications make them particularly well-suited for their role on the project. The instructions for the biosketch have been updated to encourage applicants to limit the list of publications to no more than 15. Reminder: A new biosketch is only required as part of the progress report for new senior/key personnel since the previous submission.
23. What are the requirements of NIH's New All Personnel Report?
    The Senior/Key Personnel Report has been replaced by the New All Personnel Report (Form Page 7) which collects information for ALL personnel who participate in the project for at lease one person month or more. The All Personnel Report also implements the new NIH requirement that all individuals with a postdoctoral role with one person month or more of measurable effort must have an eRA Commons User ID. (See NIH Guide NOT-O9-OD-140 for details and background on this new requirement).
24. What happens if a Postdoc is a PI on an NIH individual fellowship application and is a Postdoc on another investigator's grant? Is there a need for two eRA Commons User IDs?
    No. They do not need two eRA Commons User IDs but do need to have multiple roles associated with their Commons ID. To expedite the process of establishing these additional roles, a list of those PIs which need to have a Postdoc role should be sent to your GCA Team (GCAT) mailbox as early as possible.
25. Who processes award setups for the University?
    The Office of Grant and Contract Administration and the Award Set-up Unit (ASU) are in the process of integrating operations. The consolidated ASU is responsible for compliance checks and establishment of sponsored accounts for both YSM and central campus sponsored awards and is committed to applying consistent business processes for award set-ups and compliance checks University-wide. The ASU is comprised of two groups: 1) ASU Compliance and 2) ASU Set-up. Please refer to Volume 3, Issue 3 of our GCAlert! for more information about the organization of the ASU.