Ensuring that your eRA Commons profile is up to date and complete is important for anyone involved in research. One crucial reason to have an up to date eRA Commons profile is that it is used to confirm your Early Stage Investigator (ESI) status. ESI status can be pivotal in securing funding for new investigators, giving you a more permissive score range for award determination when applying for funding. By maintaining accurate and current data in your eRA Commons profile, you ensure your eligibility for ESI opportunities is recognized and validated within the NIH. Importantly, the same information in your biosketch alone is not used to determine ESI status within NIH.

Beyond its importance for ESI status, an updated eRA Commons profile also plays a crucial role in helping to identify your expertise for NIH review panels. The NIH often seeks experts with specific knowledge and experience to serve on NIH review panels, which are important in the peer review process. A complete eRA Commons profile increases the likelihood that you will be selected for these panels, allowing you to gain experience with scientific review and contribute to the scientific community.

Finally, having an accurate and up to date eRA Commons profile facilitates collaboration opportunities and inclusion on study monitoring boards. Funding agencies and other researchers often use this information to identify potential experts for workshop invitations, dissemination of information about upcoming opportunities, and collaborators for multi-disciplinary projects or consortia. Additionally, this can lead to new projects, research roles, and funding opportunities.

To update your eRA Commons profile please go to https://public.era.nih.gov/commons and click login. Once logged in, click on the Personal Profile tab. Please view and edit your information. Ensure that your name, contact information, and institution are accurate. If any details have changed, update them here. Review and update your educational background, including degrees earned, fields of study, and institutions attended. Update your current and past employment details, including positions held, departments, and dates of employment. Add recent publications to your profile to keep your research output up to date. This section often pulls data from sources like PubMed, but you can manually add entries if needed. Ensure that all current and pending research support, including grants and contracts, are accurately reflected. Verify that your other support information, such as independent research and collaborative projects is up to date. Click the Save button at the bottom of each section or page to ensure your changes are saved. Make it a habit to review and update your eRA Commons profile regularly, especially after significant career changes such as new publications, grants, promotions, or other employment changes.

ASPN Research Committee