Managed by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Grants.gov is an E-Government initiative that facilitates 1,000 different grant programs across more than two dozen federal grant-making agencies.
Principal investigators (PIs) may use Grants.gov to search for opportunities, download funding opportunity forms and instructions. As of January 1, 2018, Grants.gov requires that proposals are submitted through the Grants.gov Workspace. A Grants.gov user account is required in order to create a Workspace proposal.
It is important to read and follow the funding opportunity instructions since different agencies require different information and have their own formatting requirements.
PIs should coordinate with their SAM administrators throughout the proposal process to make sure all parts of the application are completed per the guidelines for a successful submission. To ensure timely proposal submission, PIs should submit their proposals for final “Institutional Review” in USCeRA a minimum of three business days before the proposal submission deadline [pdf].
SAM recommends that PIs initiate "Institutional Review" at least five business days ahead of the submission deadline for proposal submissions via Grants.gov Workspace. This will allow ample time to work out any issues within the Grants.gov system.
Getting Started with Grants.gov Workspace
Any persons who will be involved in the development of a proposal package submitted through Grants.gov Workspace must be registered in Grants.gov and have an Organizational Profile linked to UofSC. Follow the instructions in the Steps for Grants.gov Workspace Registration [pdf] to register.
The Grants.gov system requires certain security settings and the use of specific versions of Adobe reader. (There is more than one compatible version.) To review these technical requirements, check your workstation compatibility and find links to download the necessary software, visit the Grants.gov Adobe Software Compatibility page.
To search for funding opportunities, go to Grants.gov and click on the Search Grants tab. Enter the search criteria and click the Search button. Once the desired opportunity is displayed, then click on the Package tab and select Apply under the Actions column.