NIH RPPR Instructions: A Year-Round Checklist for PIs
NIH RPPR instructions in plain language: when the progress report is due for SNAP and non-SNAP awards, what each section needs, the mistakes NIH staff say they see, and what to log all year so the report takes an afternoon.
The NIH Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) is the annual progress report for a grant. It is due roughly 45 days before the next budget period starts for most R and K awards (SNAP), and roughly 60 days before for awards outside SNAP, but your Notice of Award is the final word. It has nine sections, A to I. The hard parts are rarely the writing. They are facts nobody wrote down during the year: who worked how many months, which papers count, and what changed.
This guide follows NIH's own NIGMS webinar on the RPPR (14 November 2024) and the NIH notice on individual development plans. Those slides say they are an overview and not comprehensive. The RPPR Instruction Guide, your Notice of Award and the funding opportunity are what you are held to, so use this as a map and the guide as the rulebook.
When it is due: SNAP versus non-SNAP
Look at the Notice of Award first. The webinar describes two tracks.
| SNAP | Non-SNAP | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical awards | Most R and K awards under NIH standard terms | Most P, U and T awards, clinical trials, F awards, and any award needing close monitoring |
| Notice of Award shows | Total direct and F&A costs only, no categories | A categorical budget |
| Report due | The 15th of the month before the month the budget period ends, about 45 days before the next budget period starts | About 60 days before the next budget period starts |
| Budget in the report | None | A detailed budget (Section H) |
| Carryover | Automatic | Usually needs prior approval |
| Financial report | At the end of the competitive segment | Annually |
Multi-year funded awards report annually on or before the anniversary of the budget or project period start date. If the Notice of Award gives a date, that date wins. NIH also emails the PD/PI before the due date, and the eRA Commons list of awards with reports due shows what is coming.
The nine sections
The webinar lists them as follows.
- A. Cover page. Identifying information.
- B. Accomplishments. Questions B.1 to B.6, which let NIH decide whether satisfactory progress was made.
- C. Products. Publications and other products.
- D. Participants. Who worked on the project.
- E. Impact. How the work and its products had an impact in the period.
- F. Changes. Challenges, delays and how you are handling them.
- G. Special reporting requirements. For example, clinical trial and human subjects reporting.
- H. Budget. Applies only to non-SNAP awards.
- I. Outcomes. Used only for interim and final reports.
B. Accomplishments
The questions are: what were the major goals, what was accomplished, what training and professional development did the project provide, how were results shared with communities of interest, and what will you do in the next period. NIH staff note that the answer to B.1.a, "Have the major goals changed", is generally "no", and if you think it is yes you should contact your Program Official before you submit. If you received a supplement in the period (the first digit of the grant number is 3), a detailed answer in B.3 is expected unless the Notice of Award says otherwise.
B.4 and individual development plans. If graduate students or postdocs are listed in D.1, the report has to describe how individual development plans are used for them. NIH does not want the plans, only a short description of whether and how they are used. The background is in our IDP guide.
C. Products
Report only publications from the reporting period, and only those that result directly from the award. A publication accepted or made public in the period that you mention in the narrative must also be listed here. Since 1 October 2024, recipients subject to the data management and sharing policy answer new questions in C.5.c. If that is you, see our NIH data management and sharing plan guide and keep identifiers (DOIs, accession numbers) in one place as the year goes.
D. Participants
This is where reports go wrong most often, because it depends on records people did not keep.
- List anyone who worked on the project for one month or more per year in the period, regardless of funding source. Apart from PD/PIs and people named as key on the Notice of Award, people with under one calendar month of effort are not listed.
- Anyone with a Postdoctoral, Undergraduate or Graduate role needs an eRA Commons ID.
- D.1 reports actual effort in the period. D.2 reports anticipated changes in the next one.
- A reduction in effort of 25 percent or more from what you committed in the competing application needs NIH's prior approval.
- Check Other Support before submitting: total effort must not exceed 12 calendar months, and the sections on foreign support need care.
If you convert between percent effort and months, our free person-months calculator does it in the browser.
E and F. Impact and Changes
E covers the impact of the work and its products in the period, and reports dollars spent in foreign countries. Adding a new foreign component needs prior approval. F covers challenges, delays and changes to human subjects, vertebrate animals, biohazards or select agents. A change in scope needs prior approval too.
What to log all year, and where it lands
The report is easy when the facts are already collected. A short table, updated monthly:
| Log this | When | It lands in |
|---|---|---|
| Aim by aim: what was done, what slipped and why | Monthly | B.2, F |
| Training given to students and postdocs, and how IDPs are used | Quarterly | B.3, B.4 |
| Talks, posters, preprints, press, outreach | As they happen | B.5 |
| Each paper: submitted, accepted, published, with the award number cited | As they happen | C.1 |
| Who worked on the project and roughly how many months each | Monthly | D.1 |
| Anyone starting or leaving; any change in effort | As it happens | D.2 |
| Scope changes, protocol changes, and anything needing prior approval | As they happen | F, G |
| Spending against each category (non-SNAP) | Monthly | H |
For a non-SNAP award the budget section is the one most worth tracking continuously. Our guide to the grant budget burn rate gives the formula for how fast you are spending and when the money runs out.
A short pre-submission list
- Open the Notice of Award and confirm SNAP or non-SNAP and the due date.
- Check that the PD/PI and anyone entering data have the right eRA Commons roles.
- Answer B.1.a honestly. If the goals changed, talk to the Program Official first.
- List every publication in the period that came directly from the award, and nothing from other periods.
- Reconcile D.1 against payroll or time records, and look at the 25 percent effort rule.
- Write the B.4 paragraph if graduate students or postdocs appear in D.1.
- Confirm Other Support totals no more than 12 calendar months of effort.
- If you are subject to the DMS policy, answer the new C.5.c questions.
- Submit well before the deadline. Do not discover a missing Commons ID the afternoon it is due.
Where LetRelay fits
LetRelay is not an NIH reporting system, and it does not submit anything for you. What it holds is the lab record the report is made of. Each student's Friday update, with what was done and what is blocking them, is the raw material for B.2 and F. The paper pipeline, where you add a paper by DOI or arXiv id, gives you the publication list with its status. Milestones record who reached what and when. The group report prints publications as citations, papers in progress, milestones met, people who joined and each grant's spend and end date, ready to save as PDF. Printable reports and grants are Pro features, and every new workspace gets Pro free for 15 days. The first-year PI checklist shows where grant reporting sits among the other systems.
FAQ
When is the NIH RPPR due?
Check the Notice of Award first. For SNAP awards (most R and K awards) it is generally due on the 15th of the month before the month in which the budget period ends, about 45 days before the next budget period starts. For non-SNAP awards it is generally about 60 days before. Multi-year funded awards report on or before the anniversary of the start date.
What is the difference between SNAP and non-SNAP?
SNAP is the Streamlined Non-Competing Award Process. Under it the progress report has no budget section, carryover is automatic and the financial report is due only at the end of the competitive segment. Non-SNAP awards, such as most P, U and T awards and clinical trials, carry a categorical budget, need a detailed budget in the report and usually need prior approval for carryover.
Do I have to attach students' individual development plans?
No. NIH says it does not want actual IDPs. Section B, Question B.4 asks for a short description of whether and how IDPs are used for the graduate students and postdocs listed in D.1.
Which publications go in Section C?
Only those from the reporting period that result directly from the award. A publication accepted or made public in the period that you mention in the narrative must also be listed. Do not re-list publications from earlier periods.
Who has to be listed in Section D.1?
Anyone who worked on the project for one month or more per year in the reporting period, regardless of funding source, plus PD/PIs and people named as key on the Notice of Award. People in postdoctoral, undergraduate or graduate roles need an eRA Commons ID.
When do I need NIH's approval before changing something?
NIH staff flag two common cases: a reduction in effort of 25 percent or more from what was committed in the competing application, and changes in scope. Adding a new foreign component also needs prior approval. When in doubt, ask your Program Official before you submit.
Is this guide the official instruction?
No. It is a map built from an NIH webinar and an NIH notice. The RPPR Instruction Guide, your Notice of Award and the funding opportunity are the authority, and they change, so read the current versions before you submit.
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