Reminder: Beginning January 1, 2011, the NIH Will Require Use of xTrain for the Electronic Submission of Appointment Forms and/or Termination Notices for Institutional Research Training and Career Awards, Individual Fellowships and Research Education Awards

Notice Number:  NOT-OD-11-026

Update: The following update relating to this announcement has been issued:

• August 29, 2012 - See Notice NOT-MH-12-033. NIMH Modifies Use of xTrain Commons Module for Appointments and Terminations for Research Education Programs (R25).
• March 31, 2011 - See Notice NOT-MH-11-003 NIMH R25 Awardees: Required Use of xTrain Commons Module for Appointments and Terminations (R25).
• February 18, 2011 - See Notice NOT-GM-11-104 NIGMS MORE SI Awardees: Required Use of xTrain Commons Module for Appointments and Terminations (R25, K12).

Release Date:  December 8, 2010  

NOT-OD-10-072
NOT-OD-09-146
NOT-OD-09-121

National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

As of January 1, 2011, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will require the use of the eRA Commons xTrain system to electronically prepare and submit PHS 2271 Statement of Appointment forms and/or PHS 416-7 Termination Notices when required for institutional research training and career development awards, individual fellowships, and research education awards.  After January 1, paper appointment forms and termination notices will not be accepted. Paper submissions will be considered noncompliant, and grantees will be required to resubmit appointment forms and termination notices electronically using xTrain.  

This requirement applies to the following activity codes:

• Kirschstein-NRSA undergraduate institutional training grants (T34 – appointment forms only)
• Kirschstein-NRSA predoctoral and postdoctoral institutional training grants (T32, T35, T90, TL1, and TU2)
• National Library of Medicine institutional training grants (T15)
• Kirschstein-NRSA fellowships (F30, F31, F32, and F33 – termination notices only)
• Research education awards (R25, R90)*
• Institutional career development awards (K12, KL2, KM1)*

*For research education and institutional career development awards, grantees should check with the NIH awarding Institute/Center to determine if the R25, R90, K12, KL2, or KM1 program requires the use of the PHS 2271 Appointment form and/or the PHS 416-7 Termination Notice, and, therefore, submission via xTrain.  All other activity codes listed above require electronic submission of the PHS 2271 and/or PHS 416-7 as indicated.

Potential users of xTrain are encouraged to review the training resources and instructions for using the system available on the eRA web page for Institutional Research Training and Career Development Awards.  For new users who would like to try out the xTrain system and learn about its features in a sample environment, xTrain is also available on the eRA Commons Demo site.

To facilitate appointment-making through xTrain, NIH recommends that institutions routinely establish eRA Commons accounts for training-grant-eligible students and postdoctorates.

For all existing trainees, an eRA Commons account is required before a Termination Notice can be processed in xTrain.  To avoid delays in submitting Termination Notices, institutions are advised to establish eRA Commons accounts for current trainees before a Termination Notice is due.

General questions concerning the use of eRA Commons and xTrain should be directed to the eRA Commons Help Desk at:

eRA Commons Help Desk
Web: http://ithelpdesk.nih.gov/eRA/ (Preferred method of contact)
Toll-free: 1-866-504-9552
Phone: 301-402-7469
TTY: 301-451-5939
Hours: Mon.–Fri., 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time, except for Federal holidays

General inquires about this Notice may be directed to:

Office of Extramural Programs
Office of Extramural Research
National Institutes of Health
Email: NIHTrain@mail.nih.gov