Ecas (NHS National Institute for Health Research) Electronic Application System Faqs
eCAS (NHS National Institute for Health Research) electronic application system – FAQs
The following questions have been raised by users of the eCAS system. This list will continue to evolve over time. Should you have any questions about the use of the eCAS system which have not been answered here or in the online help files, please email or telephone 020 7958 8282.
When contacting the support team you MUST provide the following details in order that we may validate your identity and protect your personal details:
- Name
- Date and time
- Institution
- Telephone number
- MAIN registered email address
- Nature of the problem
Please remember that the support team operates from 09:00 to 17:00 on Monday to Thursday, and on 09:00 to 16:30 Friday, with extended hours (published on the eCAS notice board) prior to the close of a research call. A limited ‘out-of-hours’ service is available by calling 07515 187 682.
How do I register?
How do I log in?
What should I do if I have been locked out?
What should I do if I have forgotten my password?
How do I begin a proposal?
How do I access a proposal that has been started?
How do I add applicants to the proposal?
How do I add peer reviewers to the proposal?
Can I re-order my list of applicants?
Who should supply a CV?
How do I add/edit my CV?
Why do I keep losing data that I have added to the proposal?
How do I format text in proposal?
How do I add diagrams to my proposal?
Can I produce my proposal in Microsoft Word?
How do I submit the proposal?
Why can’t I submit the proposal?
How do I sign the proposal?
How can I check who has signed the proposal?
How do I register?
To use the eCAS system, you must first register as a user. To do this, click on the button at the bottom of the eCAS homepage. You will be asked to provide the following information:
- Title
- Full name
- Email address
- Telephone number
- Institution name
You will then be asked to provide a password, which should not be shared with others. The password must contain a minimum of six and a maximum of 20 characters, and should include one alpha and one numeric character. You will also be asked to provide a ‘Password hint’ that will remind you what your password is. If you do not supply a hint, you will receive a blank email in the event that you require a password reminder!
Once you have submitted your registration request, you will be sent an email asking you to activate your registration. Depending on the volume of registrations, this may take up to 15 minutes to reach your email account. This email contains an activation link – either click on the link or cut and paste it into your web browser.
Registration emails are monitored by the eCAS support team. If you have supplied incorrect details during the registration process (such as an incorrect email address), the activation email will bounce. If this happens, a member of the support team will contact you.
You may already be listed on the eCAS database, but if the system is unable to match your registration details to your existing record, then a duplicate record may be created. If this happens the two records will be merged. Your most recently added email address and password will be used in your database record. You will however be contacted by the support team to verify that ALL the details held are correct.
If you do not receive an activation email or telephone call within 15 minutes of submitting your request, please contact eCAS support at or telephone 020 7958 8282.
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How do I log in?
To log in to the eCAS system, click on the button on the eCAS homepage. You will be asked to enter your user name and password – this is the email address you supplied at registration and the password that you chose. You must also agree to the ‘terms of use’ of the eCAS site by placing a tick in the ‘terms of use’ box. Then click on the log in button.
If you are unable to log in, please check the spelling of your email address and re-type your password. Also check that you have ticked the ‘terms of use’ box. If you are still unable to log in, please contact eCAS support at or telephone 020 7958 8282.
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What should I do if I have been logged out?
If you attempt to log in to eCAS more than three times with incorrect details, you will receive an error message telling you that you have been locked out of the system. You must either wait 30 minutes for the system to unlock your account, or contact eCAS support at or telephone 020 7958 8282.
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What should I do if I have forgotten my password?
When you registered to use the eCAS system you were asked to provide a password and password hint to access the system.
If you have forgotten your password you should click on the link ‘request log in reminder’. Enter your email address and click . An email containing your password hint will be sent to you.
If you did not provide a password hint at registration (the email will be blank), or you are unable to remember your password after receiving the hint, you will need to contact the eCAS support team at or telephone 020 7958 8282 to have your password reset.
Once you have logged in (using your email address as your username) and your reset password, click on ‘Personal details’ from the menu on the left hand side of the page, and then ‘Password and hint’ in the sub-menu to change both your password and hint to something only you will know.
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How do I begin a proposal?
To begin a proposal you must first log in to the eCAS system. Once logged in, eCAS will default to the ‘My eCAS’ page. There is a section at the bottom of the page called ‘Current calls for research’. All the open calls for research will be listed under this heading – the research call code(s) will be hyperlinked. Click on the call code link for which you wish to begin a proposal.
To navigate through the proposal forms, use the menu and sub-menus on the left hand side of the page.
Outline proposal – all two stage applications
On the new page that opens click on the ‘Begin a new Outline Proposal’ link. This will open an outline proposal summary page.
Full proposal – all one stage and rapid response applications
On the new page that opens you will be able to begin a new proposal by clicking on the ‘Begin a new Full Proposal’ link. This will open a summary page.
Full proposal – two stage applications only
On the new page that opens you will see a blue button next to the full proposal. The proposal will be easily identifiable as it will have the same title as the submitted outline proposal. The outline proposal (listed above the full proposal) may be viewed by clicking the button.
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How do I access a proposal that has been started?
To access a proposal that has been started, you must first log in to the eCAS system. Once logged in, eCAS will default to the ‘My eCAS’ page. There is a section at the bottom of the page called ‘Current calls for research’. All the open calls for research will be listed under this heading – the research call code(s) will be hyperlinked. Click on the call code link to view a list of the proposals that have been started, and to which you have access. Click on the blue button next to the title of the proposal you wish to work on.
To navigate through the proposal form, use the menu and sub-menus on the left hand side of the page.
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How do I add applicants to the proposal?
To add applicants to your proposal, click on ‘Details’ in the menu on the left hand side of the page, and ‘Proposal applicants’ in the sub-menu. You must first search the eCAS database – you are not required to complete all the fields. Include as much/as little of the required search criteria as you wish/are able. If you are unsure of the spelling of a name you can use just a few letters from the name, or just search the list of institutions. Click on the button.
Please remember that if the person is listed on the eCAS database you will be able to view personal information about them, and possibly others. As you agreed to the ‘terms of use’ of the eCAS system, you are bound by the Data Protection Act not to use this data for any purpose other than using the eCAS system.
If the person is on the eCAS database, a list will appear with names of people matching the criteria you specified. Click on the blue button next to the name of the person you wish to add. On the next page you will be able to see their personal details, which will allow you to check that this is the correct person. You must also select their role in the proposal from the drop down list. Click on the button. You will be re-directed to the list of applicants – repeat as necessary.
If the person is not on the eCAS database you must click the link ‘add a new applicant’. You will be required to add as much data about the applicant as you can. As a minimum you must be able to provide the applicants name, email address, telephone number and institution name. Select their role in the proposal from the drop down list and click on the button. You will be re-directed to the list of applicants – repeat as necessary.
When all applicants have been added, click on the button at the bottom of the page!
Once an applicant has been added they will be automatically emailed to inform them that they have been named on a proposal, and must either register or log in to view the proposal.
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How do I add peer reviewers to the proposal?
This is only required for an outline proposal. To add peer reviewers to your proposal, click on ‘Details’ and ‘Potential Peer Reviewers. You must first search the eCAS database – you are not required to complete all the fields. Include as much/as little of the required search criteria as you wish/are able. If you are unsure of the spelling of a name you can use just a few letters from the name, or just search the list of institutions. Click on the button.
Please remember that if the person is listed on the eCAS database you will be able to view personal information about them, and possibly others. As you agreed to the ‘terms of use’ of the eCAS system, you are bound by the Data Protection Act not to use this data for any purpose other than using the eCAS system.
If the person is on the eCAS database, a list will appear with names of people matching the criteria you specified. Click on the blue button next to the name of the person you wish to add. On the next page you will be able to see their personal details, which will allow you to check that this is the correct person. Click on the button. You will be re-directed to the list of applicants – repeat as necessary.
If the person is not on the eCAS database you must click the link ‘add a new applicant’. You will be required to add as much data about the applicant as you can. As a minimum you must be able to provide the applicants name, email address, telephone number and institution name. Select their role in the proposal from the drop down list and click on the button. You will be re-directed to the list of applicants – repeat as necessary.
You are only required to add the names of three potential reviewers.
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Can I re-order my list of applicants?
Yes. The name of the lead applicant will always appear at the top of the list. Co-applicants can then be moved by clicking on the and buttons next to their names. It is not possible to change the order of other personnel. They will appear in the order in which they are entered. The printable PDF of the proposal will print the lead applicant name, then co-applicant names in the specified order, followed by all others grouped by role in alphabetical order.
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Who should supply a CV
CVs should be provided by the lead applicant and all co-applicants. Heads of Department, Finance, Advisory Groups and Consultants are not required to submit a CV.
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How do I add/edit my CV?
The lead applicant and all co-applicants are required to provide a CV with the proposal.
The CV you provide should first be added to your personal details. Click on ‘Personal details’ from the menu on the left hand side of the page, and then click ‘Curriculum Vitae’ in the sub-menu. You should enter your date of birth and then complete the four sections, although these four sections do not need to be completed at the same time. If you navigate away from the CV page you must click on the button before doing so, otherwise you will lose all the data you have entered. You may cut and paste data from other software applications (e.g. Microsoft Word). You may update this version of your CV at any time by following the above process. [The SDO Programme recommends that you add your CV to this section so that you have a copy of your CV for any future SDO calls for proposals.]
To add your CV to:
- an outline proposal, click on ‘Curriculum Vitae’ in the menu on the left hand side of the page
- a full proposal, click on ‘Expertise’ in the menu on the left hand side of the page, and ‘Curriculum Vitae of Applicants’ in the sub-menu.
A list of applicants associated with the proposal will be shown. Users will see a blue button next to their own name and the lead applicant will also see a green button next to all other co-applicant names.
To add your CV click on the button. Then click on the button in the middle of the page. By pressing this you will be able to copy your CV from your personal details in to the proposal. If you have not added your CV to personal details, nothing will copy!. You will then be able to alter this copy of your CV to suit the proposal, but this will not change your main CV held in your personal details. Likewise if you change your main CV, the CV associated with a proposal will not change.
N.B. You are only able to upload your own CV due to data protection issues.
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Why do I keep losing data that I have added to the proposal?
You must remember to save the data you add to a page by clicking on the button at the bottom of every section and/or page. If you navigate to another page in the proposal without first saving the section you are in, you will lose data.
There is also a chronological order to the buttons on each page – for example, when adding applicants to a proposal you should first search for them, then add them to the proposal one at a time, and finally save the applicant page with all the applicant details in. Failing to save at that stage will result in the loss of all the applicants that have been added.
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How do I format text in my proposal?
If you copy and paste text from e.g. Microsoft Word, most formatting will be retained. Please use the ‘Paste from Word’ option on the toolbar at the bottom of the text box
It is possible to write directly in the text boxes of the proposal and format text using the toolbar at the bottom. The toolbar contains standard formatting options as seen in most word processing packages:
- Spell check – language is English only
- Cut, copy and paste from Word
- Undo/Redo
- Remove formatting
- Subscript/Superscript
- Bullets and indents
- Help
- Font style and size (note the size is in HTML and standard sizes)
- Bold/Italic/Underline
- Strikethrough
- Alignment (left, centre, right, justified)
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How do I add diagrams to my proposal?
To add diagrams to your proposal (full proposal only) click on the ‘References’ menu link on the left hand side of then page and then click ‘Annexes’.
You may add up to three diagrams, and these may only be in picture format, such as a JPEG or a GIFF file. The file size must be no larger than 50000Kb and the dimensions of the image must be no larger than 800 by 600 pixels. Please contact your IT department or the eCAS support team if you experience difficulties creating this.