"The Electronic Research Administration (ERA) Commons is a virtual meeting place where NIH extramural grantee organizations, grantees, and the public can receive and transmit information about the administration of biomedical and behavioral research. The ERA Commons is divided into both unrestricted and restricted portions that provide for public and confidential information, respectively."

Researchers and administrators must register with NIH in order to use restricted-access features of the Commons. To register, Northwestern University faculty and staff should contact Mike Green, OSR Information/ERA Specialist.

Functions currently available to registered users:

Status - This facility allows a Principal Investigator to review the current status of all their grant applications and review detailed information associated with the grant. Institution Officials (i.e. Signing Official (SO) or Administrative Official (AO) associated with the institution) are able to see a summary view of grant applications, review the Notice of Grant Award, and access the Progress Report face page.

X-Train - Through the Commons, our X-Train application is available for institutions registered to use X-Train.

Financial Status Reports (FSR) - FSR allows electronic submission of financial information associated with a grant.

Personal Profile - Account data maintained by the NIH such as Degrees, Addresses, and Publications.

Currently in pilot:

eSNAP - This facility allows an institution to prepare, review and submit SNAP-eligible, non-competing proposals (progress reports) online. Northwestern is currently piloting eSNAP with plans to roll out the function to all faculty later this year.

Internet Assisted Review (IAR) - IAR allows a Reviewer to submit critiques and preliminary scores for applications they are reviewing. Allows Reviewers, SRAs, and GTAs to view all critiques in preparation for the meeting. IAR creates a preliminary summary statement body containing submitted critiques for the SRA or GTA.