Communications from the Chief Scientific Officer

Please review the following time-sensitive information, originally shared by the Office of Research Services.

SciENcv updated the certificate associated with their website that is used to sign/certify Biosketches and CPOS forms. The old certificate expired on Saturday (9/26/26). SciENcv biosketches on applications being submitted after Saturday (9/26) to NIH and other agencies that use eRA Commons must be re-certified by the investigator and the documents in applications replaced with fresh downloads.

WHAT HAS CHANGED:

Nothing has changed in PennERA.  This is a change to SciENcv that will affect submissions through eRA Commons.  SciENcv has updated the digital certificate it uses to sign biosketches and Current & Pending (Other) Support (CPOS) documents. The old certificate expired on Saturday, September 26, 2026. After that date, documents signed with the old certificate will not validate in eRA Commons.

WHICH PROPOSALS WILL IT AFFECT:

This affects applications submitted through eRA Commons, including to NIH, AHRQ, CDC NIOSH, FDA, and the VA.

Applications submitted on or after Saturday, 9/26/26. This is based on the submission date, not the application deadline. Applications submitted by Friday, 9/25 with the current documents validated as normal.

This isn't about your application deadline. What matters is when the biosketch was generated and when the application is submitted.

Please use the chart below to assess next steps for your specific application:

INSTRUCTIONS for PIs/BAs if they need to REGENERATE and REUPLOAD:

Each investigator must re-certify their biosketch and CPOS in SciENcv and download fresh PDFs.

*Do this for every senior/key person on the application.

To do this they would:

• • Log in to SciENcv. Click the button you use to login. (usually eRA Commons or Login.gov)
  • Select the title of the Biosketch/CPS form you need to regenerate (usually the last one) by clicking on the Title link.
  • Click ‘Download PDF’ button at top right.
  • Click the ‘Certify’ button on the popup window.
  • **Do NOT edit or re-save the files after downloading. Instead make sure you click ‘Save’ – NOT ‘Save As’.

Once this has been done for each investigator/senior/key person on the application…in InfoEd

• • In the Application in PD reupload the regenerated biosketch on the Personnel Tab for the respective personnel. 

Screenshots below to detail the process…..

Update shared by:

Ashley Del Bianco

Director, Pre-Award

Office of Research Services

University of Pennsylvania

stoudt@upenn.edu

Phone: 215-898-3966

Office of Research Services | University of Pennsylvania