Previous Announcements From
The Office of Research Services

ORS provides administrative support to faculty and departmental managers for all sponsored project activities.

ANNOUNCEMENT
REVISED SALARY CAP FOR NIH AND ALL DHHS:

NIH has announced a new salary cap, which is now tied to Executive Level II of the Federal Pay Scale. The Executive Level II salary is $179,700. This new cap will apply to all sponsors under the Department of Health and Human Services. Our office is currently reviewing the notice and will issue further guidance on the implementation of the salary limitation.  See link below to the NIH notice: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-12-035.html

ANNOUNCEMENT
FINANCIAL INTEREST DISCLOSURE ELECTRONIC SYSTEM ANNOUNCED BY THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PROVOST FOR RESEARCH

The Financial Interest Disclosure Electronic System (FIDES), is a web-based application to be used as the sole means for disclosure of financial interests and relationships related to participation in specific research projects. The requirement to disclose in FIDES is separate and distinct from required, school-based annual extramural activities reporting. Paper disclosures will no longer be accepted by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.

Individuals required to disclose any time after February 1 may access FIDES at https://fides.isc-seo.upenn.edu using their PennKey and Password and a Penn-supported web browser. 

It is important that the specific research project that is the subject of the eDisclosure is accurately identified as it appears in PennERA or HS-ERA, as applicable. For example, if the eDisclosure involves an IRB protocol, the individual will be asked to identify both the protocol (by title and IRB number) as it appears in HS-ERA and all sources of external funding for that protocol (e.g., grant, sponsored research agreement, clinical trial agreement) as they appear in PennERA (by title and institution number).  Individuals should have this information available prior to logging in to FIDES.

We offer individual training in FIDES. OVPR staff will be happy to provide individual guidance to any individual required to submit an electronic disclosure in FIDES.  Individuals who wish to receive this individual instruction should contact our office. 

For additional information, please visit the OVPR website at http://www.upenn.edu/research/ or contact the OVPR at 215-898-3603 or email at coi@exchange.upenn.edu.

ANNOUNCEMENT
NEW SUBAWARD WEBPAGE
AND
NEW SUBAWARD REQUEST FORM WITH INSTRUCTIONS

The Office of Research Services (ORS) is pleased to announce that the new Subaward Webpage is up and and can be accessed at:  www.upenn.edu/researchservices/subawards.html. Please note that the Webpage is still a work in progress and we expect that the site will grow gradually and become a useful tool, which will contain pertinent information as it relates to subawards.  

The REVISED SUBAWARD REQUEST FORM (with instructions) can be found on the new webpage and EFFECTIVE:  April 1, 2011, the revised subaward request will be the only form accepted by ORS when making a request for a subaward.

Please take the time to familiarize yourself with the form and instructions.  Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office directly. 

Note:  please be advised that the revised Subaward Request Form can also be accessed via the “Forms and Agreements” page as well.

ANNOUNCEMENT
NIH eRA Information: Sponsors Required to Approve and Route Fellowship Termination Notices in xTrain; Need to be Assigned eRA Commons Sponsor Role

This information is for recipients of all active Ruth L. Kirschstein-NRSA fellowship awards (i.e., F30, F31, F32 and/or F33 grants):

Principal Investigators who apply to these grant programs (i.e., fellows) must identify a Sponsor who will supervise their research training experience.

NIH reminds you that before you submit a fellow’s termination notice to the agency, the fellow’s Sponsor is required to review and approve the notice and route it to you (or another BO at your institution) for submission. This business process applies to fellowships completed at U.S. universities, research institutions, and hospitals. (For federal or foreign fellowships, the PD/PI (fellow) or the Sponsor can submit the termination notice directly to the agency.)

In order to perform these duties within xTrain, the Sponsor needs to be assigned the eRA Commons Sponsor role. The Sponsor institution’s Signing Official (SO), Account Administrator (AA), or Administrative Official (AO) can add this role to the Sponsor’s existing Commons account, or create a new account for the Sponsor if he or she is not already registered in eRA Commons.

PennERA Electronic Submissions Reference Materials

Electronic Submissions and Grants.gov
Information and resources related to Electronic Submissions and Grants.gov.

Sponsored Projects Handbook
This handbook was designed to assist the faculty and staff of the University of Pennsylvania in the administration of research awards.

Proposals
Information and resources related to the proposal process.

Award Management
Information on the appropriate administration of sponsored projects.

Sponsors & Agencies
Links to Sponsors' websites and regulations.

Penn Offices
Other offices involved in the management of sponsored projects.

Principal Investigators
Resources and information for PI's.

Funding Opportunities
Searchable databases and email alerts available to the Penn community.

Office of the Vice Provost for Research

Office of the Vice President for Finance and Treasurer

Research Compliance

Responsible Conduct of Research

Principles of Responsible Conduct