National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), is the nation's medical research agency-making important discoveries that improve health and save lives.

E-Systems

The eRA Commons is an online interface where signing officials, principal investigators, trainees, and post-docs at institutions/organizations can access and share administrative information relating to research grants.

ERA LOGIN

CREATE AN ERA COMMONS ACCOUNT

The Signing Official (SO) at the organization is able to establish additional user accounts with varying degrees of access and capability depending on roles and responsibilities. If you or someone else needs an account, then please request one at the link below. Include name, title, email address, current Commons ID (if transferring from another institution), and role requested. Review roles here and choose the one that most reflects your job duties.

Request an Account

Upcoming Changes

09/15/2021

All external users will be required to use login.gov when logging into eRA systems. For more information, please refer to the NIH announcement page.

01/25/2021

Templates: NIH released new Biosketch and Other Support templates. Applications using an older template will rejected starting January 25, 2022. Though not required, NIH expects everyone to adopt the new templates starting 05/25/21. For more information, please refer to NOT-OD-21-073 and NOT-OD-21-110.
Commons ID: All senior/key personnel must enter their valid Commons ID in the credential field of the Research & Related Senior/Key Person Profile form (currently, only PI is required). Though not required, NIH expects everyone to adopt this standard starting 05/25/21. For more information, please refer to NOT-OD-21-109.

Sponsor Specific Guidance

These application instructions, along with the guidance in the funding opportunity announcement, will help grant application submissions to NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Please note that each activity code (research, training fellowship, etc.) has its own set of instructions. All forms are updated and ready to use for System to System submission in VERA.

NIH Application Guide

Proposal Guidance

Budget
- Budget Types:
  - Modular Budget (≤ $250k in direct costs in each period): Utilize the Current Salary Cap with no salary escalation.
  - Detailed Budget (> $250k in direct costs in any period): Utilize one of the following three budget methods. Each proposal must use a single method for all UIUC investigators:
    
    Institutional Base Salary (IBS) with salary escalation in out-years;
    
    Current Salary Cap with salary escalation in out-years; OR
    
    Current Salary Cap with no salary escalation in out-years.
- Additional Resources:
  - NIH - Develop Your Budget Guidance
  - Salary Cap and NRSA Stipend Levels (NIAID)
  - NRSA Levels - Fellowship and Training Grant Costs (FY21)
  - "Direct Cost" Limits:
    
    The NIH direct cost calculation excludes subaward/consortium F&A costs.
    
    The NIH direct cost calculation does not alter the standard MTDC-based budgeting method (i.e. F&A on first $25k of each sub).
    
    Prior sponsor approval (before proposal submission) is required for direct costs greater than $500,000 (less subaward F&A) in any period.
Biosketch
- Non-Fellowship Template (Due Dates on/before January 24, 2022)
  - Section A: Cite up to 4 publications.
  - Section B: No limit on entries, but must be in chronological order.
  - Section C: List up to 5 contributions to science. Each contribution can include up to 4 publications. A link to full list of published works is allowed, but must be a .gov site.
  - Section D: Only include research projects from the past three years. Briefly indicate the overall goals of the projects and your responsibilities. Do not include the number of person months or direct costs.
- Non-Fellowship Template (Due Dates on/after January 25, 2022)
  - Section A: Cite up to 4 publications, factors impacting productivity, alternate names, other contributions to science not in Section C, and highlight ongoing or completed research projects from the past three (3) years.
  - Section B: No limit on entries, but must be in reverse chronological order.
  - Section C: List up to 5 contributions to science. Each contribution can include up to 4 publications. A link to full list of published works is allowed, but must be a .gov site.
- Fellowship Template (Due Dates on/before January 24, 2022)
- Fellowship Template (Due Dates on/after January 25, 2022)
Other Support
Other Support instructions and current NIH approved templates
- Other Support Template - New/Renewal (Due Dates on/before January 24, 2022)
- Other Support Template - Progress Report (Due Dates on/before January 24, 2022)
- Other Support Template - New/Renewal/Progress Report (Due Dates on/after January 25, 2022)
Vanderbilt Other Support Information: what to include, what not to include, and who must submit

Post-Proposal Guidance

Post-Submission Guidance
- General Post-Submission instructions
- Submit a Proposal Update to SPA and include the initial email from NIH.
Just-in-Time (JIT)
- General JIT instructions
- Other Support is the most common document requested by NIH. Please see NOT-OD-19-114 and NOT-OD-21-073 for guidance on what to include in your other support file.
- Submit as a JIT Response through VERA.
No-Cost Extension (NCE)

The PI can exercise their one-time authority to extend without funds the final budget period of a project period of a grant. This no-cost extension (NCE) can be up to 12 months in additional time. The department would need to send an Modification Request through VERA to request the NCE. SPA submits the request through NIH's eRA Commons. After the first request, the appropriate campus department will write a letter requesting the additional NCE and submit it to SPA. In turn, SPA will forward the NCE request letter to NIH.