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eRA News

2013

Highlights of Upcoming Commons Release & Scheduled Downtime for Thu, Jan. 24

Monday, January  21, 2013

Highlights of eRA's January Software Release for eRA Commons
The following are highlights of eRA's upcoming January 24-25 system-wide software release.

xTrain

eRA Commons

ASSIST

Scheduled Downtime for January Release:
eRA Commons will be unavailable beginning at 9 p.m. ET Thursday, January 24 and will return to service by 7 a.m. ET Friday, January 25.

After the January Release, make sure to review the Release Notes for detailed information on the changes.

2012

New Help Desk Ticketing Service Available Monday, Oct. 29

Sunday, October 28, 2012

eRA is moving to a new, sleeker help desk ticketing system tomorrow, Oct. 29, for our customers.  The new system will be more intuitive and customized to better meet your needs.  This system increases efficiency, provides better tracking and reporting of issues, and provides meaningful notifications to you.

You can access the new ticketing system through the link: http://era.nih.gov/help/.

For tickets created before the switch to the new system, you will continue to receive messages from the old system until the issue is resolved or the Help Desk Team moves it to the new system. Note that the ability to submit tickets via email and telephone is not changing.

For more information on the new system, get the New Help Desk System PDF.

(Message below sent Thursday, October 4, 2012 at 3:30 p.m. ET)

Highlights of Updates & Scheduled Downtime for Thursday, October 18

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Highlights of eRA’s October Software Release
The following are highlights of eRA’s upcoming October 18-19 system-wide software release.

Scheduled Downtime for October Release:
Please note that the eRA Commons will be unavailable from 9 p.m. (ET), Thursday, October 18 until 7 a.m. (ET) Friday, October 19 for deployment.

New Help Desk Ticketing Service Coming Soon

Thursday, October 4, 2012

eRA is moving to a new, sleeker help desk ticketing system for our customers.  The new system will be more intuitive and customized to better meet your needs.  This system will increase efficiency, provide better tracking and reporting of issues, and provide meaningful notifications to you.

The new system will replace the existing online ticketing system on Monday, October 29, 2012.

When you come to the new web page, you will be prompted to enter your email address (the one you use to communicate with NIH) and then you will see a new screen (see screenshot below).

Screenshot of new ticketing system
Figure 1: Screenshot of new ticketing system

The new system will offer more choices to categorize the help you are seeking, including multiple drill-down menus. For instance, you will first select the eRA Commons category, then you will have a number of sub-categories to choose from such as Account Questions, xTrain, or Progress Reports.  These options trigger related categories allowing you to quickly and specifically categorize the issue.   Not finding the right choices? No problem!  There is a rich text area to describe your issue as you see fit.  After describing the issue, you can also provide attachments and select your response preference, whether it be phone, email, or TTY.

To help speed up resolution of the issue, we encourage you to submit as much information as possible in the different fields available.

Finally, saving the ticket will ensure it is submitted and you will be given a confirmation number.

Additional features of the system include a Global Tickets pop-up message. This window will list widespread issue(s) affecting a large number of users. If you are experiencing the same issue, simply subscribe to the global ticket to be notified when the issue has been fixed. Yep, there’s a button for that! Note that if there is no global issue, the pop-up will not appear. You will need to have pop-ups enabled in your browser to view the Global Tickets window.

We will send an update when the new system is available.

Accessing eRA Commons from Bookmarks and Search Engines

Friday, September 7, 2012

For the past few weeks, the Help Desk has seen an increase in calls from customers who encounter the following error message when trying to log in: 

internal server error

eRA Commons has always had the policy of not supporting bookmarks. Commons does not support bookmarks for reasons of security. When you come to the Commons login page, it is not just a simple URL. When you come to the login page, you get:

eRA Commons URL

eRA applies more security to the session (the connection between your browser and the eRA Commons web site) than most web sites, primarily to protect your information.  Many of the values in this long string of characters are unique to that layer of security.  If a security key changes after you’ve added the site to your list of favorites or bookmark it, then the next time you visit the page, these values will no longer be valid and you will receive the error message. eRA is working on making the error message more informative than the current version.

If you wish to bookmark a URL for Commons, keep it generic. Use https://commons.era.nih.gov/  and manually add this URL to your list of favorites/bookmarks.

Similarly, some customers get to the eRA Commons login page using a search engine like Google.  Searching for eRA Commons, NIH Commons or variations thereof may get you to the login page.  But it may also present you with this message:

It Works!

The links provided by search engines are not always complete and do not define the location you are seeking well enough to get you to where you want to be. 

So in both of the scenarios above, it is not necessary to call the Help Desk immediately.  Try typing in https://commons.era.nih.gov/ or bookmark http://era.nih.gov/  and click on eRA Commons button on the right side of the page:

right navigation eRA site screen shot

These will always safely and correctly get you to where you want to be.

Issue with Retrieving Documents Resolved

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The issue with retrieving documents from eRA modules, including QVR and the Grant Folder, has been resolved.

Thank you for your patience.

(Message below sent Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at 3:20 p.m. ET)

Issue with Retrieving Document in eRA Commons

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Users are experiencing issues with retrieving documents from eRA Commons, such as application images. We are currently troubleshooting the issue and will provide an update as soon as possible.

  We are sorry for the inconvenience.

eRA Commons Offline at 6 p.m. ET Tonight

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

eRA Commons will be unavailable at 6 p.m. ET tonight, Wednesday, August 1, due to emergency maintenance.

The maintenance is expected to take up to an hour and a half.

We are sorry for the inconvenience. 

Changes to CCR Coming This Week!

Monday, July 23, 2012

An active Central Contractor Registration (CCR) is required to successfully submit an NIH grant application through Grants.gov. It is also an NIH requirement to keep CCR information current and active from application submission through grant closeout (see NOT-OD-11-004).  Although CCR services are managed outside of NIH through the General Services Administration (GSA), we want to make you aware of upcoming CCR changes that could impact registrations requests or updates.

As announced in May 2012, General Services Administration (GSA) is launching the new System for Award Management (SAM) that combines eight federal procurement systems and the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance into one new system.

PLEASE NOTE: The current CCR system will not accept any new records or updates to existing records after close of business Tuesday, July 24th. That means there will be no CCR updates to Grants.gov from Wednesday, July 25th until SAM goes live on Monday, July 30th. It takes at least a day after a CCR registrant receives the activation notice for their information to be available in Grants.gov.

Per the SAM.gov Web site:

If you currently have an active CCR registration, you need not do anything until it is time to renew your current registration.  At that time, the following steps will occur:

  1. You’ll create a new SAM User ID and Password
  2. Your CCR/FedReg permissions will be verified via your email account
  3. Your CCR registration information (Entity Information) will be waiting for you in SAM

If your record was set to expire between June 16, 2012 and October 15, 2012, the expiration date will be extended by 90 days. You will receive an e-mail notification from CCR when your expiration date has been updated. You will receive standard e-mail reminders to update your record based on this new expiration date. Those e-mail notifications will come from SAM.

If a potential applicant has not been notified of their CCR registration’s completion by Monday, July 23rd, it is unlikely they will be able to submit an application in Grants.gov before SAM goes live on Monday July 30, 2012.

For more information on SAM, please visit the CCR web site and SAM.gov. Note that NIH does not manage CCR, so all questions should be directed to the points of contact listed on the SAM.gov  web site.  You can also get more info from the Grants.gov blog page.

LikeThis Now Available to Signing Officials

Monday, July 23, 2012

The LikeThis tool, the thesaurus-based search tool, that was released in February is now available to Signing Officials (SOs) and those with the Commons roles of Trainee, Post Doc and Assistant. LikeThis is available as a link after logging in to eRA Commons.

See the Overview, User Guide and FAQs for more information about LikeThis.

Original message below sent Monday February 13, 2012 at 11:28AM.

eRA Commons Will Be Down for July Release

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Please note that the eRA Commons will be unavailable from 9 p.m. (ET), Thursday, July 19 until 7 a.m. (ET) Friday, July 20 for deployment.

We are sorry for any inconvenience.

RPPR for non-SNAP Grants for FDP Institutions

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

For pilot organizations and Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) institutions, a system error is currently allowing for the initiation of an RPPR on a non-SNAP award.  Per Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-083, the RPPR process can only be used for SNAP and Fellowship awards.  The error will be fixed by July 26, 2012.  Please do NOT initiate RPPRs for non-SNAP grants.

RPPR reflects the streamlined progress report information allowable for SNAP awards, (e.g. it lacks detailed budgets, IRB and IACUC approval dates, other support for all key personnel – regardless of change).  As such, the RPPR is not currently an acceptable format for a progress report for non-SNAP awards. You will need to submit your non-SNAP progress report using the standard paper process as described in the instruction guide for Non-Competing Continuation Progress Report PHS 2590 (Revised 06/2009)

We have received some RPPRs for non-SNAP grants and have identified a small number RPPRs initiated on non-SNAP awards.  For each of these progress reports we will work with the grantee directly to minimize the impact of this error; however, we may need to request information in addition to that provided in the RPPR to satisfy the progress report requirement for these non-SNAP awards. 

We apologize for the inconvenience, appreciate your patience as we work to correct the error, and value your feedback as we transition to the RPPR.

eSNAP Due Date Issue

Thursday, June 14, 2012

As of June 14, 2012, eRA Commons is displaying eSNAP due dates of the 1st of the month for many grants. Consequently, the eSNAP eligible grants are showing as being ‘OVERDUE’ in the system, despite actually being due on the 15th.

What you should do: First, don’t panic – this is a system issue. We have not changed our standard practices. You can still submit your eSNAPs in Commons by the 15th and be considered ‘on-time’.  It is not necessary to contact your grants management or program official to discuss the issue.

The staff is currently looking at short and long term solutions to the issue.  As soon as we know more, we will provide an update.

Changes Coming in Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI)

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

We would like to make you aware of upcoming changes to the Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) module that will be available with eRA’s June 19-20 software release.  The new features to the FCOI module in eRA Commons are to accommodate the requirements of the 2011 Revised Regulations.

The new module will require an additional four pieces of data not previously required in the 1995 Regulations:

For those who submit reports, additional features will include the ability to revise reports and see the history of a report.

For more information, please visit the Financial Conflict of Interest page and the FCOI documents page (new user guide to be posted in conjunction with June 19th release).

Issue with Notice of Award Notifications

Monday, April 23, 2012

Notice of Award (NoA) announcements generated since Friday, April 20, 2012 have the word “REVISED” added to the grant number.  This is the result of a small defect that is affecting NoAs released Friday, April 20 with an issue date of Monday, April 23 for NIH and eRA’s partner agencies.

If you received an initial grant award that shows “REVISED” incorrectly, do not be alarmed. This is a misprint on the document only.  Everything else about the award including the financial transaction is being processed correctly.

We are looking into a fix for the problem and will provide more information when available.

eRA Commons Offline During Sat, April 28 Maintenance

Monday, April 23, 2012

eRA Commons will be unavailable from 11 a.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 28, due to a planned upgrade of eRA servers.

New Features Coming April 19-20 for eRA Commons

Friday, April 13, 2012

Next week, eRA Commons will be unavailable beginning at 9 p.m. ET Thursday, April 19 until about 7 a.m. ET Friday, April 20 for the eRA system-wide software release.

New Features

New Fixes

Help Desk Phone Lines Issue Resolved

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

We have been informed that the issue with the Aspect phone system has been resolved. The Help Desk phones have been restored to full service.

Please revert to the normal practice of submitting tickets online at http://itservicedesk.nih.gov/support/.

Thank you for your patience.

(Message below sent Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. ET)

Help Desk Phone Lines Down; Submit Tickets by Email

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Aspect, a phone system used by several NIH Help Desks, is having problems. The eRA Help Desk is one of those impacted; users will get a busy signal if they call. Phone company engineers are working on the issue.

We would ask users to please submit their service requests via email at Commons@od.nih.gov until the problem is resolved.

Try the New LikeThis Search Tool Available Through eRA Commons

Monday February 13, 2012

Principal Investigators, have you ever wanted to see what NIH has awarded in your area of interest? Would you like to find out which study section reviews the applications similar to the ones you are proposing?

If so, we encourage you to explore LikeThis (beta), a new search tool linked to the eRA Commons! You can enter a scientific abstract or access your own applications or grants and then click on LikeThis to get a listing of similar grants and/or publications.

No need to worry about your proposed research strategy being seen by others.  The LikeThis beta version requires a Commons login, so any information you enter is confidential.
After you log into Commons, you will find the link along the right side of the home page at the bottom of the Additional Links section.

Here are some helpful resources — an Overview, a User Guide and FAQs to navigate LikeThis.

So go ahead and use the LikeThis tool and send us your feedback or questions to the LikeThis mailbox.

In case the new tool makes you want to sing, go ahead and get your beat box on…

Ya wanna find new ideas for research on the fly?
Do it LikeThis!
Wanna find a grant like yours in just one try?
Do it LikeThis!

Planning to submit some grant applications?
You can look for the right study sections.
Avoid all the other frustrations!
Find it LikeThis!

 

Password Changes and Upcoming Password Expiration for Accounts

Friday, February 10, 2012

Hurry, don’t delay, time is literally ticking away on your eRA Commons password!  In October the eRA Commons moved to establishing a new NIH/Agency Log-in process.  As a result of this change, passwords for the accounts within eRA Commons were given an expiration date of February 22, 2012.

To avoid the lines, you will want to change your password as soon as possible.
Do it now and enjoy these awesome benefits:

Are you new to eRA Commons? Have you recently changed your password? If your account was created, or you have changed your password since October 08, 2011, then you are OFF THE HOOK! You need not change your password.

Please be sure you review the password policy and you must change your password from within eRA Commons.
This password policy and login procedures can  also be reviewed in the eRA Commons User Guide on page 24, or on the eRA Commons Basic Tasks Step by Step page.

This will affect all users with eRA Commons accounts, so please make sure that you spread the word to others in your organization/institute with Commons accounts.

Submission of Administrative Supplements Pilot Begins Feb. 1; January 19 Downtime for eRA Commons

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

eRA will deploy software updates to enhance various sections of Commons as part of its January system-wide release this week. The updated functionality will be available to users Friday, January 20.

eRA Commons will be unavailable beginning at 9 p.m. ET Thursday, January 19 until about 7 a.m. ET Friday, January 20 to deploy this release.

The highlight of this release is:

Submitting and Tracking Administrative Supplement Requests Electronically
As you may be aware, NIH is piloting two programs for the electronic submission of administrative supplement (non-competing Type 3) requests, one through a "streamlined system" in the eRA Commons and one through Grants.gov for the benefit of researchers at system-to-system institutions. The open pilot programs will begin on February 1, 2012 (See NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-024).

eRA will be implementing changes to provide grantees the ability to create, edit, and submit an electronic version of the administrative supplement request using the eRA Commons. Whether submitted through the eRA Commons or through the Grants.gov portal, users will be able to track the administrative supplement requests in eRA Commons.

These new options are open to all grant types (with the exception of complex grants) and we encourage anyone already planning to submit a supplement to try it.  It is fast and easy.  Submitting through eRA Commons streamlines the process since you will find much of the application pre-populated with information from the parent grant data while you are guided step by step through the rest of the application.  Submitting through Grants.gov allows users to leverage the same process used for competing grant application submissions – an especially nice feature for system-to-system users.

Not yet ready to try it?  Not to worry. The traditional “paper” process is still available if you wish. 

The electronic submission of administrative supplement (non-competing Type 3) requests is the next step in moving to a fully electronic submission process. 

Maintenance Downtime for eRA Commons Saturdays, Jan. 7 and Jan. 14

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

eRA Commons will be unavailable from 10 p.m. Saturday, January 14 until 5 a.m. Sunday, January 15.  This downtime is required for critical security and performance patching to eRA systems to enhance IT security and increase network reliability.

This maintenance is in addition to our regularly scheduled maintenance this upcoming weekend, starting at the usual time of 10 p.m. Saturday, January 7 until 5 a.m. Sunday, January 8.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Please Note: eRA posts the 2012 Maintenance Schedule on the eRA Web site. Users should check these calendars regularly for updates.

2011

eRA Commons is Back Online and Available

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The eRA technical team working with other NIH teams have reported the problem with the central NIH Log-in has been resolved; as a result, eRA Commons is currently available for use.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Per the NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-018 issued today:

Due to a problem that disrupted eRA Commons availability this week, November 21, 22 and 23 submission deadlines will be extended to Monday, November 28. This change is being made to accommodate applicants who  were unable to track their applications in the eRA Commons and view their assembled application image or  their electronic submission errors and warnings due to the unavailability of the eRA Commons system today.

Announcement Number

Issuing Organization

Submission Due  Date

Activity Code

Title

RFA-MH-12-090

NIMH

11/21/2011

R01

 

Mechanisms Explaining Differences in Depressive and Anxiety Disorders Across Racial/Ethnic Groups (R01)

RFA-NR-11-011

NINR

11/21/2011

T32

 

Scholars Training for the Advancement of Research (STAR): Competitive Revision to NINR T32 Training Grants (T32)

RFA-ES-11-013

NIEHS

11/22/2011

R01

 

Oceans, Great Lakes and Human Health (R01)

RFA-HD-12-209

NICHD

11/22/2011

K12

 

Pediatric Scientist Development Program (PSDP) [K12]

PAR-09-162

NCI

11/23/2011

R21

 

Exploratory Grant Award to Promote Workforce Diversity in Basic Cancer Research (R21)

PAR-09-160

NCI

11/23/2011

R21

 

Exploratory/Developmental Grants Program for Basic Cancer Research in Cancer Health Disparities (R21)

PAR-11-156

Reissue of
PAR-09-161

NCI

11/23/2011

U01

Basic Cancer Research in Cancer Health Disparities (U01)

RFA-DK-11-018

Reissue of
DK-10-008

NIDDK

11/23/2011

R43,R44

 

Small Business Innovation Research to Develop New Therapeutics and Monitoring Technologies for Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Towards an Artificial Pancreas [(SBIR) (R43/R44)]

NIH will provide two full business days to view your application in eRA Commons (not including the day of submission or Monday, Nov. 21 and Tuesday, Nov. 22 and Thursday, Nov. 24). Please remember that changes to your application after the due date will result in a late application unless a system issue causes the application image to look differently from what you submitted.

Note that submission deadlines for Monday, Nov. 21 and Tuesday, Nov. 22, were previously extended to Wednesday, Nov. 23, via NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-016. These deadlines have now been extended until Monday, Nov. 28, with this notice.

The two-week window of consideration for late applications (NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-11-035) for the November 5 R01 deadline that expired on Monday, November 21, will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Thank you for your patience.

(Previous message below sent Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 9:29 a.m.) 

eRA Commons is Currently Unavailable

Monday, November 21, 2011

Due to an issue with the central NIH Log-in system, eRA Commons is currently unavailable. The eRA technical team is working with other NIH teams to resolve the issue and we expect the problem to be resolved shortly.

eRA Commons Downtime November 9 - 10 for Software Release

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

eRA Commons will be unavailable beginning at 9 p.m. ET today, Wednesday, November 9 until about 7 a.m. ET Thursday, November 10.

This downtime is necessary to release software updates that will enhance components of the eRA systems. eRA Commons will be available to users on Thursday, November 10.

Visibility Issue With Grant Application Image Resolved

Thursday, October 26, 2011

The issue in eRA Commons that delayed the visibility of the grant application image by one business day for Signing Officials (SOs) and Administrative Officials (AOs) has now been resolved. SOs and AOs can now view the application image as soon as it is available in Commons.

Thank you for your patience.

(Original Message Below Sent Tuesday, October 25, at 1:57 p.m.)

Deadlines Extended for Funding Opportunities with Deadlines This Week

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

An issue in eRA Commons is delaying the visibility of the grant application image by one business day for Signing Officials (SOs) and Administrative Officials (AOs). Principal Investigators (the Contact PI on an application) and their delegated assistants are able to view the application image immediately.

To ensure that application institutions have the full opportunity to review submitted applications before they move on for further processing, NIH has extended the deadline by one business day for all funding opportunities that require electronic submission that have due dates that fall on or between today, Tuesday, Oct. 25 and Friday, Oct. 28, 2011.

Please check the NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-12-008 for a list of the NIH opportunities for which deadlines have been extended by one business day.

We would like to assure you that there is no problem in the submission process itself or the application data. It is only the visibility of the application image that is delayed for SOs and AOs.

Note that those affected by this delay will still have two days to check their application image in Commons per the normal submission process.

Fixes in eRA Commons Implemented Today

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Following the eRA Commons technology upgrade on October 7-8, some issues were discovered in the system. We are pleased to announce that a release today took care of issues that could not wait until the next Commons release in January 2012.

As of Thursday, October 20, the following issues have been corrected:

A list of outstanding Known Issues since the Oct. 7-8 release can be found on the eRA Web site.

(Original message below sent Saturday, October 8, at 7:08 a.m.)

eRA Commons Service Restored; Minor Issues Exist

Saturday, October 8, 2011 

We have completed a successful technology upgrade of the eRA Commons. The system is up and running and is available for your use.

This was an expansive project, requiring updates to a significant portion of the Commons technology. We are aware of a handful of known issues in the system. Please see the List of Known Issues posted on the eRA website.

If you are experiencing system issues that are not documented on the known issues list, please contact the eRA Help Desk, so we can look into the matter. Please note that the eRA Help Desk will be closed on Monday in observance of the federal holiday and will reopen on Tuesday, October 11. You may use the e-mail address or the web ticketing system on Monday, and a member of the help desk will get back to you as soon as possible next week.

(Original message below sent Thursday, October 6, at 4:44 p.m.)

All eRA Systems Available After eRA Commons, IAR Move to New Log-in

Saturday, October 8, 2011 

eRA Commons and the Internet Assisted Review (IAR) modules have moved to the new log-in process, following a successful technology upgrade. All eRA modules and databases are up and running and available for your use.

This was an expansive project, requiring updates to a significant portion of the Commons technology. We are aware of a handful of known issues with Commons and IAR. Please see the List of Known Issues posted on the eRA Web site. Note that there is a backlog in the system that automatically sends IAR invitation emails to reviewers and those emails may be delayed by a day.

If you are experiencing system issues that are not documented on the known issues list, please contact the eRA Help Desk, so we can look into the matter. 

eRA staff have been working around the clock since Friday evening to implement this upgrade and to thoroughly test the systems. This is the culmination of many months of careful planning and preparation.

Changes Coming to eRA Commons October 8, 2011

Thursday, October 6, 2011

On Friday, October 7 and Saturday, October 8, 2011, eRA Commons will undergo a ‘technical refresh.’ The new functionality will be available to users on Saturday, October 8.

eRA Commons will be unavailable from 9 p.m. (ET) Friday, October 7, until as late as 7 a.m. Saturday, October 8 to complete this work. New features to be released are described below.

Commons Login and Welcome screens

Admin
New Features

Commons Institution Registration
New Features

xTrain
New Process for Self-Registration

(Original message below sent Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 2:33 p.m.)

Scheduled Downtime Friday, Oct. 7, at 9 p.m. to Deploy eRA Commons/IAR Log-in Changes

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

eRA Commons and the Internet Assisted Review (IAR) will undergo a technology upgrade and move to a new log-in process this Friday night. To deploy these upgrades, all eRA systems (including eRA Commons, all IMPAC II modules and databases) will be unavailable beginning at 9 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Friday, Oct. 7.  All systems should be returned to service by 7 a.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 8.  iEdison will remain online through the deployment.

Note that there was a miscommunication in our original message below. There is no major change in the registration process for eRA Commons; applicant organizations will still need to fax in their signed registration form to NIH. One minor change is that applicant organizations will no longer be required to supply their fax number on the registration form.

IC Extension System Reminder: If you are responsible for running an extension system at your IC, please remember to check for database schema changes by following the links below:
https://apps.era.nih.gov/cooltools
https://apps.era.nih.gov/cooltools

Changes Coming to eRA Commons October 8, 2011

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

On Friday, October 7 and Saturday, October 8, eRA Commons will undergo a ‘technical refresh.’ This downtime will not affect the October 5 R01 application submission deadline or the subsequent application viewing window.

What does this mean for you? Wherever possible, we have made a concerted effort to minimize the changes to the eRA Commons. Many of the technology updates are occurring behind the scenes; however, there are a few things you’ll notice that have changed, and some additional features and functionality that we hope you’ll be pleased to see.

Sections of eRA Commons to be enhanced during the technical refresh:

Logging In

As part of a federal-wide mandate to move toward more secure electronic systems, NIH has been in the process of updating the log-in for each of its systems. No changes are required for Commons users who are not federal employees. You will continue to log in to the system using your existing username and password.

In the future, applicant organizations (universities, hospitals, etc.) whose own systems meet a certain level of security (known as ‘federated status’) will be able to sign in to eRA Commons using the same credentials they use to access their own systems. The new Commons home page will contain a ‘Federated Institutions/Organizations’ drop-down menu that will include the name of each federated organization.

Registration

Applicant organizations who need to register in eRA Commons will find the Register Grantee Organization link clearly displayed at the top right of the Commons home page.

Delegating Authority

eRA Commons has long provided the ability for a user to delegate certain authorities to another user, such as an assistant. Currently, to perform delegations, a user has to navigate to multiple screens within Commons, depending on the type of delegation (i.e., the xTrain tab for Delegate xTrain and the Admin tab for Delegate Submit).

A new Commons menu item called ‘Delegations,’ part of next week’s technical refresh, will streamline and simplify the process by allowing users to view and assign delegations in one place. More information will be coming soon on delegations. For a full list of the types of delegations available in Commons, including which roles are associated with each delegation, view the eRA Commons User Guide.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. This is an expansive project requiring updates to a significant portion of the Commons technology. With any project of this magnitude, some unforeseen technical issues may occur. We will have staff on hand to address these potential issues and keep you updated.

eRA Commons Downtime July 21 - 22 for Software Release

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

eRA Commons will be unavailable from 9 p.m. (ET) Thursday, July 21 until 7 a.m. Friday, July 22 in order for eRA to perform internal software enhancements.

Commons and IAR Service Restored

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

eRA Commons and Internet Assisted Review (IAR) have been restored to full service. eRA will continue to monitor the systems closely.

For applicants submitting a K series renewal, resubmission, and/or revision application, NIH has released a guide notice announcing an extension of today’s deadline in light of these system issues. Today’s K series application deadline has been extended to tomorrow, Wednesday July 13. Please refer to guide notice NOT-OD-11-095.

(Original message below sent Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 10:05 a.m. ET.)

Commons and IAR are Currently Unavailable

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

eRA Commons and Internet Assisted Review (IAR) are currently unavailable due to technical difficulties. eRA is working to diagnose the problem and will provide additional details as soon as possible.

Remember to Track Application Status Through eRA Commons - E-mail Notification Issue Occurring

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Dear grant community,

The e-mail notification that the eRA system automatically sends to grant applicants after the application viewing window elapses (see sample e-mail at the end of this message) is not being sent under certain conditions. Applicants who submitted on Tuesday, July 5 will not receive the e-mail notification that would, under normal conditions, be sent to them on midnight this evening (Thursday, July 7), alerting them that their application has moved forward for additional processing and funding consideration.

Cause:
The eRA system automatically forwards electronic grant applications to NIH staff two business days after the assembled application image is made available in eRA Commons. When the system has to handle an extremely high volume of applications, the process fails, and eRA staff must intervene manually in order to make the applications available to NIH staff for funding consideration. When this occurs, the ‘auto verified’ e-mails are not being sent to applicants. This issue does not affect any other eRA notifications that are sent throughout the electronic application process.

Corrective Action:
We are monitoring our systems closely and ensuring that all applications move forward for funding consideration after the application viewing window elapses. We will correct this issue during our software release this fall.

What can you do?
Although you may not receive an e-mail, your application status is available through eRA Commons. During the application viewing window, the eSubmission Status will display as ‘Pending Verification’. Once the application viewing window elapses and the application has moved forward for funding consideration, the eSubmission Status will change to ‘Submission Complete’.

SAMPLE AUTO VERIFICATION E-MAIL

E-mail Subject:  
eRA Commons: Auto verified electronic application [AN # 3029652]; PI: [Money, Cher D]; Title: [great application]; Grants.gov Tracking #: [GRANT00544301]

E-mail Body:
eRA has received grant application titled: [great application]; at least 2 business days have passed since application image was assembled and made available to you for viewing. The grant application has now advanced to the next step - Referral.

You can view and track the status of this grant application via the 'Status' module in eRA Commons (log into eRA Commons and select the 'Status' tab on the top blue menu bar).

Scheduled Downtime for eRA Commons Thursday, May 12 and Friday, May 13

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Software updates will be performed on various eRA internal systems this week. In order to perform this work, there will be a downtime for eRA Commons from 9 p.m. (ET) Thursday, May 12, until as late as 7 a.m. (ET) Friday, May 13.

New Features and Fixes Coming April 22 for eRA Commons

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

eRA will deploy software updates to enhance various sections of Commons tomorrow evening. The new functionality will be available to users Friday, April 22.

eRA Commons will be unavailable from 9 p.m. (ET) Thursday, April 21, until as late as 7 a.m. Friday, April 22 to complete this work.

New features and fixes to be released are described below.

Personal Profile
Fix

Status
Fix

eSNAP (Electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award Process)
New Features

xTrain
New Feature

Fix

Reviewers Must Agree to Confidentiality Agreement Before Accessing Material in IAR

Thursday, March 17, 2011

A new step in the Internet Assisted Review (IAR) module requires reviewers to agree to a confidentiality agreement in the system before they can access any review materials.  Until reviewers concur with the confidentiality agreement, they will not see the usual links (List of Applications, Meeting Materials, Check Conflicts, etc) on their List of Meetings screen.

This step was put in place to ensure that confidential grant application information is protected. This agreement must be concurred with once for every review meeting.  Reviewers will also continue their practice of signing the pre-meeting and post-meeting Conflict of Interest forms.

This confidentiality agreement is found on the List of Meetings screen in the Action column on the far right of the screen.  Reviewers will click on a hyperlink titled ‘Confidentiality Statement.’

Once the agreement is signed, with reviewers clicking on the ‘I agree’ button at the bottom of the agreement, they will be able to gain access to material in the system.

eRA plans to add some instructions to this effect on the List of Meetings screen in a future software release.

Scientific Review Officers (SROs) are encouraged to share this information with their reviewers, in case reviewers are not familiar with this new step and are puzzled that they cannot access their review materials.

New Features and Fixes Coming February 25 for eRA Commons

Thursday, February 24, 2011

eRA will deploy software updates to enhance various sections of Commons this evening. The updated functionality will be available to users tomorrow (Friday, February 25).

eRA Commons will be unavailable from 9 p.m. (ET) tonight (Thursday, February 24) until as late as 7 a.m. tomorrow to complete this work.

New features and fixes to be released are described below.

General
New Feature

Admin
Fix

Personal Profile
New Feature

Status
Fix

eSNAP (Electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award Process)
New Features

xTrain
New Features

Fixes

eRA Commons Downtime February 24 - 25 for Software Release February 22, 2011

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

eRA Commons will be unavailable from 9 p.m. (ET) Thursday, February 24 until as late as 7 a.m. (ET) Friday, February 25.

This downtime is necessary to release software updates that will enhance various sections of the Commons. An e-mail detailing these enhancements and repairs will follow. The new functionality will be available to Commons users on Friday, February 25.

We are sorry for any inconvenience.

NIH Identifies Cause of Erroneous Notifications

Monday, November 1, 2010

eRA has identified an issue in our automatic eNotification message system, which is used to send applicants and grantees targeted messages regarding their grant applications and awards. NIH has started sending due and overdue reminders to grantees as part of the new procedure for submitting annual progress reports for multi-year funded awards (see NOT-OD-11-010).

This system issue resulted in e-mails being sent in error to a number of PD/PIs regarding overdue progress reports for grant applications that were not funded.

eRA plans to resolve the issue this evening, and the planned resolution should prevent the sending of incorrect e-mails in the future. If you received a notification regarding a non-awarded application, you can ignore the message.

We are sorry for any inconvenience.

New Features and Fixes Coming October 23 for eRA Commons

Thursday, October 21, 2010

eRA will deploy software updates to enhance various sections of Commons as part of its October system-wide release this week. The updated functionality will be available to users Saturday, October 23.

eRA Commons will be unavailable from 9 p.m. (ET) Friday, October 22 until noon (ET) Saturday, October 23 to deploy this release.

Additional new features slated for this release are listed below.

Status
New Features

eSNAP (Electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award Process)
New Features

xTrain
New Features

Commons Downtime October 22-23 for Software Release

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

eRA Commons will be unavailable from 9 p.m. (ET) Friday, October 22 until noon (ET) Saturday, October 23 to release software updates that will enhance various sections of the Commons system. Details of this release will be communicated shortly.

The new functionality will be available to Commons users on Saturday, October 23.

We are sorry for any inconvenience.

Grants.gov Issues Resolved; No Further NIH Extensions in Place

Monday, October 18, 2010

Following Friday’s service interruption, Grants.gov was restored to full service as of 2:45 a.m. ET, Saturday October 16.

Therefore, the deadline for Saturday, October 16 (extended to the next business day, today, Monday October 18) for the following grant programs remains in place. Applicants must submit their applications today by 5 p.m. (local time of the applicant organization):

Standard due date: R03, R21, R33, R21/R33, R34, R36 (new)
Additional opportunities: PAS-10-226

If you have any questions, please contact the eRA Help Desk (contact info below).

(Original message sent Friday, October 15, 2010 at 12:11 p.m. ET.)

Deadline Extended for Applications Due on October 15, in Light of Grants.gov Outage

Friday, October 15, 2010

It has been a longstanding principle of the NIH that grant applicants are not penalized for Federal system failures.

We are aware that Grants.gov has experienced an extended service interruption today, October 15, 2010, and that during the interruption applicants have been unable to submit to Grants.gov. Given that the service interruption occurred on today’s submission deadline for RFA-GM-11-004, NIH has extended the submission deadline for this opportunity by two days. The new submission deadline for RFA-GM-11-004 is Tuesday, October 19, 2010.

The two-business-day error-correction window will remain in place on Wednesday, October 20 and Thursday, October 21. We ask, however, that you make every effort to address any errors quickly so that the applications can be processed in a timely manner.

A guide notice containing these details will be released shortly.

Important Note: NIH will continue to communicate with Grants.gov throughout the resolution of this service issue. We are evaluating the impact for submission deadlines on Saturday, October 16, 2010. Keep in mind that when an NIH submission deadline falls on a weekend, the deadline automatically shifts to the next business day (Monday, October 18). We will shortly release a follow-up communication regarding potential contingency plans for these grant programs.

We appreciate your patience and are sorry for any inconvenience.

Act Now to Retain Your Commons Citations

Friday, October 8, 2010

Dear Program Directors / Principal Investigators,

eRA Commons and the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) have partnered together to provide one comprehensive online bibliography portal. NCBI’s “My NCBI” system (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/) boasts a feature called “My Bibliography,” where users can create and store professional citations. As of July 23, 2010, PD/PIs are no longer able to enter citations manually into eRA Commons and must use My Bibliography to enter and maintain any citations they wish to have available in Commons.

In order to complete the integration of eRA Commons and My NCBI, citations that have been manually entered into Commons will be unavailable as of October 22, 2010. This includes citations that a Commons user has typed or copied and pasted directly into Commons, which are identified in Commons by a citation source of “PD/PI Entered.”

To retain these citations (i.e. for use in a future progress report), PD/PIs must transfer them to a My NCBI account. Several demos (http://era.nih.gov/virtualschool/external/class_bib.htm) released this summer provide PD/PIs with step-by-step instructions for creating a My NCBI account and linking it to a Commons account, as well as other aspects of this systems integration.

Resources:

For My NCBI-specific questions, please contact My NCBI at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/About/glance/contact_info.html.

Commons, IAR and iEdison Unavailable Saturday, October 9 from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

On Saturday night, the NIH Center for Information Technology (CIT) will be correcting a software defect that was identified during last week’s emergency maintenance (detailed in the message below).  During this maintenance, eRA Commons, IAR (Internet Assisted Review) and iEdison will be unavailable from 10 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 9 until 3 a.m. on Sunday, October 10. 

To minimize system downtime, we have re-scheduled our eRA monthly maintenance to coincide with this software fix.  eRA’s “Maintenance and Upgrade Schedule” has been updated to reflect this change.

(Original message below; sent Tuesday, September 28 @ 4:58 p.m. ET)

Commons, IAR and iEdison Downtime Tonight to Accommodate Emergency Maintenance

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

NIH has identified a critical system issue that could potentially affect eRA applications and requires immediate attention. To address this issue, we will be performing emergency maintenance tonight – September 28, 2010 – beginning at 10:00 p.m. (ET). During the maintenance, eRA Commons, IAR (Internet Assisted Review) and iEdison will be unavailable. These systems will be restored by 4:00 a.m. tomorrow morning – Wednesday, September 29 – at the latest.

NIH System Maintenance Thursday Evening Will Affect eRA Commons

August 9, 2010

eRA Commons and all NIH websites will be unavailable from 7:30 p.m. (ET) Thursday, August 12 until 1:00 a.m. (ET) on Friday, August 13. This downtime is required due to scheduled NIH-wide Center for Information Technology (CIT) maintenance.

We are sorry for the inconvenience to our users.

eRA Commons Restored to Service

Saturday, July 31, 2010

eRA’s database software upgrade has been completed successfully, and Commons has been restored to service.

Should you experience any issues or delays when using Commons, please contact the eRA Help Desk at http://itservicedesk.nih.gov/eRA/ or via e-mail at helpdesk@od.nih.gov.

(Original e-mail below: sent July 27 at 2:44 p.m.)

Commons Downtime, July 29-Aug. 1

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

eRA Commons will be unavailable during this week's database software upgrade. The upgrade will begin at 9 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Thursday, July 29. eRA expects to complete this work before 11 p.m. (ET) Sunday, August 1. Commons will be available before the start of business at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, August 2.

Please see below for additional information. We are sorry for any inconvenience.

(Original e-mail below: sent June 10 at 3:51 p.m.)

New Features and Fixes for IAR

New Features

New Fixes

New Features and Fixes Coming July 21 for eRA Commons

Monday, July 19, 2010

eRA will deploy software updates to enhance various sections of Commons as part of its July system-wide release this week. The updated functionality will be available to users Wednesday, July 21.

Please note that eRA Commons will be unavailable from 9 p.m. (ET) Tuesday, July 20 until 7 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, July 21 for deployment.

New features and fixes slated for this release are listed below.

eSNAP (electronic Streamlined Non-competing Award Process)
New Features

Fixes

xTrain
New Features

Fix

Personal Profile
New Features

FSR (Financial Status Report)
New Feature

Steps to Confirm Critique is Uploaded

June 16, 2010

We occasionally receive reports about missing critiques and believe we have identified the cause. Our analysis of these cases shows that in most of these instances, the critiques are not missing, but the upload has not been completed successfully.

While eRA is working on fine-tuning the upload process, there is one way of verifying the availability of uploaded critiques in IAR. Reviewers can proactively take these steps to ensure their critique(s) uploaded successfully.

Confirming Upload via the List of Applications Screen

Note: If you can view the critique from the List of Applications, the upload was completed successfully. If the critique displays as a Word document it simply means that the process of converting the document to PDF is still in process. The conversion to PDF should only take a few minutes and is not necessary to validate that the critique upload was successfully completed.

If you experience a problem with critiques not available in the IAR system, please follow the above steps. If the problem persists, please contact the eRA Help Desk.

Advance Notice of Commons Downtimes, July 20-21 and July 29-Aug. 1

Thursday, June 10, 2010

There will be two major system upgrades in July that will require downtime for eRA Commons.

July System-wide Software Release
eRA's quarterly system-wide software release will take place from 9 p.m. (ET) Tuesday, July 20 until 7 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, July 21. This release will bring a host of enhancements to eRA Commons, details of which will be communicated closer to the release date.

Database Software Upgrade
For the past seven months, eRA has been preparing for a major upgrade to the Commons database software. This massive effort is necessary because the current database software version will soon be unsupported, and critical security patches will no longer be provided for this version.

eRA Commons will be unavailable while the database software is being upgraded. The upgrade will begin at 9 p.m. (ET) Thursday, July 29. eRA expects to complete the upgrade before 11 p.m. (ET) Sunday, August 1; although, it is possible that the upgrade could be completed sooner (or later). Commons will be available as of the start of business on Monday, August 2 (ET).

eRA Commons, IAR Up and Running

June 8, 2010

eRA Commons and IAR are available to users again. The issue that led to the service interruption was isolated and the systems restarted.

We appreciate your patience as we worked through the issue.

(Original email below; Sent Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 5:38 p.m.)

Issue Identified; Systems to be Restarted

June 8, 2010

We have isolated the problem that led to the unexpected downtime earlier today. However, a restart of the systems is needed that should take approximately one hour. eRA Commons and all IMPAC II modules including QVR will be offline during that time.

We appreciate your patience and will update you as soon as the systems are up and running again.

(Original message sent Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 1:48 p.m.)

Many eRA Applications are Currently Unavailable

June 8, 2010

The eRA system—including many IMPAC II modules—is currently unavailable due to technical difficulties. eRA is working to diagnose the problem and will provide additional details as soon as possible.

We are sorry for this inconvenience. 

Feedback Requested on Redesigned eRA Web Site

June 8, 2010

The electronic Research Administration (eRA) is pleased to announce the launch of its newly redesigned Web site (http://era.nih.gov/).The redesign adds value to the existing site by providing practical information for its specific user communities and serving as a gateway to the eRA Commons. The revamped site is tailored towards the information needs of our applicant, grantee, reviewer, and trainee communities.

Each user community page includes:

In addition, the About eRA section provides a broad overview of eRA services and systems.

We encourage you to visit the redesigned Web site and send any feedback to the eRA Communications Office at eracommunications@mail.nih.gov

Grants.gov Downtime Planned for Feb. 6 - 9, 2010

January 13, 2010

We wanted to take this opportunity to inform you that Grants.gov will be offline from 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Time) on Feb. 6 until 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Feb. 9, in order to complete a major upgrade to the Grants.gov system. If you are working on an application intended for the Feb. 5 deadline, we encourage you, as always, to view the status of your on-time submission in eRA Commons, which will be up and running normally during the Grants.gov downtime.

Because of this downtime, on-time submission of any application intended for the Feb. 5 deadline is of the utmost importance. You will be able to take advantage of NIH's temporarily extended error-correction window to address any eRA system-identified errors/warnings in order to complete the submission process within five business days, by Feb. 12. You can find further information about the temporary extension of the error-correction window in the recently issued Guide Notice NOT-OD-10-042-"Error-Correction Window Extended for Electronic Applications Intended for Submission Deadlines On and Between January 25 and May 7, 2010."

If you find that you are experiencing problems with Grants.gov or the eRA Commons that threaten the timely submission of your application or your ability to obtain the tracking number and timestamp necessary to verify on-time submission, please follow the directions and adhere to the policies outlined on the "Need Assistance?" page of the eSubmission Web site.

Grace Period for Submissions After Opportunities Expire

January 13, 2010

We would like to take this opportunity to remind you that while many of NIH's funding opportunities expire the day after the submission deadline, NIH posts all opportunities in a way that allows submissions through Grants.gov to continue for a short period of time following the expiration date. This grace period accommodates corrective submissions during the "error-correction window," late submissions allowed under NIH's late policy (when applicable), and submissions made under NIH's Continuous Submission policy. The grace period also provides NIIH with the flexibility to institute contingency plans (e.g. extending deadlines or the error-correction window).

Please note that while the grace period allows for the submission of applications to Grants.gov, applications submitted during the grace period are accepted only at the discretion of NIH.

Planned Downtimes for eRA Commons

January 8, 2010

We wanted to take this opportunity to let you know of two upcoming downtimes for the eRA Commons.

The eRA Commons will be unavailable on Thursday, January 14 from 10 p.m. (Eastern Time) until 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time), during which time eRA will be performing regular database updates. In addition, in preparation for eRA’s upcoming system-wide enterprise software release, Commons will be down from 8 p.m. (Eastern Time) Thursday, January 21 until 7 a.m. (Eastern Time) Friday January 22.

Stay tuned for further details of the January 21 release, including information about the features and fixes to be deployed for the enhancement of Commons.

We are sorry for any inconvenience.

CRISP to be Retired Oct. 31, 2009; Start Using RePORTER Today

October 27, 2009

The CRISP query tool which provides a searchable database of biomedical research projects funded by NIH will be retired Oct. 31, 2009.

For many years, CRISP was one of the most common ways for the public to find information on NIH research programs, returning extensive results on scientific topics. CRISP played an important role in its lifetime and won several awards.

With CRISP's impending retirement, we are glad to offer an exciting replacement in the form of the RePORT Expenditures and Results (RePORTER) tool.

RePORTER is available immediately and offers all the features of CRISP and more! It provides:

New features will be added to RePORTER in several releases throughout fiscal year 2010.

We encourage you to start using RePORTER today!

For questions on RePORTER, please contact the RePORT team at report@od.nih.gov.

For questions related to CRISP, please contact the eRA Help Desk at http://itservicedesk.nih.gov/era/ (Preferred method of contact); 301-402-7469; helpdesk@od.nih.gov.

CRISP on the Web Gets a Facelift

April 30, 2008
CRISP After many years, CRISP, the public-facing database of federally funded biomedical research projects, is undergoing a series of updates. During the next year, there will be several releases of an enhanced version of CRISP on the Web. The new system will continue to provide the same ability to search NIH-funded research but eventually will include more information associated with funded projects, including budget information and links to publications and patents resulting from NIH-funded research. In addition, the new version of CRISP on the Web will offer a new way of searching for grants and contract portfolios that reflects current research investments in specific diseases and other conditions, and research areas.

In the past, users have searched CRISP using terms that were manually indexed for each abstract. Indexing for Fiscal Year 2008 will be automated to provide a more extensive and flexible set of search options.

The new public face of CRISP may be accessed by going to http://report.nih.gov/ and clicking on "Search Funded Scientific Projects," or by going directly to http://report.nih.gov/crisp.aspx. Bookmarking this site will provide you access to the enhanced features as they come on-line.

NIH Reduces Error Correction Window to Two Business Days

December 4, 2007
NIH will reduce the ‘error correction window’ (i.e. the time allowed after the submission deadline to address NIH system identified errors/warnings) from five (5) business days to two (2) business days for all electronically submitted grant applications with submission deadlines on or after January 8, 2008 (See NOT-OD-08-018).

This change will mean that electronic applications will be considered ‘on-time’ if all of the following criteria are met:

The two business days provided to view the assembled application image in eRA Commons will remain unchanged.

For more information, see NIH eSubmission Items of Interest for Dec. 4, 2007 on the Electronic Submission website.

eRA Commons Changes Coming Soon

October 16, 2007
eRA is updating the eRA Commons Status software on Oct. 26, 2007, with a new look and new feature including:

Notice to NIH electronic submission listserv: http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/news_aor_10-16-07.htm
NIH Guide Notice: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-007.html

NIH to Eliminate Paper Notice of Award (NoA) Letters as of Jan. 2008

October 15, 2007
NIH plans to do away with paper mailing of Notice of Award letters effective Jan. 1, 2008 as it moves towards its goal of a paperless grants process. Instead, NoAs will be sent solely via e-mail to grantee organizations and will be accessible in the eRA Commons through the Status module.

For information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-08-002

Powerful Award Trend Resource in the Works

September 21, 2007
Have you ever wondered which applications were awarded for a specific Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) or wanted to know the award dollars break down by FOA type for a specific NIH Institute or Center? The NIH Office of Extramural Research's Division of Information Systems is building a powerful new resource to its Award Trends Website that puts this type of reporting right at your fingertips. Check out Total Award Dollars by Type of Funding Opportunity Announcement FY 2006 and 2007. This tool was created in response to research community requests for greater transparency in award funding and easier access to reporting data.

Let us know if we have hit the mark. Direct your questions, comments or suggestions on this work in progress to DISHelp@mail.nih.gov.

November 1 deadline for institutions to review grant award data

September 21, 2007
The Nov. 1 deadline is fast approaching for grantee institutions and organizations to review data regarding grants they were awarded in fiscal year 2007. If your organization has been awarded any grants between October 1, 2006 and September 30, 2007, organization officials have an opportunity to review the information and provide NIH with updated information to avoid errors in assignment of grants in subsequent official NIH reports. After this deadline, grantee institutions and organizations will not be able to update their information in the official publication file.

Please note that the new deadline provides only a single month window of opportunity to provide updates. For information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-07-094.

Updated Application Guides Now Available

September 13, 2007
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service Grants.gov Application Guide SF424 (R&R) and the corresponding Grants.gov SBIR/STTR Application Guide have been updated to include additional guidance on dealing with subaward budgets, a recent policy change to exclude Federal holidays from the two-day application viewing window, and suggested clarifications from the applicant community (see summary of changes).

In addition, the eSNAP User Guide has been updated. eSNAP provides the ability for eligible grantee institutions to electronically submit Streamlined Non-competing Award Process (SNAP) progress reports through the eRA Commons.

Explore eRA's redesigned website

August 1, 2007
The electronic Research Administration (eRA) is pleased to announce the launch of its new website (http://era.nih.gov/) designed to provide helpful, up-to-date information with quick and easy navigation for visitors. The revamped eRA home page ushers users to the information that is important to them by tailoring the content in distinct areas for Grant Applicants versus NIH/Federal Grantor Agencies. The goal is to put the information you need at your fingertips. The website has been designed based on analysis of website traffic, frequently used links and feedback from the grant community.

More...

NIH will require Financial Status Reports to be submitted electronically via eRA Commons effective Oct. 1, 2007

July 27, 2007
NIH will require all Financial Status Reports (FSRs) due on or after Oct. 1, 2007, to be submitted using the electronic FSR system located in the eRA Commons. This includes all initial FSRs being prepared for submission and any revisions being submitted or re-submitted to NIH. For information, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-07-078.

Grants.gov launches Adobe, NIH still waiting to transition

July 10, 2007
Grants.gov has deployed the 2007 System and has begun a phased deployment of Adobe Forms. The SF424 (R&R) forms package is not yet available. Therefore, NIH will not be positioned to post new application packages with the Adobe-based forms this summer (see June 29 eSubmission listserv notice). Grant applicants are advised to keep using the current Grants.gov forms until they hear otherwise from NIH.

Ability of PI to delegate Status access to assistant

May 17, 2007
Principal Investigators (PIs) now have the ability to delegate to any Commons-registered individual with an ASST role the ability to view the status of electronically submitted applications. Once this delegation has been granted, the individual with the delegated authority will be able to view and access the list of applications associated with the PI. For information on this and other Commons changes, see NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-07-064.


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This page last reviewed: January 23, 2013