How Well Do You Know eRA Commons?

Let’s talk about what’s new in eSubmission and eRA Commons…then we’ll test your knowledge and memory! To begin…here’s an eRA Commons “refresher":

3 What is eRA Commons? The eRA Commons is an online interface where grant applicants, grantee organizations, grantees and federal staff can access, share, and transmit administrative information related to their applications and grants. Applications Post-award Correspondence Review Assignments Impact/Priority Scores Summary Statements Notices of Award Assurances Certifications Progress Reports Financial Reports Invention Reports Profile Data Assembled Application Images eSubmission Errors/Warnings Training Appointment Actions

4 Who uses eRA Commons? Federal users –25 institutes and centers within NIH –Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS) Operating Divisions AHRQ, SAMHSA, CDC, FDA –Other federal agencies Veterans Affairs (intramural program) Institution users –20,800 registered organizations –282,000 registered users 189,500 registered principal investigators (PIs) –61,000 reviewers

5 When will I use it? Review errors/warnings identified by eRA system Check final application image for assembly issues Submit financial conflict of interest notifications View information on the review assignment of your grant application Application Submission Process Application Intake at Receipt & Referral

6 When will I use it? View Summary Statement & Impact/Priority Scores Submit Just-in-time (JIT) data (e.g., other support, certifications) View award documents (NoA – Notice of Award) Peer Review Process Pre-award Process Award Process

7 When will I use it? Prepare/submit reports Manage training grant appointments Prepare final reports, invention statement and certification, and population tracking data Post-award Process Closeout Process

8 What’s new with eRA Commons?

9 xTrain is required as of Jan xTrain now required to prepare and submit appointments and terminations notices for research training and career development awards, fellowships, and research education awards –A new role, Sponsor, exists for termination of fellowships. Read more at: s-must-approve-fellowship-terminations/ s-must-approve-fellowship-terminations/ xTrain resources and training materials available at:

10 Types of grants supported in xTrain –Kirschstein-NRSA Undergraduate Institutional Training Grants (T34) –Kirschstein-NRSA Pre-doctoral and Post-doctoral Institutional Training Grants (T32, T35, T90, TL1, TU2) –Kirschstein-NRSA Fellowships (F30, F31, F32, F33) –NLM Institutional Training Grants (T15) –Research Education Awards (RL5, RL9, R25, R90) –Institutional Career Development Grants (K12, KL2, KM1) xTrain resources and training materials available at:

Federal Financial Report Federal Financial Report (FFR) Replaces the Financial Status Report (FSR) for the reporting of expenditure data elements Same data elements as the FSR, except only cumulative data is reported Due date for annual FFRs is 90 days after the end of the calendar quarter in which the budget period ends FFRs must be submitted in eRA Commons via the eFFR/FSR module 11

12 Budget End Date Final FFR Due Date (90 Days)Calendar Quarter End Annual FFR Due Date (90 Days after end of quarter) 1/315/13/316/30 2/285/293/316/30 3/316/293/316/30 4/307/296/309/30 5/318/296/309/30 6/309/286/309/30 7/3110/299/3012/31 8/3111/299/3012/31 9/3012/299/3012/31 10/311/2912/313/31 11/302/2812/313/31 12/313/3112/313/31 NIH FFR Reporting Due Dates Note: This chart captures the budget/project end dates for the majority of, but not all, NIH awards.

FFR/FSR Search Screen For more about FFR/FSR, view the NIH Guide Notice and the eRA Overview: _report.cfm 13

14 New No-Cost Extension Option A new drop down menu allows users to request extension of 1-12 months (in 1- month increments)

Looking Ahead Summer 2011: –Look and feel of Commons log in screens and account administration will be changed as part of tech updates Timing TBD: –Electronic submission of Type 3 (Administrative Supplement) applications and Type 7 (Change of Institution) applications / relinquishing statements –Updates to delegation process 2012: –Transition to federal-wide Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) –Changes to Financial Conflict of Interest module to meet compliance needs 15

16 New Log in Flow: Home Page

17 Reminder: Maintain one account If changing institutions, keep your current Commons account –Grant record history, degree information and/or reviewer service will be kept together –Helps accurately determine eligibility for Continuous Submission and Early Stage Investigator status –If you are the PI and the Signing Official (SO) for your organization, you should have two Commons accounts: one for each role Attention: PIs Your new SO can affiliate your Commons account with your new institution. See the steps for the SO to affiliate the PI. ( )

18 What’s new with eSubmission?

19 Window shut. Now what? NIH has eliminated the error correction window from the application submission process. Plan ahead and remember the elements of on-time submission: –Application free of Grants.gov & eRA errors must be accepted by Grants.gov with a timestamp on or before 5 p.m. local time on due date –Any changed/corrected apps must be submitted by the due date –NIH’s updated late policy does not allow for error corrections after the deadline. Submit early (days, not minutes) for Success!

20 New Page Limits for K applications New Page Limits are in place for NIH Individual Career Development (K) Award Applications: –Mentoring Plan attachment is limited to 6 pages –Statements by Mentor, Co-Mentors, Contributors attachment is limited to 6 pages –Description of Institutional Environment attachment is limited to 1 page –Commitment to Candidate’s Research Career Development attachment is limited to 1 page Read more here:

21 Responsible Conduct of Research New page limits for RCR attachments: –Career Development Award Supplemental Form Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research attachment limited to 1 page –Research Training Program Plan Plan for Instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research attachment limited to 1 page Read more here:

22 Reference Letter Changes Changes to reference letter process for Fellowship (F) and Career Development (K) applications: –New policy: Letters of reference are due by the grant application submission deadline Five-day grace period has been eliminated –Must be PDF format –Reminder! Letters of reference are submitted in Commons separately from the application and can be submitted prior to the application! –Read more at: For more information, visit our reference letter FAQs:

23 ADOBE-FORMS-B1 All applicants must use the new ADOBE-FORMS- B1 form set for all applications Updates to application forms : New Sponsor(s) and Co-Sponsor(s) attachment on Fellowship Supplemental Form Form adjustments to enable appropriate attachments for Resubmissions of Renewal/Revision applications DUNS no longer required by Grants.gov for primary performance site on Project/Performance Site Location(s); still required by NIH Human Subject Assurance # field enabled when answer to “Are Human Subjects Involved?” is “Yes”

Looking Ahead Timing TBD: –Electronic submission of Type 3 (Administrative Supplement) applications and Type 7 (Change of Institution) applications –NIH eRA department beginning preparatory work to transition complex, multi-project applications to electronic submission 24

Now it’s time to find out… How Well Do You Know eRA Commons and eSubmission?

eSubmission Commons Knowledge Commons-ality Commons Features

27 These general funding opportunity announcements are used for investigator- initiated applications. What is a parent announcement? –E.g., Use PA for R01 Research Project Grants – de/parent_announcements.htmhttp://grants.nih.gov/grants/gui de/parent_announcements.htm eSubmission - 100

28 These documents, when requested, are submitted directly to Commons and later linked to an electronic application. What are reference letters? –May be submitted before an application is complete, but are due by the application deadline eSubmission - 200

29 The number of SO/AOR accounts an organization should have. What is more than one? –Every organization should have multiple Signing Official (SO) and Authorized Organization Rep. (AOR) accounts –Certain tasks can only be performed by users with these roles – need back-up eSubmission - 300

30 The length of time available to view an assembled application image in eRA Commons before the application moves forward for further processing. What is 2 business days? –Referred to as application viewing window –Begins the day after error-free application is processed –Any changed/corrected submissions due by the deadline eSubmission - 400

31 These application form fields are required by NIH but not marked required on the federal-wide forms. What are the Credential, DUNS* & Organization fields? –Need Credential to place app processing status; Organization to determine review conflicts –DUNS* required on Project/Performance Site Location for federal reporting eSubmission - 500

32 This is the number of Commons accounts with a PI role that a registered user should have. What is 1 account? Commons Knowledge PIs should maintain one account throughout their careers, even if they change institutions or forget their Commons password.

33 Who you should contact if you forget your eRA Commons username and password. What are Office of Sponsored Research and/or Account Administrator? Commons Knowledge - 200

34 A PI can delegate these actions to other Commons users (name at least 2]. What are: –Complete eSNAP info (Delegate PI) –Update Personal Profile (Delegate PPF Edit) –View application errors/warnings, assembled application and most other status information (Delegate Status) –Perform all xTrain functions except ability to submit appointments (Delegate xTrain Authority) Commons Knowledge - 300

35 All attachments uploaded to Commons or submitted with an application must be in this format. What is PDF format? –Reminder: use simple PDF format without security features –Can use free PDF conversion software on Grants.gov Download Software page Commons Knowledge - 400

36 This type of eligibility allows an applicant to submit an application on a rolling deadline. What is continuous submission? Available to those who have performed substantial review service in support of NIH Read more: ontinuous_submission.htm ontinuous_submission.htm Commons Knowledge - 500

37 These items have something in common:  Preferred institution name & contact info  DUNS Number  Human Subjects Assurance Number  Type of Organization  Signing Official info  Certifications & Assurances What is information contained in the Institution Profile? Commons-ality - 100

38 These items have something in common:  Registers institution  Maintains Institution Profile  Account administration  Performs functions requiring signature authority  Tracks status of all institution grants  …and more! What are responsibilities of the SO? Commons-ality - 200

39 These items have something in common:  General instructions for preparing/ submitting application  Form-by-form, field-by-field application requirements  Guidelines for determining which optional forms should be submitted  Assurance & Certification info What are items you can find in the Application Guide you download with electronic forms? Commons-ality - 300

40 These items have something in common:  Grant folder documents  Review outcome info (if PI)  Key NIH contacts  Action history  Application NI & ESI eligibility indicator  Reference letters once linked to app. What are items you find in the detailed Status Information screen? Commons-ality - 400

41 These items have something in common:  Ensures NI, ESI & continuous submission consideration  Ensures proper routing of notifications  Ensures correct information is available to pre-populate and/or validate electronic forms  Ensures accurate data for federal reporting What are good reasons to keep your profile updated? Commons-ality - 500

42 Using this Commons feature, an applicant is able to submit last-minute information requested by NIH. What is Just-in-time (JIT)? –Only submit JIT if asked to by NIH –Not an indication that a grant application will be funded Commons Features - 100

43 This feature is linked with the National Library of Medicine’s MyNCBI system. Personal Profile eSNAP Commons Features - 200

44 This Commons feature is now required for the reporting of expenditure data. What is eFFR (Federal Financial Report)? Commons Features – 300

45 A Business Official is a role used with this Commons application. What is xTrain? The BO has signature or other authority related to administering Training grants Commons Features – 400

46 Closeout allows you to submit these three reports. What are: –Final Federal Financial Report (FFR) –Final Progress Report –Final Inventions Statement? Can be submitted independently Interfaces with the Closeout system used by NIH staff Commons Features – 500

47 These items have something in common:  MARIOCAPECCHI  MELLOC  OLIVER_SMITHIES  LBBUCK  KORNBERG.ROGER  GRUBBSRH  FIRE.ANDREW  RSCHROCK  AXELRICHARD HINT: Mario R. Capecchi & Oliver Smithie were recognized in 2007 "for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells." What are the Commons IDs of Nobel Laureates that received NIH support?

48 At the end of the day…it’s about the science. LaureateYear & ScienceNIH Support Mario R. Capecchi Oliver Smithies "for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells" NIGMS, NHLBI, NIDDK, NCI, NICHD Roger D. Kornberg "for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription" NIGMS, NIAID, NCI Andrew Z. Fire Craig C. Mello "for their discovery of RNA interference - gene silencing by double-stranded RNA" NIGMS, NICHD Robert H. Grubbs Richard R. Schrock "for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis" NIGMS Richard Axel Linda B. Buck "for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system" NIDCD, NCI, NIAID, NIMH, NINDS, NIDDK