How Well
Do You Know
eRA
Commons?
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 eSubmission Errors/Warnings
Assurances Assembled Application Images
Certifications Review Assignments
Profile Data
Impact/Priority Scores
Progress Reports
Summary Statements
Financial Reports
Notices of Award
Invention Reports
Post-award Correspondence
Training Appointment Actions
2
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
– 18,200 registered organizations
– 241,000 registered users
• 167,000 registered principal investigators (PIs)
– 57,000 reviewers
3
When will I use it?
• Review errors/warnings
Application identified by eRA system
Submission • Check final application image
Process for assembly issues
• Submit financial conflict of
interest notifications
Application
Intake at • View information on the
Receipt & review assignment of your
Referral
grant application
4
When will I use it?
Peer Review • View Summary Statement &
Process Impact/Priority Scores
• Submit Just-in-time (JIT) data
Pre-award (e.g., other support,
Process certifications)
• View award documents (NoA –
Award Notice of Award)
Process
5
When will I use it?
• Prepare/submit reports
Post-award
Process • Manage training grant
appointments
• Prepare final reports,
Closeout invention statement and
Process certification, and population
tracking data
6
What’s new
with profiles &
accounts?
7
Early Stage & New Investigator support
• ESI support in Commons Personal Profile
– Users can enter area of medical residency
and date residency training ended
• Specific application eligibility
– ESI & NI eligibility are system-calculated and
status flags are displayed on the grant
application’s Status Information screen
Attention: PIs
Update degree & medical residency info in your
PPF (prior to submitting an application) to ensure
ESI & NI status are calculated accurately.
8
Personal Profile – Degrees/Residency screen
ESI eligibility calculated and displayed with eligibility
Status and End of Eligibility date for PI, Internet
Assisted Review (IAR) and Trainee users.
9
Status Information screen for an application
ESI & NI Flags
10
Continuous Submission (CS)
• Commons now features new ways for IAR
users to check CS status (Personal
Profile)
– On the Reviewer-Specific Service History &
Continuous Submission Eligibility screen, a
CS Eligibility Period box shows 3 fiscal years
• Users can select a time period and click Submit to
display eligibility status and view list of all eligible
meetings for the past 18-month period
11
Continuous Submission (CS)
CS Eligibility Period
dropdown in Reviewer-
Specific section of PPF
12
Maintain one Commons 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. PI and SO roles may not
be combined on the same account.
Attention: PIs
Your new SO can affiliate your Commons account with your
new institution. See the steps for the SO to affiliate the PI.
(http://era.nih.gov/commons/steps_commons.cfm#step3)
13
My NCBI / My Bibliography citations in PPF
• Commons is now linked to NCBI’s My
NCBI system. Inside My NCBI, users can
store their publications and other authored
works in My Bibliography.
– Citation data saved in My NCBI now appears
in Commons Personal Profile and eSNAP
Upload Science screens.
– Users must link accounts.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/
Attention: PIs
As of July 21, 2010, PIs will no longer be able to enter citation
information into Commons. Learn more at:
(http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-103.html)
14
Personal Profile Publications screen
My NCBI citations
Citations saved in My NCBI automatically appear in the
Publications screen (as long as the user linked their My NCBI and
Commons accounts). Screen also includes direct link to My NCBI
so users can move between systems.
15
What’s new
with
eSubmission?
16
Latest eSubmission milestones
Feb 2009:
Electronic Career
Development (Ks)
January 2010:
Restructured application forms
Jan 2009 Jan 2010
August 2009: January 2010:
Electronic Fellowship (Fs) Electronic Training
Grants (Ts & Ds)
All “non-complex” mechanisms now require
electronic submission.
17
Support for updated forms
• Federal-wide SF424 (R&R) and agency-
specific PHS 398 form changes due to:
– Three-year OMB renewal of PHS 398 form set
– Three-year OMB renewal of SF424 (R&R)
form set
– The Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act (FFATA)
– NIH Enhancing Peer Review redesign effort
Restructured forms have a Competition ID of:
ADOBE-FORMS-B
18
Error correction window
• NIH currently provides a two-day “error correction
window” following a submission deadline to
correct eRA-identified errors/warnings as long as:
– Initial submission made “on time”
– All registrations completed before deadline
– AOR enforces that changes are restricted to fixing
errors/warnings
– Proof of "on time" submission and description of
changes documented in cover letter
• NIH is currently in talks to potentially eliminate
the error correction window. Stay tuned for a
related guide notice.
19
Future Grants.gov security enhancements
• Grants.gov security enhancements targeted for
late summer/early fall
– New “Change My Password” and “I Forgot My
Password/Unlock My Account” features
– Stronger passwords
• At least 8 alphanumeric characters with at least one upper and
one lowercase letter
– Forced password change every 90 days
– Lock-out after three failed login attempts
– Session timeouts reduced from 60 to 15 minutes
– After one year of inactivity accounts will be locked
• Can unlock account
• E-biz POC must reinstate AOR authority
TIP: Log in to your Grants.gov and eRA Commons accounts prior
20 to deadlines to ensure you have appropriate access.
New eSubmission Web site
New site and new
URL. Be sure to
update any links to
old site.
21
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/ElectronicReceipt/
What’s new
with eRA
Commons?
22
xTrain to be required in Jan. 2011
• xTrain allows users to electronically
process required paperwork associated
with awarded training and career
development grants. xTrain use will be
required in Jan. 2011.
– Create, route and submit appointments, re-
appointments, amendments and termination
Notices
– Track the status and timing of training actions
Mandating xTrain NIH guide notice posted at:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-
23
OD-10-072.html
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 (R25, R90)
– Institutional Career Development Grants (K12, KL2,
KM1)
xTrain instructions & training resources available at:
http://era.nih.gov/training_career/index.cfm
24
eSNAP use mandatory in August 2010
• Use of the Commons electronic
Streamlined Non-competing Award
Process (eSNAP) module will be required
as of Aug. 1 to submit SNAP progress
reports
• See NIH guide notice:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-
files/NOT-OD-10-093.html
An updated eSNAP User Guide can be found at:
http://era.nih.gov/docs/eSNAP_UG_v2.25.0.0_041210.pdf
25
Associate citations with an eSNAP report
Upload Science screen shows citations that can be
associated with an eSNAP report. This includes citations that
a user has entered into My NCBI / My Bibliography.
26
Coming soon! FFR
• Federal mandate to implement Federal
Financial Report (to replace current
Financial Status Report)
• eFFR pilot phase to take place this
summer; if pilot is successful, eFFR will be
released to all users in October and NIH
will move towards mandating the use of
the FFR.
27
Now it’s time to find out…
How Well
Do You Know
eRA Commons?
Commons Commons
eSubmission Commons-ality
Knowledge Features
100 100 100 100
200 200 200 200
300 300 300 300
400 400 400 400
500 500 500 500
29
These general funding
opportunity announcements
are used for investigator-
initiated applications.
• What is a parent
announcement?
– E.g., Use PA-08-071 for R01
Research Project Grants
– http://grants.nih.gov/grants/gui
de/parent_announcements.htm
eSubmission - 100
30
These documents, when
requested, are submitted
directly to Commons and
later linked to an electronic
application.
• What are reference letters?
– Note: Reference letters may
be submitted in Commons
before an application is
complete.
eSubmission - 200
31
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
32
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
eSubmission - 400
33
These two fields on the SF424
R&R Sr./Key Person Profile
form are required by NIH but
not marked required on the
federal-wide form.
• What are the Credential and
Organization fields?
• Need Credential to place
application image and
Organization for FCOI
eSubmission - 500
34
This is the number of
Commons accounts with a PI
role that a registered user
should have.
• What is 1 account?
PIs should maintain one account
throughout their careers, even if they
change institutions or forget their
Commons password.
Commons Knowledge - 100
35
These two roles should not
be combined in a single
eRA Commons account.
• What are SO & PI?
– If both roles are needed by
the same user, they must
have two separate accounts
(one with each role).
Commons Knowledge - 200
36
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
37
My NCBI data appears in
these screens in eRA
Commons.
• What are PPF Publications
and eSNAP Upload Science
screens?
– Users must link their accounts
for My NCBI data to
automatically populate in
Commons.
Commons Knowledge - 400
38
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
• IAR users can view eligibility
in Commons
Commons Knowledge - 500
39
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
40
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
41
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
42
These items have something in common:
Grant folder documents
Review outcome info (if PI)
Key NIH contacts
Action history
Application NI & ESI
eligibility indicator
• What are items you find in
the detailed Status
Information screen?
Commons-ality - 400
43
These items have something in common:
Ensures NI & ESI consideration
Ensures proper routing of e-mail
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
44
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
45
R25, R90 & KM1 are new
activity codes that are
supported in this Commons
application.
• What is xTrain?
– Use of xTrain will be required in
Jan. 2011; paper appointment
forms and termination notices
will no longer be accepted by
NIH.
Commons Features - 200
46
The Financial Status Report
(FSR) is NIH’s version of this
federal report.
• What is FFR (Federal
Financial Report)?
• NIH is preparing to
transition to the use of the
federally mandated FFR
form in 2011.
Commons Features – 300
47
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
48
Closeout allows you to submit
these three reports.
• What are:
– Final Financial Status Report (FSR)
– Final Progress Report
– Final Inventions Statement?
• Each required report can be
submitted independently
• Interfaces with the Closeout
system used by NIH staff
Commons Features – 500
49
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?
50
At the end of the day…it’s about the science.
Laureate Year & Science NIH Support
Mario R. Capecchi 2007 - "for their discoveries of principles for NIGMS, NHLBI,
Oliver Smithies introducing specific gene modifications in mice NIDDK, NCI,
by the use of embryonic stem cells" NICHD
Roger D. Kornberg 2006 - "for his studies of the molecular basis of NIGMS, NIAID,
eukaryotic transcription" NCI
Andrew Z. Fire 2006 - "for their discovery of RNA interference - NIGMS, NICHD
Craig C. Mello gene silencing by double-stranded RNA"
Robert H. Grubbs 2005 - "for the development of the metathesis NIGMS
Richard R. Schrock method in organic synthesis"
Richard Axel 2004 - "for their discoveries of odorant NIDCD, NCI,
Linda B. Buck receptors and the organization of the olfactory NIAID, NIMH,
system" NINDS, NIDDK
51