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Cayuse 424

Cayuse 424 is the web-based front end for submission of proposals to Grants.gov.  It makes it easier for researchers to search for funding opportunities and provides auto-filling of faculty profiles and interactive error-checking in a streamlined interface to Grants.gov.

All Grants.gov submissions are required to be entered through Cayuse 424.

Use Cayuse 424

Cayuse Sensitive Language Detector

Cayuse's sensitive language detector can be used to scan proposal applications for keywords and phrases that may be considered sensitive. Cayuse Proposals pre-populates the sensitive language list with a set of default phrases. These phrases were last updated in June 2025 and represent Cayuse’s comprehensive list of potentially sensitive keywords and acronyms. There are two locations where scanning takes place:

  1. On attachment uploads and 
  2. On final validation.

Sensitive language warnings are optional to resolve and may be ignored—for example, if they result from false detections or non-critical phrases. Ignoring a warning will not block the attachment upload. These detections are warnings only, and they will never prevent submission and do not guarantee that a sponsor will find the flagged language problematic. The tool is designed simply to give proposers added insight into their proposal content. The Office of Sponsored Programs has confirmed with Cayuse that all Virginia Tech data is kept within the Cayuse Proposals system. Nothing is shared with a third party.

If you plan to use this feature, please take into consideration Virginia Tech’s Proposal Deadline Procedure and allow time for document revisions if you choose to edit the flagged language.

More information can be found at Cayuse Help: Sensitive Language Detector. 

Training

Users should review the “Adobe Connect recording of Cayuse 424 Training” below under the Regular Training Materials recording as a starting point when using Cayuse 424.

Click one of the topics below to see related training material.

Troubleshooting

If you are using MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER as the browser to access Cayuse 424, the Pop-up blocker must allow pop-ups from the Cayuse 424 website. If the user receives a pop-up blocker message, take the following steps to allow pop-ups from Cayuse 424 on your browser.

  1. Go to Tools in Internet Explorer toolbar.
  2. Click on Pop-up Blocker.
  3. Click on Pop-up Blocker Settings.
  4. Enter the Cayuse 424 web address in the Address of website to allow: field http://vt.cayuse424.com.
  5. Click on the Add button.
  6. Click on the Close button.
  7. Microsoft Internet Explorer should allow pop-ups in Cayuse 424 after entering the website.
     

If you are using FIREFOX as the browser to access Cayuse 424, the Pop-up blocker must allow pop-ups from the Cayuse 424 website. If the user receives a pop-up blocker message, take the following steps to allow pop-ups from Cayuse 424 on your browser.

  1. Go to Firefox tab.
  2. Click on Options under the Add-ons section.
  3. Click on Options.
  4. Click on Content in the Options bar.
  5. Click on Block pop-up windows Exceptions button.
  6. Enter the Cayuse 424 web address in the Address of website: field http://vt.cayuse424.com.
  7. Click on the Allow button.
  8. Click on the Close button.
  9. Firefox should allow pop-ups in Cayuse 424 after entering the website.

If your pop-up blocker software is not as described above contact your technical support person to help you allow pop-ups for Cayuse 424.

 

This is a known Firefox issue.  A fix for this issue can be found here.

Supported browsers are Internet Explorer and Firefox (preferred).  Supported versions as of December 2011 are IE7, IE8, and Firefox 3.0 through 3.6.  Mac users should use Firefox.    Chrome and Safari are not supported at this time.

Help

Please contact your pre-award administrator with questions and for more information.

For questions or needed assistance with any of the tools, please e-mail era-help@vt.edu.

Use Cayuse 424
Cayuse 424 FAQs