Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)

CDMRP website: https://cdmrp.army.mil/

CDMRP requires both the submission of pre-applications and, if invited, full applications.

Pre-applications and letters of intent are submitted by investigators through the CDMRP online submission site Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP). Pre-proposals are submitted directly by the investigator without the need for institutional approval (does not involve the Office of Pre-Award Services - OPAS).

Full proposals are submitted through Grants.gov and therefore built and transmitted in Kuali.

Click on the below headers to learn more.

Registration

The first step is to register in the eBRAP system. PI’s register themselves in eBRAP.org using the register tab: https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/register/Register.htm

“Search Organizations” will come up. UMass is registered as “Massachusetts, University of, Amherst” - type this as the organization and hit search.

“Massachusetts, University of, Amherst”, will come up. Select “Choose this Organization”.

Select “Principal Investigator” on the drop down list in answer to the question I am a new: (role). Select “start Registration”. Fill in the information here and continue to click “next” until finished. You will see a screen in eBRAP that says: “Thank you for registering! An email has been sent to (email address) containing a confirmation link….” This refers to an auto email sent to OPAS for review and approval.

Once OPAS confirms the PI’s registration request to be affiliated with “Massachusetts, University of, Amherst”, eBRAP will then send an email to the PI confirming that registration was successful. The eBRAP screen will say “Email confirmation and registration was successful, you may now log in!”

You will then be able to begin a letter of intent, pre-application or application in eBRAP.

eBRAP is a multifunctional web-based system that allows PIs to submit their pre-applications electronically through a secure connection, to view and edit the content of their pre-applications and full applications, to receive communications from the CDMRP, and to submit documentation during award negotiations and period of performance.

The eBRAP user guide may be found here: https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/UserGuide.pdf
The eBRAP user guide is supplemented by the DOD General Application Instructions
eBRAP FAQs: https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/FAQ.htm

Preproposals/Letters of Intent

Pre-application content and forms must be accessed and submitted by the PI at eBRAP (https://ebrap.org)

Pre-proposal/Letter of Intent instructions:

Affiliate with “Massachusetts, University of, Amherst” as a PI in eBRAP before submitting a pre-application.
When completing a pre-application, select “Marcia Day” as the Business Official.
The PI submits the letter of intent or the pre-application directly instead of through OPAS, so no IPF is needed.
An email notification of the submission will be sent to the contacts listed in the pre-application.
Pre-application screening results showing invitation status are posted in eBRAP. The PI will receive a notification that it has been posted.
Partnering PI Option: After the Initiating PI submits the pre-application the Partnering PI will receive a link via email to assign the Organization and Business Official to their portion of the pre-application. This link is valid up until the pre-application deadline. After the deadline please send this information to the eBRAP Helpdesk and they will input the information.

Once the pre-proposal or letter of intent is submitted by the PI, eBRAP will assign an eBRAP log number to the proposal. This number is required to be on the full proposal application, so you will need it at the full proposal stage.

For all pre-proposals, please use this address:

100 Venture Way
Suite 201 Hadley, MA 01003-9450
Phone: 413-545-0699
Fax: 413-545-1202

For all pre-proposals, please use the OPAM email address: opam@research.umass.edu. We must use this address, because at the full proposal stage, grants.gov full proposals can only be submitted under this address, and the pre-proposal and full proposal must use the same information. Please see the warning below:

Please note: The application title, eBRAP log number, and all information for the PI, Business Official(s), performing organization, and contracting organization must be consistent throughout the entire pre-application and full application submission process. Inconsistencies may delay application processing and limit or negate the ability to view, modify, and verify the application in eBRAP. If any changes need to be made, the applicant should contact the CDMRP Help Desk at help@eBRAP.org or 301-682-5507 prior to the application submission deadline.

For specific instructions regarding content of the pre-application submission components, refer to the Program Announcement.

For specific instructions on how to submit each pre-application component, please the DOD general application instructions.

Click “Submit” and “Confirm Submission” to complete the pre-application submission.

Submitted pre-applications may be set to draft status prior to the pre-application deadline. eBRAP will submit documents that are still in draft status at the end of the pre-application deadline.

Full Proposal

Full applications are submitted through Grants.gov using the UMass Kuali system. Full proposals should adhere to the UMass 5 day lead time policy for proposals.

Follow the guidelines for required documents in the Program Announcement. Use the generic forms for application submission in eBRAP as required by the Program Announcement. Funding Opportunities and forms are available here: https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/Program.htm.

The total guidelines consist of the 1) Program Announcement (BAA/Funding Opportunity) and the 2) DOD/CDMRP General Application Instructions. Each solicitation also has a helpful “Synopsis” of the funding opportunity. Read all three documents.

You must include the unique eBRAP Proposal ID from the pre-proposal on the SF 424 form in box 4.a. Federal Identifier. In Kuali, this field maps from Basics > Sponsor & Program Information > Sponsor Proposal ID.

Once the technical narrative is finalized and loaded to Kuali, please let your OPAS reviewer know it is ready for submission, and OPAS will submit the proposal in Kuali.

Following retrieval and processing of the Grants.gov application, eBRAP will notify the organizational representatives and PI by email to log into eBRAP to review, modify, and verify the Grants.gov application submission. eBRAP will validate retrieved files against the specific Program Announcement requirements and discrepancies will be noted in both the email and in the Full Application Files tab in eBRAP. eBRAP does not confirm the accuracy of file content. It is the applicant’s responsibility to review all application components and ensure proper ordering as specified in the Program Announcement. If either the Project Narrative or the budget fails eBRAP validation or if the Project Narrative or the budget need to be modified, an updated Grants.gov application package must be submitted via Grants.gov as a “Changed/Corrected Application” with the previous Grants.gov Tracking ID prior to the application submission deadline. The Project Narrative and Budget Form cannot be changed after the application submission deadline. For these reasons:

PI’s are strongly encouraged to submit their proposals to OPAS early to allow for time to submit corrections to potential errors.
The full application submission deadline and the end of the application verification period in eBRAP are stated in the specific Program Announcement. The PI should NOT modify the application within eBRAP without checking in with the OPAS Pre-award Administrator. As noted above, OPAS may make changes to the full application package (except to the project narrative and budget form) in eBRAP until the end of the application verification period. Again, PI’s are encouraged to submit their proposals to OPAS early to address possible errors and warnings.
The PI may also validate their proposal in eBRAP to confirm that it is final, however, eBRAP will automatically verify the application after the application verification period, if the PI has not validated.

Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)

Research Administration and Compliance

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