Notice Number: NOT-OD-18-133

Key Dates
Release Date: February 20, 2018

NOT-OD-15-112
NOT-OD-16-007
NOT-OD-19-108

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Purpose

This Notice provides advance notice that beginning in early FY 2020, NIH and AHRQ intend to require the use of the xTRACT system in the eRA Commons to prepare the required data tables for certain types of training grant applications.

Background and Related Information

In response to the recommendations of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director's Working Group on the Biomedical Research Workforce, NIH has developed an electronic system for creating research training data tables and tracking trainee outcomes. This system, xTRACT, has been available on a pilot basis in the eRA Commons since October 2015, and to date has been accessed by over 1,100 users at more than 175 institutions.

In the xTRACT system, users can:

• access data already available in the eRA Commons to pre-populate their tables with information such as trainee names and selected characteristics, institutions, grant numbers, and subsequent NIH and other HHS awards


• upload selected training-related data from their institutions to the xTRACT system in batches


• copy data already entered for one application or progress report into another

When data tables prepared in xTRACT are submitted with an application or Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR), the discrete data elements are captured and stored in the eRA Commons.

Implementation

Beginning with RPPRs due on or after October 1, 2019 and applications submitted for due dates on or after January 25, 2020, NIH and AHRQ anticipate that they will mandate that required training data tables submitted with T32, TL1, T90/R90, and T15 applications and progress reports be created via the xTRACT system. System validations in Grants.gov and the RPPR module will check to ensure that tables were created via xTRACT, and applications and RPPRs that are not in compliance will be rejected.

In late FY 2019, NIH and AHRQ will provide further guidance about the implementation of this expected requirement. At this time, applicants who have not yet taken advantage of the xTRACT system to create training data tables are encouraged to begin exploring its functionality, and may wish to start by using the system to create Data Table 8, to accompany an RPPR. Information about using xTRACT, including a user guide, instructional videos, and FAQs is available on the eRA website.

Applicants for other predoctoral, postdoctoral, and career-level training, education, and career development programs that use training data tables (e.g., T35, R25, K12/KL2 awards) will not be required to use the xTRACT system in FY 2020. Applicants for these awards may continue to use the system on a pilot basis, however they may wish to wait for future editions of xTRACT, which will include features and instructions tailored to their specific types of programs.

Programs targeted to undergraduates (e.g., T34 awards) should not use the xTRACT system, but should instead use the fillable tables designed for undergraduate programs available on the NIH website.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

[email protected]