eIRB
The Penn eIRB system has replaced HSERA as the new IRB online submission system. This change in systems will make necessary upgrades for compliance requirements and provide a more user-friendly, efficient review experience.
This page is intended to be a central hub for communications about eIRB, including town halls with Q&A, training sessions, and written reference materials for the new system.
For how to submit guidance, please refer to the How to Submit section of the website.
Townhalls
Townhalls discussed the transition plan from HSERA to the new system, new policies and procedures being implemented with the new system launch, and improvements built into the new system. See below for recordings of past townhalls.
Education
Education sessions involved live demonstrations of eIRB functionality. These sessions took place in October 2025 and were recorded for retrospective viewing. eIRB 101 sessions can be found on the IRB website calendar.
User Testing
The IRB Office held testing sessions in November 2025 with various stakeholder groups.
Recorded Sessions
Recordings of previously held Townhall Informational Sessions are linked below. NOTE: Some of these recordings utilize the prior name of the new system, Human Research Application Portal (HRAP).
Sep 10, 2025
Penn eIRB Update and Q & A Townhall
Sep 18, 2025
eIRB Protocol Migration QA Guide Townhall
Sep 25, 2025
eIRB: Review of Related Policy Changes Townhall
Oct 1, 2025
eIRB Demo for Research Staff, Part 1
You must log into Zoom to watch.
Passcode: 10ERX2e!
Oct 8, 2025
eIRB Demo for Research Staff, Part 2
You must log into Zoom to watch.
Passcode: 0jT1Rd^5
Oct 16, 2025
eIRB Demo for IRB Members & Chairs
You must log into Zoom to watch.
Passcode: xf^e@0Xu
Jan 22, 2026
eIRB Update Townhall
Written Resources
New System Improvements
This presentation discusses the following design improvements in eIRB, compared to eIRB:
- Efficiency of submitting
- Transparency around the review processes
- Improved tracking of submissions
- Planned integrations with other Penn systems
Pre-2019 Exempt Study Transition
Study records for human research reviewed at the exempt level in 2018 or earlier with a “No Continuing Review Required” status were not migrated to eIRB from HSERA. If researchers wanted these studies with a “No Continuing Review Required” status to be migrated to eIRB, they were required to complete a Qualtrics form by Jan 12, 2026.
Penn eIRB Update
Click below for slides from the September 10, 2025 Townhall, which covered:
- Launch Timeline & Planned Interactive Sessions
- Townhall Schedule
- Live Demo Schedule
- Important Deadlines
eIRB Protocol Migration QA Guide
Click below for slides from the September 18, 2025 Townhall which covered:
- What quality assurance research staff should complete during the first submission of a migrated study in eIRB.
eIRB: Review of Related Policy Changes
Click below for slides from the September 25, 2025 Townhall, which covered:
- New Policy Implementation around:
- Annual Check-In
- Automatic Closures
- Study Archiving
- Migration Plan
eIRB Migrated Studies QA Guide Supplement
This supplement details what fields from Penn ERA (Paper Protocols) and eIRB will migrate to eIRB.
January 2026 eIRB Update
Slides from the January 22, 2026 Townhall
Access to eIRB
Backend System Access
Please use the Qualtrics form linked below.
Department Routing
Please use the Qualtrics form linked below.
Data Reporting
Research teams have access to reporting for studies on which they are listed. This is done via the eIRB IRB Ad-Hoc Reports menu in eIRB. For guidance, click here. The Qualtrics form below should be used for eIRB reporting that teams do not have access to.
eIRB Support Resources