Published September 24, 2026, via Research News
Our Research Management System (RMS) Vendor notified us this morning that earlier this week, SciENcv updated the certificate associated with their website that is used to sign/certify Biosketches and Current and Pending (Other) Support forms. The old certificate expires on Saturday (9/26/26). SciENcv Biosketches and Current and Pending (Other) Support on applications being submitted after Saturday (9/26) to NIH and other agencies that use eRA Commons must be re-certified by the investigator. Then the new Biosketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support forms will need to be reuploaded into the application (e.g. RMS/S2S, ASSIST).
What Changed
This is a change to SciENcv that will affect submissions through eRA Commons. This is not a change being made by WashU, or our RMS vendor. SciENcv updated the digital certificate it uses to sign Biosketches and Current & Pending (Other) Support (CPOS) documents. The old certificate expires on Saturday, September 26, 2026. After September 26, 2026, documents signed with the old certificate will not validate in eRA Commons, and will receive an error.
Which Applications Will It Effect
This affects applications and RPPRs being submitted to NIH, AHRQ, CDC, NIOSH, FDA, and VA, on or after Saturday, 9/26/26. The effect isn’t limited to RMS or S2S; it applies equally to applications built/submitted through ASSIST or Grants.gov Workspace. This is based on the submission date, not the application deadline. Applications submitted by Friday, 9/25/2026 with the current documents will validate as normal.
What Each Senior/Key Person Must Do on or After 9/26/2026
- Each Senior/Key Person must re-certify their Biosketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support in SciENcv and download fresh PDFs.
- Log in to SciENcv. Click the button you use to login. (usually eRA Commons or Login.gov)
- Select the title of the Biosketch/Current and Pending (Other) Support 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’.
- Users can verify the details about the signing certificate as shown in this diagram. Open the PDF in Acrobat. Look at the signature pane and drill down to the certificate details to see the ‘Valid to’ date.
- Once this has been done for each senior/key person on the application, the new Biosketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support forms will need to be reuploaded into the application (e.g. RMS/S2S, ASSIST).
Please share this message with anyone as you deem appropriate, including faculty and key personnel on NIH, AHRQ, CDC, NIOSH, FDA, and VA applications, and RPPRs.
If you have any questions, please contact the Office of Sponsored Research Services.