NIH will no longer award non-competing continuation grant awards when a progress report is not in compliance with the Public Access Policy.   NOT-OD-13-042 The NIH Public Access Policy requires that any manuscript resulting from NIH-funded research be deposited into PubMed Central.  Although this policy has been in effect since 2008, NIH will be stepping up enforcement.

 

With the roll-out of the new Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) (for SNAP and fellowship awards, compliance for all reports will be monitored electronically through My NCBI, a bibliography tool developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information.  Progress reports submitted to RPPR will list publications by pulling data from an eRA Commons-linked My NCBI account.  Progress reports in paper format must be accompanied by a My NCBI-generated PDF list of publications, NIH staff will email the PI and business official when a problem is detected.  PIs receiving emails notifying them that one or more publications associated with the award is not properly deposited in PubMed Central must reply with evidence of compliance (i.e. the appropriate PMCID or NIHMSID) or a satisfactory explanation.

 

OSP has held a number of sessions over the past few months.   The slides from the presentations are available on the OSP website at http://www.dartmouth.edu/~osp/resources/faculty.html.

 

NIH Has Transitioned to RPPR for eSNAP Progress Reports

 

Effective May 15, 2013, all NIH SNAP and fellowship progress reports for awards with start dates on or after July 1, 2013 must use the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR). 

 

RPPR is accessible from NIH Commons.  Progress reports submitted in another format will not be processed by the NIH and will require resubmission in the RPPR format. If a progress report for a Fellowship has been submitted on paper, the grantee must resubmit the progress report using the RPPR format.  If a progress report for a SNAP grant has been initiated as an eSNAP, the grantee must contact the eRA Help Desk (1-866-504-9552 or [log in to unmask]) to change the progress report format to the RPPR.  Please note that the NIH Commons still shows eSNAP as an option and the system will not prevent you from entering an eSNAP.  However, you will not be able to submit or complete the process and will need to start over.

 

To access RPPR, login to the NIH Commons using your Commons ID and password.  RPPR data is either entered directly into data or text boxes or uploaded as text attachment PDF files.   The report in Commons consists of separate screens for each reporting component:  Cover Page, Accomplishments, Products, Participants, Impact, Changes, Special Reporting, Requirements, Budget.  Users may work on the screens in any order, however, it is important to click the Save button in the navigation bar before leaving a screen in order to retain data entered on that screen. 

 

A significant change is that effort is now rounded to the nearest calendar month for individuals who worked at least one calendar month.. Please note that some PIs have experienced a bit of “quirkiness” in the system.  The system may not indicate all issues that might prevent a successful submission.  If you see the “white page of death” while trying to submit you may have an issue that is not immediately clear.  For example, one investigator’s report had the following issue which was resolved by the NIH Help Desk:  The reason the blank page was received while trying to submit the RPPR report below. The contact PI had an extra space included in the email address provided under the Employment section as well as the eRA email field. This has since been corrected and the RPPR has been successfully submitted to PHS.

 

We hope that NIH will continue to fine tune the system to enhance the user experience which has generally been positive. See NOT-OD-13-061 for more info.  If you have questions, please contact your OSP Grants Officer. 

 

RAPPORT GRANTS UPDATES

 

RAPPORT GrantsXpress(GXP) has been live for one year. GXP has been deployed for only new and competing renewal applications to grants.gov.  Approximately 150 proposals have been successfully submitted via the system.  The volume of proposals increases with each major deadline.   Most department administrators have been trained on the system.   We are happy to visit your department or meet to provide additional training. 

 

The next phase of grants will include routing and approval of all sponsor types.   While some sponsors or funding announcements do not involve system-to-system submission to grants.gov RAPPORT will manage internal routing and approval and data capture. RAPPORT will replace the ePRF.  In addition to managing all sponsor types, the next phase will encompass management of award notices, tracking of award data, data migration from the legacy system, Coeus, and reporting.  Other enhancements are included in the next phase.   One area that will be addressed is the consolidation of all attachment uploads in the funding proposal section of the software and the ordering based upon user feedback.  Future phases include post-award workflow for requests such as no-cost extensions and management of subawards.  

 

The RAPPORT team and OSP continue to engage end users in the development process.   Three department administrators from Geisel attended the recent Click Commerce user group meeting in Philadelphia.     A group of highly engaged end users was convened recently to provide a conduit of users who are available for advice and testing. 

 

RAPPORT User Tips

OSP has developed a comprehensive website for RAPPORT grants users which includes user guides and other information.

 

RAPPORT GrantsXpress is fully functional and available for submission of NSF proposals that are grants.gov eligible.   Currently grants.gov does not support collaborative proposals through grants.gov.  If you are an Investigator planning a submission to NSF, please note that use of RAPPORT is optional at this time and you can continue to use Fastlane.  

 

Why is selecting the right Funding Announcement so important in RAPPORT?

The RAPPORT system was designed to be a flexible and forgiving as possible.  Most data elements and uploads can be edited or “swapped out” at the last minute.  However, as mentioned in training, it is critically important to identify the correct agency Funding Opportunity reference.   The system communicates directly with grants.gov based upon the FOA data entered by the end user and then quite handily populates the system with the required forms and validations.  Selecting the wrong FOA is not the end of the world.  However, it could mean that we need to help you recreate the proposal in RAPPORT to pull the right forms into the package.

 

How do I edit the PI Profile Information?

Once an investigator has been added to a proposal clicking on the investigator's name will open the profile information in the browser window. (Note: We advise right clicking on the name to open the profile in a new tab or window; otherwise, it is a bit tricky to get back to your proposal.) In the Profile window, you can edit the person's Title, Full Address (including Zip code and County), Phone, e-mail Address, ERA Commons Log In, Degree, and Degree Year.

 

My Chair is travelling.  Can we assign a backup?

There is an activity called "Forward to Alternate Chair" that allows a DRA to route the proposal to someone other than the normal chair. If the alternate has not already been assigned the Chair approval role, it may be necessary to contact your Grants Officer or OSP-RAPPORT to set this up. While this can be done quickly, DRAs may want to make sure these alternates are in place before deadline time.

 

Where do attachments for specific pieces of my proposal get placed in RAPPORT Gxp?  See the OSP user guide for more detailed explanations at http://www.dartmouth.edu/~osp/docs/dra_rapport_manual.pdf

 

Funding Proposal Section of RAPPORT	View 7	PI Biosketch, PI Other Support Dartmouth, Senior/Key Personnel Biosketch, Dartmouth Senior/Key Personnel, Other Support Non‐Dartmouth, Senior/Key Personnel Biosketch, Non‐Dartmouth Senior/Key Personnel Other Support
Funding Proposal	View 11	Subaward Budget(s)
Funding Proposal	View 12	Project Summary/Abstract, Project Narrative Bibliography, Facilities & Other Resources, Equipment, Specific Aims, Research Strategy, PHS Cover Letter, Other Attachments
SF424 RAPPORT	Research & Related Budget – Section F‐K, Budget Period 1	Budget Justification (Detailed)
SF424 RAPPORT	PHS 398 Modular Budget Period Cumulative	Personnel Justification, Consortium Justification, Additional Narrative
SF424	PHS Research Plan page	Introduction to Application (for RESUBMISSION or REVISION only) PHS 398 Research Plan, Inclusion Enrollment Report, Progress Report Publication List, Protection of Human Subjects, Inclusion of Women and Minorities, Targeted/Planned Enrollment Table, Inclusion of Children, Vertebrate Animals, Select Agent Research, Multiple PD/PI Leadership Plan, Consortium/Contractual Arrangements, Letters of Support, Resource Sharing Plan(s), Appendix

 

NIH to Require the Use of Updated Electronic Grant Application Forms