eRA Enhancements on January 26: Common Forms and Changes to Prior Approval, Just-in-Time,
and RPPR
See below and read this carefully, as the impact is for Pre-award and Post-award
functions. Guiding resources for the Commons are provided at the end.
**Per the COGR webinar yesterday, some other federal agency portals may not be completely
configured for the Common Forms by January 25. Submission errors will require a help desk
ticket # to prove submission deadline compliance. Keep in mind the resolution time needed
at the OSP stage of submission due to this federal implementation, since late submissions
will be at risk.
Jennifer
Jennifer Silver, CRA
Senior Director
Office of Sponsored Projects
The University of Texas at San Antonio
One UTSA Circle
San Antonio, TX 78249
O: 210.458.4234
utsa.edu
[
https://www.utsa.edu/_files/images/email-sigs/ut-san-antonio-regental-log...]
From: eRA Information - Public <ERA-INFORMATION-L(a)LIST.NIH.GOV> On Behalf Of eRA
Communications Office
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2026 9:11 AM
To: ERA-INFORMATION-L(a)LIST.NIH.GOV
Subject: [EXTERNAL] eRA Enhancements: Changes to Prior Approval, Just-in-Time, and RPPR to
be Released Monday, January 26, to Align with New Common Forms Requirements
**EXTERNAL EMAIL**
This email originated outside of The University of Texas at San Antonio.
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[eRA logo: Collaborating for a Transformative Tomorrow]
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
eRA Enhancements: Changes to Prior Approval, Just-in-Time, and RPPR to be Released Monday,
January 26, to Align with New Common Forms Requirements
[NIH Logo] [AHRQ Logo] [CDC logo] [FDA logo] [VA logo]
A release scheduled for Monday, January 26, 2026, will implement changes to align the
Prior Approval Change of PD/PI Request, Just-in-Time (JIT), and Research Performance
Progress Report (RPPR) Participants section with the Common Forms requirements detailed in
NOT-OD-26-018<https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-...;.
The use of the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support (CPOS) Common
Forms and the NIH Biographical Sketch Supplement will be required for all individuals
required to submit one of the above documents, including all Senior/Key personnel, on or
after January 25, 2026.
These changes in Prior Approval, JIT, and RPPR will require all Senior/Key and any new
Other Significant Contributor participants on an application or award to have an active
CommonsID which is linked to their ORCID iD. The ORCID iD will be used as the unique
identifier in
SciENcv<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/> to produce certified
PDF forms for participants' Biosketches and CPOS forms. For information on how to link
your ORCID iD to your CommonsID please visit the video Link Your ORCID iD to Your eRA
Commons
Account<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K47_NWsar60>.
Overall Changes for Participants:
* All people listed as Senior/Key Personnel or New Other Significant Contributors must
have a CommonsID and that CommonsID must be linked to the ORCID iD they use in
SciENcv<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/>
* All Biographical Sketch and CPOS Common Form documents must be created in
SciENcv<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/> and certified by the owner of the
information
* When required, all Biographical Sketch and CPOS Common Form documents must be
uploaded in the PDF format generated by SciENcv.
* The file name of the PDF may be updated once certified and downloaded from SciENcv.
No other alterations may be made to the PDF. Do not flatten the
PDF<https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/how-to-app...
once certified and downloaded from SciENcv
NOTE: Due to eRA's deployment of updated user interfaces for implementation of the
Common Forms for Biographical Sketch, Current and Pending (Other) Support (CPOS) and NIH
Biographical Sketch Supplement:
* Users who have initiated but not submitted their Change of PD/PI Prior Approval or
JIT as of January 25,2026 will need to redo the submission.
* Users who have initiated but not submitted their RPPR as of January 25, 2026, will
need to redo the Participants section.
Changes for Prior Approval - Change of PD/PI Request
Users must now upload
SciENcv<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/>-created and
certified, not-flattened PDF documents for the Biographical Sketch/NIH Biographical Sketch
Supplement and CPOS for any new PD/PI being requested. If the PD/PI has Supporting
Documentation that needs to be reported with their CPOS (e.g., copies of contracts
specific to foreign appointments and/or employment with a foreign institution), it must be
uploaded separately as a flattened PDF file in the Foreign Contract Document attachment
field. The Common Form files will be validated to ensure accuracy and compliance; see
Figure 1.
[Prior Approval - Change of PD/PI Request Details with Common Forms Required.]
Figure 1: Prior Approval - Change of PD/PI Request details with Common Forms required.
Changes for JIT
All Current and Pending (Other) Support documents or Biographical Sketch/NIH Biographical
Sketch Supplement updates must now be
SciENcv<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/>-created and certified PDF documents.
If a Foreign Contract Supporting Document is needed it must be uploaded separately as a
flattened PDF file. A new Biographical Sketch Common Form, Current and Pending (Other)
Support Common Form, and Foreign Contract CPS section will be available for all JITs. The
Common Form files will be validated to ensure accuracy and compliance; see Figure 2.
[New Biographical Sketch Common Form, Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Form, and
Foreign Contract CPS section in JIT.]
Figure 2: New Biographical Sketch Common Form, Current and Pending (Other) Support Common
Form, and Foreign Contract CPS section in JIT.
Expansion of the new Biographical Sketch Common Form, Current and Pending (Other) Support
Common Form, and Foreign Contract CPS section will allow users to Add Senior / Key
Personnel details for each Senior/Key person. An eRA Commons User ID, ORCID and Name are
required for each person.
[Expanded Biographical Sketch Common Form, Current and Pending (Other) Support Common
Form, and Foreign Contract CPS section in JIT where the Add Senior / Key Personnel button
is located.]
Figure 3: Expanded Biographical Sketch Common Form, Current and Pending (Other) Support
Common Form, and Foreign Contract CPS section in JIT where the Add Senior/Key Personnel
button is located.
[cid:image010.png@01DC853B.5C0D9170]
Figure 4: Add Participant Details modal where Senior/Key Personnel details are added
including the eRA Commons User ID, ORCID, Name and Common Form PDFs.
Changes for RPPR - Section D. Participants
To accommodate the implementation of the Common Forms, the RPPR Participants section user
interface will be updated to move questions related to New Senior/Key Personnel, Changes
in Senior/Key Personnel Current and Pending (Other) Support, and New Other Significant
Contributors (currently Questions D.2.b, D.2.c, and D.2.d respectfully) into the
Participant Modal. The modal will responsively present questions and require file uploads
based on the users' answers; see Figures 5-8.
[RPPR Participant Modal including ORCID iD]
Figure 5: RPPR Participant Modal including ORCID iD
[Participant Modal when the participant is selected as both Senior/Key Personnel and
"New" (previously, Question D.2.b).]
Figure 6: Participant Modal when the participant is selected as both Senior/Key Personnel
and "New" (previously, Question D.2.b).
[Participant Modal when the participant is selected as Senior/Key Personnel and a change
in Current and Pending (Other) Support is indicated (previously, Question D.2.c.)]
Figure 7: Participant Modal when the participant is selected as Senior/Key Personnel and a
change in Current and Pending (Other) Support is indicated (previously, Question D.2.c.)
[Participant Modal when the participant is selected as not Senior/Key Personnel and is a
New Other Significant Contributor (previously, Question D.2.d).]
Figure 8: Participant Modal when the participant is selected as not Senior/Key Personnel
and is a New Other Significant Contributor (previously, Question D.2.d).
NOTE: The participant modal will now accept values of 0.0 person months to accommodate the
inclusion of New Other Significant Contributors in the list of Participants, who by
definition do not contribute any measurable effort.
Resources:
* RPPR Online
Help<https://www.era.nih.gov/erahelp/Commons/Commons/rppr/rppr.htm?toc...
* RPPR Instruction
Guide<https://grants.nih.gov/grants/rppr/rppr_instruction_guide.pdf>
* Guide Notice
NOT-OD-26-018<https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-...;:
NIH's Implementation of Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending
(Other) Support for Due Dates on or after January 25, 2026
* Link Your ORCID iD to Your eRA Commons
Account<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K47_NWsar60> (video)
* SciENcv
Workshop<https://www.nlm.nih.gov/ncbi/workshops/2023-10_SciENcv/NIH_Bi...
* Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other)
Support<https://grants.nih.gov/faqs#/common-forms-biographical-sketch-...
(FAQs website)
________________________________
Questions? See Need
Help<https://www.era.nih.gov/need-help> page. Submit a web
ticket<https://public.era.nih.gov/submithelp>; or call Toll-free: 1-866-504-9552,
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