1. Annual NIH Progress Reports
September 16, 2014
OGC Pre-Award Team

2. RPPR vs. Paper There are currently two types of Progress Reports: BUT
Non-SNAP (due to the NIH 60 days before current budget period end date – uses the PHS 2590 forms OR they can now be submitted through the eRA Commons)
SNAP (RPPR – due to the NIH 45 days before current budget period end date – submitted through the eRA Commons)
BUT
NIH will require all grantee institutions to use the RPPR for non-SNAP progress reports submitted on or after October 17, See NIH Guide Notice OD

3. RPPR vs. Paper
Soon, all progress reports will be submitted through the Commons but, the due dates will not change.
Non-SNAP progress reports – Due 60 days before the end of the budget period
SNAP progress reports – Due 45 days before the end of the budget period

4. RPPR vs. Paper Check your NGA:
Under Section III – Terms and Conditions, if you see two sentences that read as follows:
Automatic Carryover and being subject to SNAP means you can submit your Progress Report through the Commons and it is due 45 days before the end of the current period.

5. RPPR vs. Paper Check your NGA:
Under Section III – Terms and Conditions, if you see: OR
then you are required to submit a paper progress
report and it is due 60 days before the end of the current
period.

6. RPPR vs. Paper Key Differences:
“An unobligated balance may be carried over into the next budget period without Grants Management Officer prior approval” = automatic carryover which means the account number will stay the same from year to year
“Carry over of an unobligated balance into the next budget period requires Grants Management Officer prior approval” = carryover is not automatic and the account must be closed out at the end of each year and a new account number assigned

7. RPPR vs. Paper
The internal processing steps are the same for both RPPR and paper progress reports except for how the final report is submitted to the NIH
For paper progress reports the pre-award specialist will notify you once the face page is signed by the Office of Research
The project will be responsible for picking up the face page and for mailing the final paper progress report to the NIH

8. Getting Started
A pre-award specialist will send you a start-up containing the following items/information:
Applicable internal due dates (including whether the report will be submitted via paper or electronically)
Draft budget for next year of funding
Table containing the current period Calendar Months for Psychiatry faculty and staff
PI Signature Template
Request for > 25% carryover justification (if applicable)
Various items we will need to process your report

9. Getting Started Internal Due Dates:
The progress report must go through three business offices:
OGC – Pre-Award Specialist and Director
School of Medicine Dean’s Office
Office of Research
The Office of Research requires 5 business days for review and the OGC and Dean’s office share the other 3 for a total of 8 business days

10. Getting Started Internal Due Dates – RPPR:
If your progress report is due October 15th, then it needs to be to the Office of Research by October 7th and to your pre-award specialist by October 3rd.
We require an additional week for the final budget which would be due to the OGC by September 26th.
This is to allow us time to prepare the internal paperwork and collect paperwork from various other Pitt departments (if applicable).
internal due dates are the same for paper progress reports – correct?

11. Budget
A draft budget is created for you on an excel version of the PHS 2590 NIH form.
To create the budget, we look at:
Last year’s budget
Current distribution report
Subaccount information
If subaccounts are present, we will contact the other departments and obtain updated salaries for their personnel.

12. Budget The budget you receive is just a starting point!
Please let us know of any changes in personnel and/or effort and we will gladly help you get the necessary information.
Other expenses will also need to be added to zero out the budget.

13. Budget Not enough funds available in next year’s budget?
If you have more expenses than you do new funding, keep in mind that you may have carryover available to cover any “extra” expenses.
Although carryover funds cannot be included in the internal budget, you can keep their availability in the back of your mind as you fill out the budget for next year.
One option is to create a budget that includes both the new funding plus carryover, add up all the expenses you will have next year to see what can be covered and then separate it out showing what will be paid with new funds and what will be covered with carryover funds.

14. Budget
If you don’t have enough new funding to cover all of your expenses, try to at least keep the effort for Key Personnel at their full amounts and then cut back the effort for staff and other expenses in order to meet the bottom-line. The difference between the staffs’ actual full effort and the reduced effort on the budget can then be covered by any available carryover.

15. Internal Budget
Detailed Budget for Next Budget Period – Personnel Section
% Effort on this award
Total Requested = Salary + Fringe
Fringe – automatic calculation based on salary requested
Calendar Months populate automatically based on % effort input
Current base salaries

16. Internal Budget
Detailed Budget for Next Budget Period – Other Expense Section
Total Direct Costs for Next Period

17. Internal Budget
Detailed Budget for Next Budget Period – Balancing the Bottom-line
Amount from current NGA - expected funding amount for next year
When budget is balanced, the Difference should equal Zero

18. Internal Budget - F&A Calc Tab
All expenses automatically feed from first page
Any items that do not generate indirects need to feed into this section (pre-award can assist with this)
Total Direct Costs – Exclusions = Modified Total Direct Cost Base
Total Indirect Costs
Total Costs – must match amount on NGA

19. Internal Budget is done – Now What?
You will send the finalized budget with a bottom line of zero to your pre-award specialist
They will review the budget to be sure that the formulas are still calculating correctly and notify you if any additional work needs to be done on the budget
Once the budget is final, we will process it for internal approval
If you haven’t already, you need to finalize the other documents your pre-award specialist requested as well as your progress report
The slides that follow discuss completing the RPPR progress report
For instructions on completing paper progress reports visit:

20. RPPR Commons Module Research Performance Progress Report
Allows for uniform reporting format and has replaced the eSNAP progress reports
Report initiated, completed and submitted through eRA Commons
All SNAP and Fellowship Awards must use this system for submitting progress reports
RPPR is now optional for non-SNAP grants – will be mandatory as of October 17, 2014
RPPR is not used for submitting final progress reports

21. RPPR Commons Module
Module consists of text entry boxes each with an 8,000 character (3 pages) limit
Text over this limit is automatically truncated to 8,000 if you use the cut and paste feature
System will allow you to enter non-ASCII characters; however, non-ASCII characters will not be displayed in the final report generated by the system
Attachments must be PDF with file names that only contain standard characters (letters, numbers or underscore)
Text entry boxes display number of characters left
Data fields and text entry boxes only support ASCII characters: Greek letters, mathematical equations, images, and so-called “rich” text (including bold, italic, underline, superscript, subscript, strikethrough, etc.) are not permitted. Although you may enter non-ASCII characters in RPPR text fields, upon submission of the RPPR a PDF of the report is generated and the non-ASCII characters will not appear correctly.
Save all files with descriptive file names of 50 characters or less and be sure to only use standard characters in file names: A through Z, a through z, 0 through 9, and underscore (_). Do not use any special characters (example: &, -, *, %, /, and #) or spacing in the file name, and for word separation use an underscore (e.g., My_Attached_File.pdf).

22. RPPR Commons Module Only the PD/PI or PD/PI delegate may initiate RPPR
If multiple PI’s, only Contact PI or delegate can initiate the RPPR
PD/PI delegate cannot route an RPPR to the next reviewer or recall routed RPPR reports
Displayed and enabled buttons vary depending on the status of the RPPR and/or the limitations of the current user’s role
Use Manage RPPR to choose reports to work on
For multiple PD/PIs – Contact PD/PI can grant progress report authority to other PD/PIs otherwise they can only view the RPPR PDF and routing history

23. G. Special Reporting Requirements
RPPR Commons Module
RPPR has separate
screens for each section
Can work on various sections in any order but must click SAVE button before leaving a screen to retain entered data
RPPR displays appropriate questions and instructions based on the activity code and SNAP status of the award
A. Cover Page
B. Accomplishments
C. Products
D. Participants
E. Impact
F. Changes
G. Special Reporting Requirements
H. Budget

24. Pre-populated data from Commons profile
Optional internal tracking number/identifier for your own use
NIH disregards the optional tracking number

25. RPPR Section A: Cover Page
A.2 – Signing Official for the University of Pittsburgh:
Allen A. DiPalma
A.3 – Administrative Official for Psychiatry:
Brian Balich

26. RPPR Section B: Accomplishments
Goals equivalent to specific aims
B.1 What are the major goals of the project?
Once specific aims are provided in the initial RPPR, this section will pre-populate in subsequent RPPRs
Amend pre-populated aims/goals by answering Yes to question B.1.a.
B.2 What was accomplished under these goals?
For most NIH awards response is 2 page maximum
B.4. Opportunities for training/professional development
Response required (i.e. do not leave blank) for T,F, K, R25, R13, D43 and other awards designed to provide training/professional development
If nothing significant to report or question not applicable, select Nothing to Report (Questions B.4 & B.5)
Question B.5. How have results been disseminated to communities of interest?

27. RPPR Section C: Products
Publication tables draw information from PD/PI’s My NCBI account
“Associate with this RPPR” is automatically checked for all entries in this table only
Leaving the “associate with this RPPR” box checked upon submission:
Associates the publication with this progress report
Results in the publication being displayed in the Report
Makes the award-publication association in My NCBI permanent
Reports the associate in PubMed
Unchecking the box disassociates the publication with this progress report and upon submission of the RPPR to the NIH, removes the award-publication association in My NCBI

28. RPPR Section C: Products
Until the progress report is submitted, publication data and compliance status will change based on updates made in the following sources
PubMed, PubMed Central, PD/PI’s My Bibliography account
Refresh data by saving or opening the RPPR in another session
Upon submission, all publication data will be frozen in the progress report
Must ensure Public Access compliance of all publications including those previously submitted
Reports with non-compliant publications will generate a warning message during an error check
Reports submitted with non-compliant publications will generate an automatic request (from NIH) to show correction of noncompliance or provide explanation by specified due date
Report can be submitted with a warning but eventually the PI will need to correct all non-compliant publications - funding will be delayed until this is done
The system sends the automated to the PD/PI requesting verification that all publications are in compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy. The SO and AO assigned to the RPPR on the cover page will receive a copy (cc:) of the .

29. For the in process publications it will say either “In Process – NIHMS” or “PMC Journal-In Process”

30. Non-compliant Publications
Two ways to submit corrected publications
response to GMS and PO from the SO assigned to the RPPR
Through PRAM feature in eRA Commons (method encouraged by NIH)
PD/PI or delegate can initiate PRAM
Enter response in text box and route to SO
Once routed to SO, PD/PI cannot edit PRAM
You will receive notification once PRAM submitted to Agency
The Public Access Progress Report Additional Materials (PRAM) feature provides a means for the grantee to enter, review, and submit information in response to the automated notification sent when an organization submits an RPPR with non-compliant publications. Response entered must be 2,000 characters or less
At the time of routing, an is sent to the PD/PI and the selected SO (or other Next Reviewer) to notify them of the event.
When PRAM is submitted to Agency, an notification is sent to the PD/PI (Contact PI) on the grant, the submitting SO, the SO assigned to the RPPR, and AO assigned to the RPPR and the Public Access PRAM link will no longer be available.
SIDENOTE : PRAM feature can also be used to submit information in response to specific request(s) from the Grants Management Specialist at the IC for additional information following the submission of an RPPR.
PD/PI can enter PRAM by uploading pdf attachments (must be pdf, up to 100 attachments) then route to SO for submission to the Agency. Process works the same as submitting publication PRAM – PD/PI will get an notification once IC PRAM is submitted.
NOTE: If multiple PRAM submissions were completed, selecting the View button only provides a preview of the latest PRAM submission. To view all submissions as one document, access the Status Information screen for the grant and select the PRAM link. For more information, refer to the View IC Requested PRAM from Status Information section of this document

31. RPPR Section D: Participants
List PD/PI regardless of effort devoted to project and all individuals that worked at least one person month per year during reporting (ending) period
Round to nearest whole person month for each person
Show most senior role person held for any significant length of time
Commons user ID can be used to partially populate individuals information
Commons ID required for Post Docs; as of 10/18/13 will also be required for Graduate and Undergraduate student roles
Listing last four of SSN and month/year of birth is voluntary
Do not include Other Significant Contributors if no measurable effort
Include on report:
the PD/PI regardless of effort devoted to the project
--although it is possible to report 0 (zero) person month for the PD/PI on the RPPR if the PD/PI worked .1 to .4 person month, a PD/PI must have measurable effort
(2) each person who has worked at least one person month per year on the project during the reporting period, regardless of the source of compensation
--a person month equals approximately 160 hours or 8.3% of annualized effort)
(Rounding to nearest whole person month) EXAMPLE: If the individual worked 2.25 person months, indicate 2 person months. If the individual worked 4.7 person months, indicate 5 person months. If the PD/PI worked 0.5 to 1 person month, round up to 1 person month. If the PD/PI worked 0.1 to 0.4 person month, round down to 0 (zero).
(senior role) EXAMPLE: If an undergraduate student graduates, enters graduate school, and continues to work on the project, show that person as a graduate student.
Do not report personnel for whom a PHS 2271 Appointment form has been submitted through xTrain (wasn’t sure if we usually did these types of appointments?)
SSN & birth information used for program management purposes
Insert new notice about commons ID

32. RPPR Section F: Changes RPPR Section E: Impact
E.2 What is the impact on physical, institutional, or information resources that form infrastructure?
Select Nothing to Report if not applicable to your award
Question F.2 – describe challenges/delays in this reporting period and plans to resolve them
Describe only significant challenges that may impede research and emphasize resolution
Reminder: Significant changes in objectives/scope requires prior approval

33. RPPR Section G: Special Reporting Requirements
This section addresses agency-specific award terms and conditions as well as award specific reporting requirements
G.1 Space for reporting required information as specified in NOA or FOA
G4.b Inclusion Enrollment Data
Required unless otherwise notified by Program Officer or within RPPR itself
You may have more than one inclusion enrollment report
RPPR will automatically create a tracking table if inclusion enrollment data records exist from previous year, otherwise a default table will be generated
G.9 Foreign Component – foreign travel for consultation does not meet the definition of foreign component
If there are details or concerns related to your inclusion enrollment progress or if the enrollment data does not reflect the targeted enrollment by race, ethnicity, and/or sex/gender, the reasons for this should be addressed in the text of the progress report.
If the system determines that the RPPR does not require inclusion monitoring or if the inclusion enrollment data records have a Closed status, the Inclusion Enrollment section of the form displays the following message: The RPPR does not have any Inclusion Enrollment Reports or the report records have a status of Closed. If you have any questions, please contact your NIH Program Official [PO’s name] at [ address].
If the system determines that the RPPR does require inclusion monitoring, the Inclusion Enrollment section of the form displays the following message: You are required to complete Inclusion Enrollment Report for the following studies: [list of all protocols]
If it is determined that inclusion monitoring is required and one or more inclusion enrollment data records exist for the previous budget period, inclusion enrollment data records are created in the RPPR Population Tracking tables. If the inclusion enrollment data records from the current budget period are in an Open status, the existing enrollment data is refreshed with the data from the previous year.
If inclusion monitoring is required, but inclusion enrollment data records from the previous support year do not exist, a default inclusion enrollment data record is created for the RPPR. Additionally, an notification is sent to the NIH Program Official associated with the RPPR
Enrollment of foreign participants should be reported to NIH in an Inclusion Enrollment Report separate from that for reporting domestic participants. Foreign component is defined as significant scientific activity that was performed outside of the United States, either by the grantee or by a researcher employed by a foreign organization, whether or not grant funds were expended.

34. RPPR Section H: Budgets
This section is required for non-SNAP grants only.
H.1 Select the SF424 Research and Related Budget from the drop down menu and follow the instructions
- This will look very similar to the SF424 application packet budget form
- Complete the form for the upcoming budget period – will match our internal excel file
H.2 Complete only if you have subawards
One budget per site
Subaward budgets will also look like the SF424 budget form

35. RPPR Section H: Budget
Follow instructions in SF424 Application Guide, Section I, 4.7 Budget Form
Complete R & R budget, sections A-K
Complete R & R Cumulative Budget
Upload budget justification
Should include detailed justification for line items and amounts only if there is a significant change ( > 25%) from previously budgeted levels
By previously recommended levels they mean “total rebudgeting greater than 25 percent of the total award amount for this budget period)
SF424 Application Guide:

36. Choose SF424 Research and Related Budget in drop-down menu then hit Edit

38. RPPR: K-Awards & Fellowships
With some exceptions, follows the same rules for sections A-H as other awards
Many questions are not applicable to K or Fellowship awards, check the online guide for a complete list
K-Awards: Additional Guidelines
G.3 Mentor’s Report
Multiple letters should be attached as one pdf
Non-mentored K awards select “Not Applicable”
H. Budget
Applicable to non-SNAP awards only

39. RPPR complete – what next?
Perform an error check to verify the report passes the business rules and system validations
Any user with access to the RPPR can perform check
Select Error Check button from the RPPR Menu screen
All errors must be corrected prior to submission
Only warning that will appear is in regards to non-compliant publications

40. RPPR complete – what next?
a pdf copy of the full RPPR report to your pre-award specialist for review before submitting to the Signing Official
Select View button from the RPPR Menu screen
The report pdf will show the status of Draft and the submission date will be blank
Status should be “Work in Progress”

41. RPPR complete – what next?
Once the RPPR report draft has been approved by your pre-award specialist, you will be notified to route the RPPR to the Office of Research
The pre-award specialist will route the paperwork to the Dean’s Office for budget approval and to the Office of Research for review/submission
Once the Office of Research submits the RPPR
Current reviewer updated to NIH and status is updated to Submitted to Agency with submission date recorded
Routing history updated, associated citations are officially associated with RPPR in MyNCBI, and Inclusion Enrollment data is updated to eRA Population Tracking system for NIH staff review and acceptance
notification sent to PD/PI on the grant and the SO and AO assigned to the RPPR

42. Within a month… You should receive the NGA from the NIH
Your pre-award and post-award specialist will be notified
The post-award specialist will process the NGA through the Office of Research and set up your account for the next budget period

43. NIH Notices
NOT–OD–13–097
Graduate and undergraduate student roles who participate at least one person month will be required to establish eRA Commons ID
Beginning 10/18/13, paper forms and RPPR will prompt for Commons ID
Warning will generate if RPPR submitted that lists individuals in student roles who have not established ID (as of 10/18/13)
Beginning October 2014, RPPRs without this information will receive an error and not be accepted until Commons IDs provided
Also on 10/18/13 eRA Commons profiles will require certain demographic information be provided
Acceptable response, for some information, will be “I Do Not Wish to Provide”
Once phased in, this policy will be extended to existing eRA Commons ID for PD/PIs and Post Docs
Long term plan is for all personnel listed on the All Personnel List of the report to have eRA Commons accounts
NOT – OD – 13 – 097
Required demographic questions relating to:
date of birth, gender, race, ethnicity, disabilities, US citizenship status and country of citizenship; and where applicable, they will need to indicate their highest educational degree and the institution where it was earned, in order to complete the data collection. 
*For items that request information on gender, race and ethnicity, and disability one of the acceptable responses will be ”I Do Not Wish to Provide”.
Once phased in, this new policy will extend the existing eRA Commons ID requirement for Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PDs/PIs) and postdoctoral researchers.  In addition to providing information on PD/PIs and those in the training phases of their careers, grantee institutions will be encouraged to create an eRA Commons Account for all other personnel listed on the All Personnel List of the PHS 2590 or in the Participant Section (D.1) of the RPPR. This new collection will provide more comprehensive information about the size and nature of the biomedical research workforce. Entering an eRA Commons ID in the Participant Section of the RPPR will pre-populate other components of this form reducing some of the burden associated with annual progress reporting. 
NOT-OD
The NIH is encouraging (there exact word usage) institutions to create/use Individual Development Plans (IDPs) to assist grad students & postdoc researchers achieve career goals (students supported by NIH awards by October 2014) . NIH encouraging institutions to report on the IDPs in all progress reports submitted on or after 10/1/14 using RPPR. Wouldn’t need to include the actual IDPs but just outline current practices that document that IDPs are used. The following gives additional timeline notes & where within the progress report to discuss IDPs:
For those institutions that have institutional IDP policies already in place, NIH encourages the grantees to implement the actual reporting of IDPs after October 18, 2013 for those programs that are using the RPPR currently, with the exception of institutional training grants as described below. As additional programs transition to the RPPR, reporting IDPs will also become a part of those submissions. In the RPPR, grantees are encouraged to report the use of IDPs in RPPR Section B. Accomplishments, Question B.4 for all graduate students and/or postdoctoral researchers reported in Section D. Participants or on a Statement of Appointment Form (PHS2271). For those institutions that have not developed IDPs to date, NIH encourages the grantees to begin the implementation and reporting by October 1, 2014.
Training grant recipients that use the PHS2590 progress report should include information to document that IDPs are used to help manage the training for graduate student and postdoctoral researchers in the progress report under Progress Report Summary, A. Training Program (see instruction 1 on page 26 of the PHS 2590 instructions at grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/2590/phs2590.pdf). NIH encourages those recipients that have institutional IDP policies in place to begin reporting the information in October For those training grant recipients that have not developed IDPs to date, NIH encourages the grantees to begin the implementation and reporting by October 2014.  

44. NIH Notices
NOT-OD
IDP reporting required as of October 1, 2014 – Individual development plans (IDPs) are now required for all graduate students and Post Docs included in the Section D. list of Participants. Actual IDP will not be included.
Section B. Accomplishments, Question B.4. – Include brief description of whether IDPs are used at institution and if so, how they are used to help manage the career development of students and postdocs associated with award.
Training grants - use Progress Report Summary, A. Training Program.
Response required for all T, F, K, R25, R13, D43 and other awards or award components designed to provide training and professional development opportunities for grad students and post docs.
NOT–OD–13–093
Required demographic questions relating to:
date of birth, gender, race, ethnicity, disabilities, US citizenship status and country of citizenship; and where applicable, they will need to indicate their highest educational degree and the institution where it was earned, in order to complete the data collection. 
*For items that request information on gender, race and ethnicity, and disability one of the acceptable responses will be ”I Do Not Wish to Provide”.
Once phased in, this new policy will extend the existing eRA Commons ID requirement for Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PDs/PIs) and postdoctoral researchers.  In addition to providing information on PD/PIs and those in the training phases of their careers, grantee institutions will be encouraged to create an eRA Commons Account for all other personnel listed on the All Personnel List of the PHS 2590 or in the Participant Section (D.1) of the RPPR. This new collection will provide more comprehensive information about the size and nature of the biomedical research workforce. Entering an eRA Commons ID in the Participant Section of the RPPR will pre-populate other components of this form reducing some of the burden associated with annual progress reporting. 
NOT-OD
The purpose of this Guide Notice is to announce that NIH encourages institutions to assist graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to achieve their career goals within the biomedical research workforce through the use of Individual Development Plans (IDPs). 
Training grant recipients that use the PHS2590 progress report should include information to document that IDPs are used to help manage the training for graduate student and postdoctoral researchers in the progress report under Progress Report Summary, A. Training Program (see instruction 1 on page 26 of the PHS 2590 instructions at grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/2590/phs2590.pdf).

45. RPPR Instruction Guide:
QUESTIONS?
RPPR Instruction Guide:
OGC Website - Progress Reports: