The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently released their new application structure for international collaborations (see NOT-OD-25-155) but did not provide a clear effective date. We will update the Research Administration community as soon as an effective date is announced.
For submissions requesting NIH funding for one or more foreign components, NIH will require that competing applications submit applications to a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that supports the new PF5 Activity Code for grants, new UF5 Activity Code for cooperative agreements, or another complex mechanism activity code that supports the International Project component type.
Proposals
The new structure will leverage NIH's multi-component or complex application package. At a minimum, PF5/UF5 applicants will be expected to provide an Overall Component that addresses the project's overall objectives as a collaboration, a Research Project component that addresses the scientific and technical directions of the project, and an International Project component that addresses the foreign collaborator's role on the project.
Each funded foreign component should have a unique International Project component; therefore, an application with multiple foreign collaborators at different institutions would submit an application with multiple International Project components.
NIH intends to issue a Parent NOFO for the PF5/UF5 activity codes with this basic structure that will provide specific guidance on the application components required for the Overall, Research Project, and International Project component types. Moving forward, NIH may also use the PF5/UF5 activity codes when issuing funding opportunities for specialized purposes that include other types of components (e.g., Cores) in combination with the International Project component type.
Awards
Should a project be selected for funding, NIH will issue a PF5 or UF5 award to the domestic organization and an RF2 or UL2 award to the foreign organizations.
Just-in-Time Information (e.g., IRB Approvals, IACUC Approvals, Current and Pending (Other) Support for key personnel), will be requested from both the PF5/UF5 and RF2/UL2 organizations independently. Each organization will be responsible for ensuring the terms and conditions of their Notices of Award are met.
Coming Soon
NIH indicated it will be developing and posting resources, including FAQs, as well as planning training on the new activity codes and application structure.
Please read the full NIH Notice NOT-OD-25-155 for additional information impacting applications and awards as well as implications for technical review and performance reporting.
Contact ora@iu.edu with questions regarding this notice.