UF Research Reminder: NIH Requires All Financial and In-Kind Support to Be Disclosed in Other Support

Effective May 25, 2021, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires that all financial and in-kind support for any research that UF key personnel perform whether that is performed as part of their UF appointment, an outside activity, as consulting, or as part of any other appointment or access they have, be disclosed in Other Support.

UF will be announcing further guidance regarding the changes to Other Support and the Biosketch outlined below as information becomes available. To assist the UF community with these changes, DSP has posted Other Support FAQs on its webpage. If you are unsure about whether to disclose something in your Other Support, please reach out to DSP at ufproposals@ufl.edu.

Disclosing Activities as Other Support

NIH requires senior/key personnel to disclose all resources made available to them in support of or related to all of their research endeavors, regardless of whether or not they have monetary value and regardless of the performance site of the research. Even if the researcher performs the activity outside of the researcher’s UF appointment period (e.g., a nine-month faculty member conducts the activity during the summer months or as part of activities for a start-up company) or at a location other than UF, the researcher must disclose the activity. The required NIH Other Support format can be found here.

New! For Other Support submissions that include foreign activities and resources for which the investigator has an appointment and/or employment with a foreign institution, investigators are required to attach all contracts, grants or other appointment agreements as supporting documentation. If the documents are not in English, recipients must provide translated copies. Note that researchers must provide any translations of any agreements on which they are a signatory. This supporting documentation must be included with the Other Support format page and flattened into a single PDF.

New! Immediate notification of undisclosed Other Support. When a PI or other senior/key personnel on an active NIH grant failed to disclose Other Support information in the Just-in-Time or the RPPR, as applicable, UF must submit updated Other Support to the NIH as soon as it becomes known. If you have an undisclosed international engagement, contact DSP immediately so that it is appropriately disclosed to NIH.

Examples of Other Support include, but are not limited to, the following:

Resources and/or financial support from all foreign and domestic entities that are available to the researcher. This includes but is not limited to:
- Financial support for laboratory personnel (i.e. anyone working in your lab, including those who identify as “self-funded”)
- Provision of high-value materials that are not freely available (e.g., biologics, chemical, model systems, technology, etc.)
New! Consulting agreements, when the researcher will be conducting research as part of the consulting activities. Non-research consulting activities are not Other Support.
New! In-kind contributions, e.g. office/laboratory space, equipment, supplies, or personnel (including students) supported by any entity other than UF. If the time commitment or dollar value of the in-kind contribution is not readily ascertainable, the researcher must provide reasonable estimates.
Note: Institutional resources, such as core facilities or shared equipment that are made broadly available, should not be included in Other Support, but rather listed under Facilities and Other Resources.

New! All Other Support submissions must now be electronically signed by the person for whom the report is submitted. Any electronic signature must be affixed (physical signature scanned or affixed with digital writing device, Adobe signature, Docusign signature, etc.) and affixed before the submission is flattened into a single PDF. An administrator pasting an image of signature onto the documents is not allowed. After signing ensure the document has been flattened (see instructions).

After the initial NIH award, researchers must disclose changes in Other Support in the annual research performance progress report (RPPR). Additionally, for post-award disclosures of Other Support, recipients must address any substantive changes by submitting a prior approval request to NIH in accordance with the NIHGPS section on “Administrative Requirements—Changes in Project and Budget—NIH Standard Terms of Award.”

Links:

Disclosing Activities in Your Biosketch

Researchers must include all positions, scientific appointments and affiliations from the last three years in their Biosketch.

New! The 2021 NIH notice clarifies that within the ‘Positions, Scientific Appointments, and Honors’ section of the Biosketch, researchers must list all positions and scientific appointments both domestic and foreign, including affiliations with foreign entities or governments. This includes titled academic, professional, or institutional appointments whether or not remuneration is received, and whether full-time, part-time, or voluntary (including adjunct, visiting, or honorary). Listing must be in reverse chronological order.

Disclosing Foreign Activities to NIH as Foreign Component

NIH defines “foreign component” as the performance of any significant scientific element or segment of a project outside of the U.S., either by UF (including any UF employee), by a subrecipient, or by a researcher employed by a foreign entity, whether or not grant funds are expended. There is a 2-part test for determining whether an activity meets the definition of foreign component: (1) whether a portion of the project will be conducted outside of the U.S. and (2) whether that portion of the project is significant. Some examples of activities that may be considered a significant element of the project include, but are not limited to:

Collaborations with investigators at a foreign site anticipated to result in co-authorship;
Use of facilities or instrumentation at a foreign site; or
Receipt of financial support or resources from a foreign entity.

As additional guidance becomes available, DSP will continue to update our webpage.

Helpful Resources:

UF webpage on Disclosing Activities to NIH

NIH webpage on Other Support

NIH Other Support Instructions

NIH Other Support Sample

NIH FAQs

July 7, 2021/by patcasey