The hundreds of large grant packets that Tufts submits annually to the National Institute of Health (NIH) may soon disappear with a new electronic submission system.
More than 50,000 researchers split $13.5 billion in grant awards annually from the NIH, including many Tufts students and faculty.
The NIH receives more than two million pieces of paper each year in the submission of these applications. The amount of paper used has led to a recent Congressional mandate directing all federal agencies to transfer to electronic systems.
"Historically the NIH applications have been submitted on paper in large packages with many copies. The goal is to move this to electronic systems," said Peggy Newell, the Associate Provost for Reasearch.
In response to this demand, The NIH has established a new branch called the Electronic Research Administration (eRA). The eRA's mission is to develop the paperless grant application system.
Tufts must make its system compatible with the NIH. "Currently we are working on a new grant management system to interface with the federal government, and we are looking at various systems, but it takes a lot of time to put together such a new system. Unfortunately time is of the essence," Murphy said.
Last year alone, Tufts submitted 390 applications to the NIH. According to Paul Murphy, Director of Research Administration, Tufts "plans on moving forward with the NIH's new procedures."
Murphy believes that the new system will "increase ease, amount of awards, and cut down on the nuts and bolts of the current system."
There is no timeline for completion of the project. Murphy personally hopes to have a totally operational system developed within three years, 18 to 24 months if the system is introduced modularly.
The NIH is current examining several different ways to submit applications online. 14 test applications have been filed through several different test methods. Some development work will be subcontracted to outside companies.
Once the system is fully operational, the NIH is not mandating electronic applications. Paper applications will continue to be accepted in order to prevent problems from applicants. "Anytime you implement a new system, learning that system can be inconvenient," Newell said. "Ultimately some people will find it much more convenient, and some will find it inconvenient."
Other government agencies have already developed an electronic application. The National Science Foundation has begun use of its "Fastlane" program and Tufts faculty successfully used the program.
The "NIH hasn't moved as swiftly as the NSF mostly because it's larger and there are more different kinds of applications." Newell said.
Newell explained that the NIH continues to "move its deadline [for implementation] and many of the goal dates have passed." Gibb expects to gear up for full production next year.
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