Office of Research Information Systems Walk-Thru of Proposal Submission

Office of Research Information Systems

Walk-Thru of Proposal Submission


CoeusLite Overview

• The web-based system for preparing, routing and submitting proposals.

• Can access CoeusLite from any computer with internet access and a VPN connection.

• Available at http://prcoeus.johnshopkins.edu/coeus/• You must request access to use CoeusLite, unless you

already have access to Coeus Premium. – Access is granted by your department.– Request access using the button on the login page.


Why Choose CoeusLite?

• Allows users to check against requirements at Grants.gov and general NIH guidelines before the proposal is submitted.

• Automatically populates the required NIH forms… even if the forms change.

• Administrative information (such as Cognizant Agency, F&A rate agreement date & Assurance Numbers) are completed for the user.

• Budget calculates increases, F&A and fringe rates; user only needs to enter direct expenses.


Prepare to Submit a Proposal

• Items that will be needed:– Program Announcement/ Funding Opportunity number– Biosketches for Key People– Scientific Attachments– Current Base Salaries for Personnel– Expenses for Budget– Special Review (Animal/ Human Subject, etc.) Protocol

Submission Status


Create a New Proposal

• From the top menu, select My Proposals

• Then click Create New Proposal


General Information Tab

• Six key fields must be completed to save the proposal.

Note: While it is not necessary at this point, you will eventually need to state the Program Announcement/ Funding Opportunity to which you are responding.


Grants.gov Tab

• To connect to Grants.gov, first enter the Program Announcement/ Funding Opportunity in on the General Info Tab.

• Then click the Grants.gov tab from the left navigation.

• Click Select for the Opportunity you would like to sync with.


• The Grants.gov tab populates with information specific to the announcement selected.


• Since the proposal is now connected to Grants.gov, there is a visual indicator at the top of every page in the proposal.

• Now the 424 forms can be viewed as information is entered in the proposal.

• It is also possible to run Validation checks now that the proposal has been synced with Grants.gov

• It is a good idea to run Validation checks frequently. This will show you any errors that you have made so far and the areas that information must still be entered.


Organization Tab

• The organization information is automatically added based on your primary department.

• Performance sites must be listed, for on campus sites Johns Hopkins is already listed. Other sites, either off campus or a sub site must be added.


Add a Location:• Click the Add Location button, once the new line appears, select

Find Address.

• A new window will open.

Note: If you do not find a location through this rolodex search, it will need to be added by using Coeus Premium. See the ORIS website for more details.


Sponsor Search• In the Sponsor Name field, do a wide search by using part of the

name and asterisks (*)

• Click search.

• From the results, find the site to add, highlight and click to add to the proposal.


• The selected information is transferred into the Location section.

• Next, click the blank line and enter the name of the location added.

• Then click Save.


Investigator/Key Persons Tab

• Actions to perform on this tab include:– Adding Investigators/Key Persons– Certify Investigators– Add degree information– Verify addresses

Remember: Key People are defined by NIH as individuals who contribute to the scientific development or execution of the project in a substantive, measurable way, whether or not salaries are requested.


Adding Investigators/ Key Persons:• Key Persons fall into two separate categories in CoeusLite.

– Employees: people that work at Hopkins - such as Investigators, Study Coordinators, Post-Docs and Collaborators.

– Non-Employees: people outside of Hopkins - such as Co-Investigators and Consultants.

• Select the appropriate button: Employee Search or Non-Employee Search.

Note: A Non-Employee Search is through the Rolodex. If a name is not in the Rolodex it will need to be added by using Coeus Premium. See the ORIS webpage for more details.


• Search for the person by last name.

Note: You may want to use an asterisk (*) before and/or after the name to broaden the search.

• Once the results return, click the name.


• Review the information retrieved.• Enter ERA Commons User ID for any Investigators.• Select the Proposal Role from the drop down menu.

– If the role selected is “Key Study Person,” enter a project specific title in the “Key Person Role” field to the right.

• Add Percent Effort to be expended on the project.

• Click Save.


• Notice that once the Investigator/ Key Person details have been saved, the person appears below in a list of Investigators/Key Persons.

Note: The information entered in Investigator/ Key Person details for an individual may be accessed again by clicking a name in this list.

• Continue searching for and adding Investigators/ Key Persons until all Key People have been added.


Certify any Investigators:• From the list of Investigators/ Key Persons select Certify.

• A new window will open. Answer all of the questions by clicking the appropriate radial buttons.

• Click Save.


• Once information has been saved, CoeusLite will return to Investigator/ Key Persons window.

• Now a green check mark visually indicates that certification questions have been answered.

Add Degrees:• It is not an NIH requirement for Degree Information to be entered.• If Degree Info is entered, the PI’s information must match that in

ERA Commons.• From the list of Investigators/ Key Persons, click Details to access

the degree details.


• A new window opens, degrees are in the lower section.• Click Add Degrees.

• A series of fields appear.

• From the Degree Type, choose one of the Grants.gov accepted degrees.

• Add the degree abbreviation to Degree field. • Enter the Graduation Year.• Click Save.


• If needed, return to the list of Investigators/ Key Persons to continue adding people or degrees.


Special Review Tab

The items listed under this section are subject to review.

• Use the drop-down menu to select the type of Special Review item, eg: Human/ Animal Subjects

• Choose the Approval status from the drop-down selections• Click Save.

Note: For a Protocol that is exempt, be sure to write the abbreviation in the Comments section as shown above.


Yes/ No Questions (YNQ) Tab

• There are two tabs of questions that must be answered in the Yes/No Questions section. – Grants.gov tab- These questions fill fields on the 424 forms– eIS Questions- are for internal use here at Hopkins.


• Answer all of the questions listed by selecting the appropriate radial button.

• Once you have answered all the Grants.gov questions, click Save.• Then, click the eIS Questions tab and answer those questions.• Click Save.


Upload Attachments Tab

• Attachments consist of Proposal Attachments and Personnel Attachments primarily.– Proposal Attachments include the various scientific information,

including budget justifications.

– Personnel Attachments are files that pertain to a specific individual such as BioSketches or Current and Pending Support.

• Upload Attachments Tab opens to the Proposal Attachments. • First use the drop down menu for Attachment Type and select the

category that the attachment falls under.


• Next, click Browse to search your computer for the file to upload.

• Click on the correct file.• Then click Open.

1st

2nd

3rd


• Click Save.• Information is saved under List of Proposal Attachments.

• Continue to add proposal attachments by following the previous steps.


Personnel Attachments:This section is primarily used for Biosketches.

• Select the tab for Personnel Attachments

• Then use the drop down menu to select the Attachment Type.• Using the next drop down menu, choose a Person to which the file

is associated. The names available were previously entered on the Investigators/ Key Person Tab.

• Next Click Browse to search your computer for the PDF of the file to attach.


• Find the file to upload.• Then click Open.


Validate a Proposal

• Validating your proposal is helpful throughout the preparation of the proposal. This will show any errors, as well as the items that still must be completed.

• When you submit your proposal for approval the same validation checks will be performed.

• The proposal can be validated from within the

Grants.gov Tab or Validate Tab.– Validate Tab checks against general

NIH Guidelines– Grants.gov Tab compares against

Grants.gov requirements


Grants.Gov Tab• At the bottom of the page, review the included forms column, to be

sure that all needed forms will be sent with the proposal.• Then select the Validate proposal button.

• If no problems are found the message “All Validations Passed Successfully” will appear.

• Otherwise, CoeusLite will show where information is incomplete.


Validate Tab:• Click the Validate Tab on the left navigation• The Validations will begin to run.

• Again, Coeus will notify user if the proposal has passed the validation checks or not.


Budget Tab

• This section is an overview of how to create a simple detailed budget or modular budget.

• If you want to learn about advanced features within the budget section, enrollment in one of the courses provided through FITT is strongly encouraged.

• When creating a new budget in CoeusLite, it is not necessary to enter any indirect (F&A) expenses. CoeusLite automatically calculates these expenses behind the scenes.

• Tasks to complete in the budget section:– Add Personnel

– Add Other Expenses

– Generate Expenses for Subsequent Years

– Make Any Changes to the Generated Periods


Adding Personnel:• First, set up the personnel information. Select Personnel under

Budget Set Up.

Note: The The list of Personnel automatically shows anyone who was added previously to the Investigator/ Key Persons Tab.

• To include additional personnel, click Add Employee.

• In the window that opens, search by entering a last name.


• Now that all personnel have been added, enter the current base salary, or the salary cap.

• Click Save.

Note: CoeusLite currently calculates salary increases on the fiscal year. The default increase is 3%. This can be changed by using the advanced feature Proposal Rates.


• Once personnel have been added to the Budget Set Up section, personnel expenses may be added to the Budget Periods.

• On the left navigation under Budget Periods, select Personnel Budget.

• Then click Add Person to include people listed in the Budget Set Up section in this period’s expenses.

Note: Period 1 is initially the only period available. Use period 1 as a template to base calculations, until generate all periods is selected.


• Select the Salary Type from the drop down menu.• Choose the correct Period from the listed options.

• Enter the amount for % charge and % effort.• Then Save.• Coeus will make calculations based upon your entries.


Other Expenses:• Use the tabs under the Budget Periods Section to add additional

expenses.

Note: Equipment, Travel, Participant/Trainee and Other Direct Costs look andfunction in a very similar manner. Therefore, this demonstration will only showOther Direct Costs.


• Click Other Direct Costs.

• Then, use the drop down list to select the Type of expense.• Finally, add the expense in the Funds Requested column.• If you need to add another expense, click Add Direct Costs.


Generate “Out” Years:• CoeusLite will generate remaining project years based upon the first

year (template year) entries.Note: The Generate Periods utility disappears

once data has been entered so make sure that

you have completed all required information for

Period 1 under each section

• Click Generate All Periods.

• Once your periods have been generated,

you may return to each budget section

(Personnel, Equipment, Travel, etc.)

to review and make adjustments


Modular Budget Tab

• If you have prepared and completed your detailed budget, you can use the Sync with Detailed Budget to have Coeus insert the required details. If needed, adjust the suggested module amount manually.

• Click Yes when the confirmation window opens.

Note: Modular budgets are a submission option for NIH ONLY.

Documents

Office of Research Information Systems Walk-Thru of Proposal Submission