Who Participates in the Extramural LRP Application Process?
The persons listed below use ASSIST or eRA Commons to participate in the process for submitting an LRP application. Persons with the following roles have other responsibilities outside the submission process, but this guide deals only with tasks that these persons perform within eRA Commons and ASSIST. The persons involved in the eRA Commons and ASSIST LRP application process are:
LRP applicant. Person who applies for an extramural LRP award using ASSIST. This person must have an eRA Commons account and be assigned a PD/PI (program director/principal investigator) role. See the eligibility information on the LRP website.
NOTE: There has been some reluctance in applicant organizations to create eRA Commons accounts with the PI role for research fellows or LRP applicants. We would like to clarify that designating the PI role in the eRA Commons for an individual does not bestow on them any special status. It is merely the name of the role within the electronic system that provides the administrative authority needed to see pertinent information regarding an application (e.g., status of supporting documents, IC assignment, etc.).
Referees. Persons who submit a reference letter in support of the LRP applicant; see Referees/Recommenders. No Commons account required.
Mentor (for mentored research scientists only). Person who submits a reference letter and provides a NIH-formatted biosketch to the applicant; see Research Supervisors / Mentors. No Commons account required.
Institutional business official (IBO). Person from the LRP applicant’s research institution who uses the IBO Portal to certify key facts about the applicant in an official capacity; see Institutional Business Officials. This person must have an eRA Commons account and be assigned the role of business official (BO).
NOTE: There has been some reluctance in applicant organizations to create eRA Commons accounts with the BO role for actions associated with LRP. We would like to clarify that designating the BO role in the eRA Commons for an individual does not bestow on them any special status. It is merely the name of the role within the electronic system that provides them with the administrative authority needed to certify key facts about the applicant in an official capacity (e.g., the applicant’s salary, U.S. citizenship, etc.).
How the Participants Use eRA Commons and ASSIST
Once an application is in progress, some participants below receive timely reminder emails. For instance, the IBO gets reminder emails to certify the initial application as well as later reminders to verify salary. The LRP applicant gets reminder emails if the referees or IBO has not submitted required documents or certifications.
1. Extramural LRP applicant uses ASSIST to initiate an LRP application, which is a series of forms that collect information upon which the application can be evaluated. Information collected includes the contact information for the applicant's mentor (if the applicant is a mentored research scientist) and institutional business official (IBO); see Colleague Information.
2. For mentored applicants, the mentor receives an email from NIH LRP program requesting submission of a reference letter; see Mentor - Submitting a Reference Letter for LRP Applicant. Before the application submission deadline, the mentor must submit a reference letter using eRA Commons (mentor does not need to log in to eRA Commons). The mentor should also send an NIH-formatted biosketch to the applicant, as the applicant must upload it to the application.
3. The IBO receives an email from the LRP program requesting certification of applicant information; see Overview of LRP IBO Portal. Before the application submission deadline, the IBO must complete the certification.
4. After initiating, but before submitting, the application, the LRP applicant should contact their referees and ask them to submit reference letters; see For Extramural LRP Applicant: Reference Letters and Monitoring Submissions.
5. The applicant uses ASSIST to complete and submit the LRP application, which includes uploading the biosketch that their mentor provided; see Validating and Submitting an LRP Application.
6. After submission, the applicant can monitor the application status through eRA Commons Application Information screen; see Monitoring LRP Application Status and Submissions Through Status.
