Using NIH RAS in DUOS

Overview

NIH RAS is an authentication and authorization service provided by the NIH Center for Information Technology. NIH RAS was developed to facilitate access to NIH’s open and controlled data assets and repositories in a consistent, secure, and user-friendly manner.

As a host for NIH and other controlled access data, DUOS enforces access controls for many NIH controlled access datasets. The old system of enforcing access controls, relying on dbGaP telemetry files, is brittle, error-prone, and a cause of poor user experience. RAS provides an opportunity, via the GA4GH Passports standard, to provide an access control mechanism that is stable, more secure, and compliant with modern security practices.

What’s changing for you

As part of new federal government security policies, DUOS is required to integrate with the NIH Researcher Authentication Service (RAS) for identity proofing and enhanced security.

In order to link your NIH authorization to DUOS, users of eRA Commons must transition to the use of Login.gov or ID.me credentials, instead of their Commons account, to log in. This adds two additional steps – 1) setting up a Login.gov or ID.me account and 2) linking your Login.gov or ID.me account to your eRA Commons account – to the process of linking your external ID to Terra. See step-by-step instructions below.
For more background, see Transitioning to and using Login.gov.

Set up a Login.gov or ID.me account

You will use a Login.gov or ID.me account to link an external NIH identity to Terra.

Step-by-step instructions

• If you already have a Login.gov or ID.me account, you can skip this step. 
• To create a new account, follow the steps in Create your login.gov account.