2
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
Assurances
Certifications
Profile Data
Progress Reports
Financial Reports
Invention Reports
Training Appointment Actions eSubmission Errors/Warnings
Assembled Application Images
Review Assignments
Impact/Priority Scores
Summary Statements
Notices of Award
Post-award Correspondence

3
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

4
Application
Submission
Process
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
Application
Intake at
Receipt &
Referral
• View information on the review assignment of your grant application

5
When will I use it?
Peer Review
Process
• View Summary Statement &
Impact/Priority Scores
Pre-award
Process
Award
Process
• Submit Just-in-time (JIT) data
(e.g., other support, certifications)
• View award documents (NoA –
Notice of Award)

6
When will I use it?
Post-award
Process
• Prepare/submit reports
• Manage training grant appointments
Closeout
Process
• Prepare final reports, invention statement and certification, and population tracking data

7

8
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.

Personal Profile – Degrees/Residency screen
9
ESI eligibility calculated and displayed with eligibility
Status and End of Eligibility date for PI, Internet
Assisted Review (IAR) and Trainee users.

Status Information screen for an application
10
ESI & NI Flags

11
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

Continuous Submission (CS)
12
CS Eligibility Period dropdown in Reviewer-
Specific section of PPF

13
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 )

14
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
)

Personal Profile Publications screen
My NCBI citations
15
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.

16

Latest eSubmission milestones
Feb 2009:
Electronic Career
Development (Ks)
January 2010:
Restructured application forms
17
Jan 2009 Jan 2010
August 2009:
Electronic Fellowship (Fs)
January 2010:
Electronic Training
Grants (Ts & Ds)
All “non-complex” mechanisms now require electronic submission.

Support for updated forms
18
• Federal-wide SF424 (R&R) and agencyspecific 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

19
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.

Future Grants.gov security enhancements
20
• 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 to deadlines to ensure you have appropriate access.

New eSubmission Web site
21
New site and new
URL . Be sure to update any links to old site.
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/ElectronicReceipt/

22

xTrain to be required in Jan. 2011
23
• 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, reappointments, 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-
OD-10-072.html

24
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

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/noticefiles/NOT-OD-10-093.html
25
An updated eSNAP User Guide can be found at: http://era.nih.gov/docs/eSNAP_UG_v2.25.0.0_041210.pdf

Associate citations with an eSNAP report
26
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.

27
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.

29 eSubmission
100
Commons
Knowledge
Commons-ality
100
200
200
Commons
Features
100
200
300
300
400
300
400
300
400
500
500
500
400
500

30
• 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

31
• What are reference letters ?
– Note: Reference letters may be submitted in Commons before an application is complete.
eSubmission - 200

32
• 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

33
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 applicationviewing window
– Begins the day after errorfree application is processed eSubmission - 400

34
• What are the Credential and
Organization fields?
• Need Credential to place application image and
Organization for FCOI eSubmission - 500

35
• 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

36
• 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

37
• 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

38
• 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

39
• 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

40
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

41
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

42
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

43
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

44
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

45
• 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

46
• 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

47
• 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

48
• What is xTrain?
• The BO has signature or other authority related to administering Training grants.
Commons Features – 400

49
• 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

50
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 r ecognized 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 ?

51
At the end of the day…it’s about the science.
Laureate
Mario R. Capecchi
Oliver Smithies
Roger D. Kornberg
Andrew Z. Fire
Craig C. Mello
Robert H. Grubbs
Richard R. Schrock
Richard Axel
Linda B. Buck
Year & Science NIH Support
2007 - "for their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells"
2006 - "for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription"
2006 - "for their discovery of RNA interference gene silencing by double-stranded RNA"
2005 - "for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis"
NIGMS, NHLBI,
NIDDK, NCI,
NICHD
NIGMS, NIAID,
NCI
NIGMS, NICHD
NIGMS
2004 - "for their discoveries of odorant receptors and the organization of the olfactory system"
NIDCD, NCI,
NIAID, NIMH,
NINDS, NIDDK