After successfully getting an AREA proposal through the system and was
verified by the PI, the email notification from the NIH eRA Commons stated:

The following electronic application has been verified by the PI . . .
This application will not be referred to a study section for review
until the SO for this application, Dr. Xxx, or another SO within your
organization has verified the application in the Commons.

Dr. Xxx was the AOR listed on the SF424. Notifications about errors were
sent to the "Person to be contacted," the AOR, and the PI listed on the
SF424.

Below are some definitions I found on agency web sites associated with
the designations:

Grants.gov
Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) An AOR submits a grant on
behalf of a company, organization, institution, or government. AORs have
the authority to sign grant applications and the required certifications
and/or assurances that are necessary to fulfill the requirements of the
application process.

NIH Commons
Signing Official (SO) The Signing Official for the institution is an
official with authority to perform legally binding grant administration
actions. This includes serving as an authority responsible for
submission of grant applications to the NIH. The individual fulfilling
this role may have any number of titles in the institution.

NSF FastLane
Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) An AOR is the individual
who is authorized to sign on behalf of the proposing organization. It is
the organization’s responsibility to determine, and identify with the
FastLane system, which individual(s) will have the authority to
electronically sign the proposal and provide the required certifications.

Hope this helps,

Doris

Charlie Hathaway wrote:
> Just when I think I am understanding Grants.gov/NIH eRA, my brain stumbles.
>
> Question:  What is the relationship between a Grants.gov "AOR" and an NIH "SO"?
>
> My assumption was that AORs submit to Gg and deal with Gg issues, that SOs deal with NIH Commons issues, and that an AOR may or may not be an SO.
>
> Now I come across Gg tutorials mentioning SOs and some NIH tutorials talking about AORs.
>
> And if you have multiple SOs and AORs, who gets notified about errors and who needs to do the verification?
>
> Help?  Thanks.
>
> Charlie
>
>
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--
Doris A. Oravec, CRA
Contract and Grant Specialist
Office of Research & Sponsored Programs
Lehigh University
526 Brodhead Avenue 23B
Bethlehem, PA 18015-3046
Phone: 610-758-3023
Fax: 610-758-5994
Email: xxxxxx@lehigh.edu

"That's DAO for short"

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