NIH Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs)

NIH RPPR Types: Annual, Interim, Final

• Annual RPPR - Use to describe a grant's scientific progress, identify significant changes, report personnel, and describe plans for the subsequent budget period or year.
• Final RPPR - Use as part of the grant closeout process to submit project outcomes in addition to the information submitted on the Annual RPPR, except budget and plans for the upcoming year.
  • Note: Fellowship awards do not require a Final RPPR or Final Invention Statement. They require a Termination Notice submission in xTrain 30 days after the end date.
• Interim RPPR - If you have submitted a renewal application on or before the date by which a Final RPPR would be required for the current competitive segment, then the submission of an Interim-RPPR via eRA Commons is required.
  • In the event that the renewal application is funded, NIH will treat the Interim-RPPR as the annual performance report for the final year of the previous competitive segment. If the renewal application is not funded, the Interim-RPPR will be treated by NIH staff as the institution's Final-RPPR. See NIH Implementatioon of the Interim RPPR while a Renewal Application is Under Consideration (Guide Notice NOT-OD-17-037).
  • If the PI and award have been transferred to a new institution, U-M will be required to submit an Interim RPPR to provide reporting to NIH for the final period the award was at U-M prior to transfer.

NIH RPPR Submission

All RPPRs are submitted to NIH through the eRA Commons online system. Only the Contact PI or PI Delegate can initiate the RPPR process in eRA Commons. A U-M Signing Official (ORSP Award Management Officer), must actually submit the completed report to NIH. Learn more about working with ORSP on these submissions below.

Utilize the NIH RPPR Instructions for guidance on all aspects of completing NIH progress report requirements. NIH RPPR FAQ's are also a helpful resource.

eRA Commons ID Requirements

See the NIH RPPR Instruction guide (Section D.4 Participants, p 100-101) for guidance on Commons ID requirements in RPPRs. To request a Commons ID for any of your project personnel that do not haveone (or need an existing ID affiliated with U-M), submit a request with ORSP here.

Non-UM MPI Approval Form

If your project is a Multiple PI (MPI) project and additional MPIs are external to U-M, then the project team must complete this form to capture the external MPI signature/approval of the RPPR being submitted.

Approval by U-M MPIs will be captured directly on the ACR.

Inclusion Enrollment Reports

An RPPR may require an update to your Inclusion Enrollment Report (IER) in ASSIST.

Updates to IER must be completed by the PI/project team prior to routing the RPPR to ORSP for submission. The IER cannot be updated in ASSIST after the RPPR is submitted to the sponsor.

Once your IER is updated in ASSIST, be sure to update the Status to "Ready for Submission" (rather than "Work in Progress"). ORSP cannot submit an update for yuo unless it state is "Ready for Submission."

Technical Issues

Contact the eRA Help Desk for any technical issues with the RPPR or ASSIST IER forms.

Annual RPPRs are due either 60 or 45 days prior to the new budget period start date, depending on the kind of grant.

• Streamlined Non-Competing Award Process (SNAP) RPPRs are due 45 days before the next budget period start date. (Ex: R or K awards)
• Non-SNAP RPPRs are due 60 days before the next budget period start date. (Ex: U or P awards)
• Multi-year funded (MYF) RPPRs are due annually on or before the anniversary of the budget/project period start date of the award.
• The exact start date for a specific award may be found in grants status in eRA Commons.

Interim and Final RPPRs are due 120 days after the period of performance end date for the competitive segment.

Routing Deadline: Route both the RPPR and ACR to ORSP 2 weeks prior to the NIH deadline to allow time for ORSP review and any changes needed.

Basic Steps for RPPR Submission:

1. If needed, update the Inclusion Enrollment Report in ASSIST. If an update is not needed, you may go directly to Step 2.
   • After completing your update, change the status to "Ready for Submission."
2. Route RPPR in eRA Commons
   • ​​​​​​​Input your ORSP AMO (PR in eRPM) as the Signing Official and Authorized Official on the RPPR.
   • Check for Errors." Errors need to be corrected by the project team prior to routing to ORSP, as they will prevent submission. Contact the eRA Commons help desk if you need assistance.
     • Review Warnings: Although warnings will not prevent submission, they may require PI action. Any Public Access Compliance warnings should be addressed by the PI ASAP because funding will be withheld until all publications are compliant. See more information below under "Common System Errors/Warnings - Section C."
   • Once all above items have been addressed, "Route to Next Reviewer" and choose your AMO from the drop-down box.
3. Request RPPR Submissioon from ORSP
   • ​​​​​​​Route an "ACR-Reports" to notify your AMO that the RPPR is ready for review and submission. Attach an Non-UM MPI Approval form for each Multi-PI not affiliated with U-M.
   • If routing a Final RPPR, do not route the ACR until the Final Invention Statement has also been completed by the PI in eRA Commons and routed to the AOR. Both items will be reviewed and submitted by ORSP simultaneously.

Basic Steps for PRAM, FRAM, IRAM Submissions:

If there are issues with an RPPR, NIH may request that a Progress Report Additional Materials (PRAM) or Final Report Additional Materials (FRAM) be submitted. Once the PI has a completed response, then either the PI or their delegate will need to do the following:

1. Navigate to the PRAM/FRAM link in eRA Commons, upload the requested materials and route to the Signing Official (their AMO) in eRA Commons.
2. Route an "ACR-Other" in eRPM requesting review and submission of the FRAM?PRAM. When routing the ACR, include a copy of the sponsor's PRAM/FRAM request and a copy of the document that has been updated in the PRAM/FRAM link.

ORSP will send RPPRs back to the Project Team for the following issues. Below information covers how to address them to avoid back-and-forth and submission delays.

1. Reduction of Effort Requiring Prior Approval for Current Budget Period
   ISSUE: D.1. Effort Reduction during the reporting period may require a Prior Approval
   Resolution: If the PI or other senior/key personnel reduced their effort by 25% or more during the reporting period, sponsor prior approval was required.
   • If prior approval was not requested at the time of the reduction, it will need to be requested before the RPPR is submitted.
   • Route an "ACR-Reduction in Effort Requiring Approval" on the award record. ORSP will need to receive this ACR in addition to the "ACR-Reports."
      
2. Reduction of Effort Requiring Prior Approval for the Next Budget Period
   ISSUE: D.2.a Level of Effort - Will there be, in the budget period, either (1) a reduction of 25% or more in the level of effort from what was approved by the agency for the PD/PI(s) or other senior/key personnel designated in the Notice of Award, or (2) a reduction in level of effort below the minimum amount of effort required by the Notice of Award?
   Resolution: Route an "ACR-Reduction in Effort Requiring Approval" on the award record. ORSP will need to receive this ACR in addition to the "ACR-Reports."
    
3. Estimated Unobligated Balance
   ISSUE: G.10 a. & b. Estimated unobligated balance
   Resolution: If the unobligated balance (including prior year carryover) reported is greater than 25% of the current year's total approved budget, G.10.a should be answered Yes. The total approved budget equals the current fiscal year award authorization plus any approved carryover of funds from a prior year(s). The numerator equals the total amount available for carryover to the next year and denominator equals the current year's total approved budget.
   Note: Avoid a PRAM by providing a clear explanation of the unobligated balance in G.10.b.
    
4. New Senior/Key Personnel
   ISSUE: D.2.b New Senior/Key Personnel - Are there, or will there be, new senior/key personnel?
   Resolution: Route an "ACR-UM PI/Key Person Change" for new senior/key personnel indicated on the RPPR. ORSP will need to receive this ACR in additon to the "ACR-Reports."
    
5. Changes in Other Support Documents
   ISSUE: D.2.b & D.2.c Other Support document not meeting below requirements:
   - Total "Active" effort of indivial investigators cannot exceed 12 months.
   - Effort cannot be listed as "0" on active projects (Exception: Mentor or consultant roles)
   - Expired support has been removed
   - In-Kind section is included
   - Overlap statement is included
   - Signed with an NIH-approved method of signature
   Resolution: Revise Other Support document(s) to be compliant with the requirements above.
    
6. Section F - Changes
   ISSUE: Changes to the project may result in a change of scope.
   Resolution: If any of the changes noted in section F result in a change of scope, route an "ACR-Change of Scope" on the award record. ORSP will need to receive this ACR in addition to the "ACR-Reports."
    
7. Project/Performance Sites
   ISSUE: G.8 - Project/Performance Sites - Regents of the University of Michigan is not delegated as the primary performance site, subrecipient institutions are listed multiple times, and/or the U-M congressional district is incorrect.
   Resolution: Edit or Delete (if listed multiple times). The U-M congressional district should be listed as MI-006 for the Ann Arbor campus.
   ​​​​​​​
8. Final Invention Statement
   ISSUE: Final Invention Statement not reported when the Final RPPR is being routed.
   Resolution: PI must update the Final Invention Statement in eRA Commons to either add Inventions or Save with No Inventions, and route it to the AOR. Only the PI can enter inventions, or save with no inventions. The Final Invention Statement is required, even if there are no inventions to report.
   For All RPPRs: The PI is responsible for reporting inventions to Innovation Partnerships, so they can be reported in iEdison, prior to submission of the RPPR.

If system generated errors or warnings exist, the appropriate error or warning message displays for each failed occurrence. All errors must be corrected prior to submission; the system will prevent submission of an RPPR containing errors. However, the system will not prevent submission of an RPPR when a warning message is displayed. Below are common errors that may be encountered, and how to address them. In eRA Commons, run "Check for Errors" to ensure all issues have been addressed.

Section A - Cover Page
ERROR: A.2. Personal Profile information for the Signing Official/Authorized Official assigned to the RPPR has errors and must be corrected.
Resolution: Ensure that the ORSP Award Management Officer (PR on the AWD record) assigned to the AWD is listed as the Signing Official and Authorized Official.

Section C - Products
WARNING: Non-Compliant Publications
Resolution:

• The NIH Public Access Policy required Investigators to submit final peer-reviewed journal manuscripts that arise from the NIH funds to PubMed Central immediately upon acceptance for publication.
• Review ORSP NIH Public Access Policy webpage for additional resources about bringing publications into Compliance with the Public Access Policy.
• U-M Library has individuals available to assist faculty with submitting publications. If any publications are non-compliant in the NCBI report, contact [email protected] for assistance.

NOTE: If the RPPR is submitted with Non-Compliant Publications, a Publication PRAM will be issued the day after submission requiring an updated My NCBI report. Funding will be withheld until all publications are compliant.

Section D - Participants
ERROR: D.1 A eRA Commons ID is missing
Resolution: A Commons ID is required for all individuals with a PD/PI, postdoctoral, graduate or undergraduate role.

Section G - Special Reporting Requirements
WARNING: G.4 Human Subjects Errors
Resolution:

• If updates are made to the Human Subject System (HSS) records, the ASSIST records should be in the state of "Ready for Submission" at the time the RPPR is routed to ORSP.
• The updates in the Human Subjects Study Record will not be reflected in the RPPR until the study record in ASSIST is submitted by ORSP. ORSP will submit the updated HSS records prior to submitting the RPPR.
• For assistance in completing the HSS tables, see the following resources or contact the eRA Commons Helpdesk:
  - Human Subjects System (HSS) Quick Guide for Warnings and Errors
  - The Human Subjects System (HSS)
  - Editing Studies
  - Human Subjects Studies FAQs

Technical Issues
Text box character limits - Most text entry boxes have an 8,000 character limit; this limit is standardized across federal agencies implementing the RPPR and entry of more than 8,000 characters is prevented by system.
PDF file uploads (attachments) - 

• PDF file uploads (attachments) do not have page limits, but may not be more than 6 megabytes (6MB).
• PDF files uploaded to the RPPR are required to be flattened.
• eRA systems cannot support "Bunding" or "Portfolio" features. Use of these features may result in delays in agency acceptance of the progress report.