Who needs an eRA Commons ID in a NIH Progress Report?
As of October 2014 NIH is now requiring Commons IDs and completed personal profiles for Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) and any additional PD/PIs, Postdoctoral, Graduate and Undergraduate student roles, who participate for at least one person month or more in NIH-funded projects, per the Extension of eRA Commons User IDs to Individuals in Graduate and Undergraduate Student Project Roles with Measurable Effort on an NIH Annual Progress Report guide notice (NOT-OD-13-097).These roles are reported in the Participants Section (D.1) of the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR). This requirement is already in existence for PIs and postdocs and is encouraged for all personnel.
When do you recommend an eRA Commons ID be obtained?
We recommend an ID be obtained as soon as it is known a person will be working one person month or more during a reporting period for an NIH-funded project.
How do I obtain an eRA Commons ID?
Send the person’s name, MSU email address, and role on the project to awards@cga.msu.edu and an ID will be setup by someone from the CGA Awards Group. An email will be sent from eRA Commons to the person’s MSU email address with instructions on how to log into eRA Commons.
NOTE: An eRA Commons ID can only be setup for individuals who do not currently have an eRA Commons ID assigned by MSU or a previous institution. The CGA Awards Group will confirm one does not exist prior to issuing a new ID.
What should happen once the ID is obtained?
Contact should be made with each person for whom an ID has been issued encouraging them to log into eRA Commons and complete their personal profile. For those assigned with undergraduate student, graduate student and postdoctoral researcher roles, the following fields are required in the personal profile:
- Date of Birth
- Gender
- Race
- Ethnicity
- Disabilities
- US Citizenship Status and/or Country of Citizenship
- For those who have completed undergraduate or graduate degrees, the highest education degree, the degree date, and the institution where it was earned
If any of the recipients of IDs cannot access their account, they can send an email to awards@cga.msu.edu and their emails and/or passwords can be reset.
What if an individual with a role that requires an eRA Commons ID, does not have one?
The RPPR cannot be submitted until the all necessary IDs have been created. If a person has worked one person month or more per year on an NIH-funded project during the reporting period, an ID must be created so they are included on the RPPR. Delayed submission of the report may result in delayed or reduced funding for future increments.
Whose responsibility is it to ensure individuals with roles that require eRA Commons ID’s have received them, and that their profiles have been completed?
The project PI and/or Department Administrator.
Who should I contact if I have further questions?
CGA Awards Group
awards@cga.msu.edu
CGA Cash Management Group
cashmanagement@cga.msu.edu
