Research, Interests, and Activities (RIA) system launch

07/19/23

Dear Colleagues,

I write to share information below from the Office of the Vice Provost for Research on the upcoming launch of the new Research, Interests, and Activities (RIA) system, which will formally replace the current PHS-FITS system.

Given the intense scrutiny and concerns around conflicts of interest and the critical importance of declaring financial support and other related information on all activities, this system seeks to make it easier to gather and report requirements, ultimately providing a higher level of protection to you and your work. In the near future, RIA will also replace both FIDES and the PSOM annual extramural disclosure form, creating one disclosure system to streamline the disclosure process and help reduce administrative burden for our faculty.

The latest updates including training will be posted here. 

Thank you,

Jon

Jon Epstein, MD

EVD | CSO

We are excited to announce the launch of a new state-of-the-art reporting tool: Research, Interests, and Activities, more commonly called “RIA.” This new application provides Faculty with a single location for the disclosure of outside interests and activities and a method of conducting research-relatedness assessments, thereby facilitating the obligations as required by certain funding agencies and supporting compliance with Penn policies. Specifically, this tool will help identify and manage Financial Conflicts of Interest (FCOIs) and includes FCOI training. RIA integrates with and leverages data from existing Penn systems, including Penn Community, PennERA, HS-ERA, Inteum, and the Research Inventory System (RIS) to simplify the disclosure process.

Additionally, RIA will replace the extramural system for Penn Dental Medicine (summer 2023) and the Perelman School of Medicine (spring 2024).  

At the end of July 2023, we will begin using RIA for research-related disclosures associated with new and active PHS and PCORI-sponsored projects. At that time, we will decommission the existing PHS-FITS system and make historical data available as “read-only” for reference purposes. In the fall, we will expand the launch of RIA to include all research projects and protocols, at which time we will decommission the existing FIDES system.  

Please reach out to support@research.upenn.edu with any questions.