Institutional Profile (eRA Commons)
Downloadable PDF Fact Sheet (310 KB)
What is the purpose?
Federal agencies maintain information on institutions to facilitate the processing and review of grant applications. The Institutional Profile File (IPF) is a central repository of information for all Commons registered applicant organizations. It is designed so that each applicant organization establishes and maintains the profile data kept about their institution. This central repository is then integrated throughout the eRA system, particularly with an established Institutional Profile (IPF) within the database. Institutional Profile information in the Commons Profile and the database IPF is used for a variety of agency business such as centrally storing assurances/certification required for application and progress report submission. The data also accommodates statistical reporting requirements of the agency.
The Institutional Profile File includes information such as:
- Preferred institution name and contact information
- Signing Official's name(s), email, and phone number
- Institutional DUNS number
- Institutional Assurances
- E-mail addresses for electronic distribution of Notice of Award and other communication notifications
Institutions must be registered within the eRA Commons in order to conduct business electronically; e.g., submit applications and reports, establish users, and check the status of their grant applications and awards.
What are the benefits?
- Allows institutional users ownership over institutional information including
ownership for maintaining the accuracy of the data
- Provides a single profile for the institution
- Provides grantor agency eRA users with a central registry of names, locations and
other selected data
- Allows signing officials to register their Institution to use the Commons
eSNAP when applicable
- Allows signing officials to track the accounts and the total number of overall
logins in eRA Commons for their institutions
- Following the creation of an Institutional account in eRA Commons, the IPF is populated with the organizational information from registration and assigned a unique IPF number. The IPF number is an official code that uniquely identifies and associates institutional information within the NIH enterprise database.
Who can use this feature?
Signing Officials from applicant organizations can access this feature through eRA Commons (registered users only). As with use of all eRA Commons-based features, a Commons username and password are needed to log in.
