NIH Updated Policy on Foreign Subawards

The  new policy states:

Effective with the date of this notice and until the details of the new foreign collaboration award structure are released, NIH will not issue awards to domestic or foreign entities (new, renewal or non-competing continuation), that include a subaward to a foreign entity. Additionally, NIH will no longer accept prior approval requests to add a new foreign component or subaward to an ongoing project. In all cases, NIH will allow Institutes, Centers and Offices (ICOs) to renegotiate awards, whether new, renewal or non-competing, to remove subawards to foreign entities and, where the work can be performed domestically, allow the funds to be rebudgeted for use by the prime recipient (domestic or foreign) or a domestic subrecipient. 

According to the notice, existing awards will not be revised to remove foreign subawards at this time. NIH will no longer accept prior approval requests to add a new foreign component or subaward to an ongoing project.

The policy will apply to all "monetary foreign collaborations" but will not apply to funds provided to "support foreign consultants", or to "purchasing equipment or supplies from foreign vendors".

Update: According to the May 7 announcement, NIH will:

• Not issue awards that include a foreign subaward
  • This is a temporary pause for foreign subawards, while NIH finalizes the implementation of the new award structure (expected no later than September 30, 2025).
• No longer accept prior approval requests to add a new foreign component or subaward to an ongoing project.
• Renegotiate new, renewal or non-competing awards to remove subawards to foreign entities, and allow the funds to be rebudgetd for use by the prime recipient when the work can be performed domestically.
• Work with the recipient to negotiate a bilateral termination if a project is no longer viable without the foreign subaward, taking into consideration any need to support participant safety and/or animal welfare.

OSP will continue adding clarification on this topic as we have updates from NIH.

icon  The University has received advice that proposals with foreign subawards, submitted on or after May 1, will be administratively withdrawn and not considered. It may be advisable to submit proposals without foreign subawards or postpone proposals involving foreign subawards until NIH releases new, to-be-developed NOFOs.

For now, we suggest that researchers discuss proposals with foreign subawards with their Program Officer and, at PI discretion, submit proposals with foreign subawards as planned. 

When submitting a proposal that includes a foreign subaward, and as NOT-OD-25-098 served to remind the research community of NIH's long standing requirement:

The SF-424 R&R Other Project Information Form requires applicants to indicate whether the project involves activities outside of the United States or partnerships with international collaborators. If the applicant checks “Yes” to this question, they must include a “Foreign Justification” attachment in Field 12, Other Attachments. This justification must describe special resources or characteristics of the research project (e.g., human subjects, animals, disease, equipment, and techniques), including the reasons why the facilities or other aspects of the proposed project are more appropriate than a domestic setting. In the body of the text, begin the section with a heading indicating "Foreign Justification" and name the file “Foreign Justification.”

As a reminder, this attachment is required for all applications that involve activities outside of the United States or partnership with international collaborators, regardless of whether the foreign component will receive funds from the NIH award. Applications that do not include this attachment, as required, will be withdrawn and will not be reviewed. 

Researchers should contact OSP to perform restricted party screening whenever projects involve foreign entities and non-U.S. nationals.

Researchers should be prepared to potentially revise the project scope - either by removing the foreign subaward or by identifying a domestic subrecipient capable of performing the work.