Having challenges tracking down students and postdocs at the time of reporting? Establishing a process where you have students and postdocs establish an eRA Commons account at the time they start working on an NIH grant award can save you a lot of time and energy trying to track down people who may no longer be at your institution at the time of your Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) submission. You may even want to have them create an ORCID ID as well! (In case you missed it, read the November 2017 Open Mike blog post to learn more about eRA Commons and ORCID integration.) (From NIH ExtramuralNexus, 1/30/2018)

The NIH and Other PHS Agency Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) Instruction Guide states that information must be provided or updated for all PIs/PDs and each person who has worked at least one person month per year on the project during the reporting period, including graduate students, undergraduate students, and high school students (p.82-83).

Additional information about ORCID can be found in a NIH ExtramuralNexus post from November 15, 2017 titled “Teaming with ORCID to Reduce Burden and Improve Transparency.”

To register individuals in the NIH eRA Commons, please contact your Sr. Grant Coordinator in the Office of Research Administration with the individual’s name and UA email address.