NIH: Changes to the Biographical Sketch and Other Support Format Page

The National Institutes of Health has taken steps to align the Biographical Sketch (Biosketch), Other Support format page and Application Form Instructions with the guidance issued by the Office of Science and Technology Policy Joint Committee on the Research Environment.

As a result, NIH has updated its application forms and instructions to support the need for applicants and recipients to provide full transparency and disclosure of all research activities, foreign and domestic.

The updated forms and instructions will be required for use for applications and Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPR) submitted for due dates on or after May 25, 2021.

In addition to the changes to the the Biographical Sketch (Biosketch), Other Support format page and Application Form, note the following new requirements related to Other Support, effective May 25, 2021.

• NIH will require supporting documentation, which includes copies of contracts, grants or any other agreement specific to senior/key personnel foreign appointments and/or employment with a foreign institution for all foreign activities and resources that are reported in Other Support. If the contracts, grants or other agreements are not in English, recipients must provide translated copies.
  
  
• If a recipient organization discovers that a PI or other Senior/Key personnel on an active NIH grant has failed to disclose Other Support information outside of Just-in-Time or the RPPR, as applicable, the recipient must submit updated Other Support to the Grants Management Specialist named in the Notice of Award as soon as it becomes known.

See Upcoming Changes to the Biographical Sketch and Other Support Format Page for Due Dates on or after May 25, 2021 (NOT-OD-21-073) for more information.

NSF FAQs on Current and Pending Support: Clarification

The National Science Foundation has added some clarifications to its Frequently Asked Questions on Current and Pending Support.

Some highlights:

In-kind contributions that are not intended for use on the project/proposal being proposed to NSF and have no associated time commitment, do not need to be reported.

However, an item or service given with the expectation of an associated time commitment must be reported to NSF in the following manner.

• If the in-kind contribution is not intended for use on the project/proposal being proposed to NSF but has an associated time commitment, the information must be included as part of the current and pending support section of the proposal.  
• If the in-kind contribution is intended for use on the project/proposal being proposed to NSF, the information must be included as part of the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources section of the proposal and need not be replicated in the individual’s current and pending support submission.

Senior personnel are required to provide the number of person-months (or partial person-months) per year to be devoted to the project by the individual even if this time is not budgeted in the proposal budget. NSF is not asking for information on how much time is budgeted for a particular individual(s), but rather how much time the individual(s) is/are planning to spend to complete the scope of work on the proposed project and/or award.

If a principal investigator or co-PI is not requesting salary support, they should be removed from the budget and their name and the estimated amount of time to be devoted to the project should be identified in the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources section of the proposal.

If Senior Personnel will be conducting research as part of a consulting agreement, then the consulting arrangement should be specified in the individual’s current and pending support submission.