In many cases, submission of a progress report allows the sponsor to release the next budget periods funding. Progress reports must be submitted on time to avoid delays in funding.

Always refer to your award document or in many cases the sponsor’s website to determine the frequency, due dates, information requested, forms and delivery platform to use.

To standardize reporting, federal agencies have adopted a federal-wide research performance progress report (RPPR) format for the submission of required annual or other interim performance reporting on research projects.  Below we highlight NIH, NSF and NIFA.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

For complete information, visit the NIH RPPR Grants.

There are three types of RPPRs, all of which use the NIH RPPR Instruction Guide (PDF).

• Annual
• Final
• Interim - Use when submitting a renewal (Type 2) application. If the Type 2 is not funded, the Interim RPPR will serve as the Final RPPR for the project. If the Type 2 is funded, the Interim RPPR will serve as the annual RPPR for the final year of the previous competitive segment.

Deadlines

Find NIH Progress Report Due Dates using NIH Quick Queries: Search by UVM's IPF #:8738101

• SNAP RPPRs are due approximately 45 days before the next budget period start date.
• Principal Investigators submit SNAP RPPRs directly to NIH thru Commons.
• Non-SNAP RPPRs are due approximately 60 days before the next budget period start date.
• Principal Investigators create the non-SNAP RPPR in Commons and SPA submits thru Commons.
• Multi-year funded (MYF) RPPRs are due annually on or before the anniversary of the budget/project period start date of the award.

RPPR Questions Most Commonly Reviewed by the NIH Grant’s Office

• RPPR 6.4 Section D: Reporting Individuals who worked on the Project

D.1 What individuals have worked on the project?

• Include (1) the PD/PI regardless of effort devoted to the project and (2) each person who has worked at least one person month per year on the project during the reporting period, regardless of the source of compensation.

• Round to the nearest whole person month that the individual worked on the project. For example, if the individual worked 2.25 person months, indicate 2 person months. If the PD/PI worked 0.5 to 1 person month, round up to 1 person month. If the postdoc worked 0.1 to 0.4 person month, round down to 0 and do not report.

• RPPR Section G.10: Estimated unobligated balance.

  • Please contact your designated SPA Financial Analyst. They will assist you and/or your department administrator in determining if your anticipated unobligated balance (including prior year carryover) will be greater than 25% of the current year’s total approved budget. If the unobligated balance is greater than 25%, a detailed explanation is required per the NIH RPPR instructions.

For complete information, visit About NSF Project Reports at Research.gov.

There are 4 types of NSF project reports:

• Annual report
• Interim report
• Final report
• Project outcomes report

Only Principal Investigators and Co-Principal Investigators can create, edit and submit project reports.

• Login to Research.gov using your NSF ID and password.
• You will see any required reports on your Project Report Dashboard.
• Click on the Project Outcomes, Final or Annual Project Report link to see a list of awards.
• From there, you can create, edit, and submit reports for each award.
• Visit Project Report Frequently Asked Questions for Research Organizations (PDF)

For complete information, visit NIFAs Grant Terms and Conditions 6/2017 (page 11)

There are 3 types of NIFA project reports:

• Initiation report - required prior to NIFA releasing funds
• Progress report
• Final technical report

Project Directors for competitive, non-competitive, and capacity projects are all responsible for timely submission of program data to NIFA through the REEport (Research, Extension, and Education online project reporting tool) system.