National Institutes of Health (NIH) Other Support Disclosure FAQ’s

Per NIH’s FAQ’s, there are no longer separate instructions for RPPRs and competing applications. Therefore, the same information is being requested for both competing applications (Just-in-Time) and the RPPR (progress reports). For progress reports, NIH still requires recipients to report/submit Other Support when there are significant changes in existing Senior/Key Personnel Other Support and for any new senior/key personnel being requested in the RPPR.

Please note that Other Support is not just limited to Senior/Key named on the Notice of Award, but is requested for individuals whom the applicant designates as Senior/Key Personnel.

For mentored career development award applications, each mentor and co-mentor must provide "Current and Pending Support" documents. Mentors and co-mentors need to use the new Other Support format which includes their signature. However, the Forms G instructions for Career Development Awards provide additional instructions which include, but are not limited to the following (while keeping within the 3-page limit):

1. Include research support relevant to the candidate's (career development award applicant) research plan.
2. This document submitted as part of the application is limited to 3 pages.
   
3. Do not include information on "percent effort/person months" or on "overlap."

Note: The final uploaded Current & Pending support PDF which contains signatures must first be flattened before uploading. The original electronic signature and document must be retained by Stanford and the applicant. A guide to flattening can be found here: https://med.stanford.edu/rmg/resources/federal-agency-disclosure/nih-other-support/flattenPDF. More information on flattening PDF's may be found here: NIH Formatting Guidelines.

Important Note: Please make sure to always check the program announcement or funding opportunity's specific instructions in case they deviate from the general instructions referenced above.

For Other Support, immediately notify and contact your Institutional Official (RMG/OSR) as soon as possible to discuss the need to submit updated information to NIH. Omissions must be reported to the NIH within 30 days after it becomes known.

Endowed chair funds, professorships and other endowment allocations do not need to be reported in the Other Support. 

Note: Endowment funds at Stanford are in Oracle awards that begin K-N (Reference: Stanford Award Ranges)

No, because these are not specifically awarded or provided for the purpose of research.

No, start-up provided to the Investigator by Stanford University are not disclosable.

However, start-up packages that are provided by an outside organization, including foreign entities, are disclosable. This includes start-up funds provided as part of an Investigator’s appointment or employment at a different Institution, if applicable.

NIH defines gifts as resources provided where there is no expectation of anything (e.g. time, services, specific research activities, money, etc.) in return.

While Stanford University policy on gifts aligns closely with this definition and the vast majority of gifts do not need to be disclosed, there may be gifts that could come into question.

In the event that there is gift funding made specifically for research that also involves an expectation of something in return to the donor, this does not meet the NIH and NSF's criteria of gifts and would need to be disclosed.

Investigators and departments should use the following resources below to evaluate if any of their gifts meet the requirements for disclosure (requires SUNet ID login):

1. NIH & NSF Gifts Disclosure Guidance
2. NIH & NSF Gifts Disclosure Webinar Recording (1 Hour Session by ORA/RMG)

The list of pending proposals should include a complete list of proposals submitted to date--all which have not yet been formally rejected or awarded.

In the SeRA system, please pay attention to the Proposals In Development section as there might be some that were recently submitted that count as pending proposals or other sponsored projects that are currently under negotiation, but the system has not yet marked it as "Pending" or have a start date in the past. If they are still under consideration, list as "Pending."

For projects that are active and a competing renewal has been submitted, the competing renewal should be listed under Pending, as well.

Yes; though these may be rare, if the sponsored project involves the conduct of research that benefits the investigator’s research endeavors, this should be reported in the Other Support.

The total award costs for the entire period of performance (including indirect costs) should be entered here. Note that this is for the current competitive segment. This includes the expected amount for the outyears based on the notice of award/agreement.

For pending support, enter the proposed total costs for the entire period of performance.

For Subawards or Multi-Project Awards (e.g., Multi-Component Projects), indicate the total award amount for the subproject only. If the award is not a subaward or a multi-component, enter the full total award amount for the entire award.

If the Investigator wants to provide information with respect to what their lab’s specific portion of the funding is, such as for non-multi-project awards, we recommend including this information in addition to (not in place of) the total full award amount, and adding parenthesis:

• Example: * Total Award Amount (including Indirect Costs): $200,000 (Total Award) $100,000 (Dr. John Doe’s Lab Share).

Yes. Regardless of effort or salary provided by the University Research Award (URA) to the Investigator. If the internal Stanford award supports and benefits the investigator’s research endeavors, it should be disclosed as Other Support.

If the URA does not require measurable effort for the Investigator and none was proposed, list “As Needed” effort and add a note that this is an Internal Stanford Award.

Yes. If the seed grant and/or pilot award supports and benefits the investigator’s research endeavors, it should be disclosed as Other Support.

If the seed/pilot award does not require measurable effort for the Investigator and none was proposed, list “As Needed” effort and add a note if this is a seed grant or pilot award.

Please note that seed grants or pilot awards that are made internally using gift funds to Stanford or department that were meant to establish seed/pilot programs and there was a formal competitive selection process internally, these need to be disclosed as Institutional/Internal Awards especially if by virtue of the competitive selection, there is a resulting project (specific aims), budget, performance period, etc.

No. NIH no longer requires disclosure of recently completed support for Other Support submissions; they only need to include current and pending resources—this includes Other Support for RPPR.

Facilities, equipment, and other resources that are institutional resources which are broadly available to investigators at Stanford do not need to be listed as Other Support. Instead, if they are used for the proposed project, they can be listed in the Facilities and Other Resources document and/or Equipment document.

However, if there are facilities, equipment, and other resources or contributions that are provided at no cost from an external source and these resources are uniquely available (i.e., not widely available to the scientific community) to the researcher and not to the entire Stanford community, these must be reported as Other Support. See additional FAQs below for more on in-kind materials and contributions.

Additionally, if the resource is benefiting the project being proposed, it should be listed in the Facilities and Other Resources and/or Equipment documents of the proposal submission.

While it technically does not need to be repeated in the Other Support submitted for this specific proposal, it needs to be reported for Other Support submitted for other proposals and projects.

Since NIH’s instructions do not prohibit repeated information between documents, it may be advisable to always list in-kind contributions in the Other Support document to avoid accidentally omitting between versions of NIH Other Support submitted for different projects.

Yes. Other Support includes research collaborations that provide in-kind (at no cost) contributions and resources that directly benefit the investigator’s research endeavors. Collaborations that also includes in-kind materials in addition to the time, effort, or services, then it should be incorporated in the in-kind contribution entry for the collaboration.

Important Note: If there will be work performed in support of an NIH-funded research project outside of the United States, this may constitute a foreign component and will need prior approvals from the NIH before the commencement of work.

Please make sure to review the definition of foreign component and if prior approvals are needed, contact your Institutional Official right away. Principal Investigators may want to reach out to your Program Officer for guidance, as well.

Materials and resources provided to the Investigator within the past 3 years and that are actively being used, must be included in Other Support.

If it is a continuous resource or contribution (i.e. services) or a renewing resource (i.e., data that is updated or added to continuously), then it should remain disclosed.

No, NIH has confirmed that Investigators need only to list active and pending In-Kind resources.

For active In-Kind Resources, please see Question #3 above. 

Essentially, active resources to disclose are materials and resources provided to the Investigator within the past 3 years and that are actively being used, must be included in Other Support.

If it is a continuous resource or contribution (i.e. services) or a renewing resource (i.e., data that is updated or added to continuously), then it should remain disclosed.

If the Stanford student or postdoctoral fellow is directly awarded or supported by their own fellowship or career development awards from an external source (or is appointed to a training grant), and they are performing research activities in direct support or benefit of the Investigator’s research endeavors, their support must be reported as an in-kind resource available to the Investigator. 

However, if the relationship is solely a mentor/mentee arrangement without research activities, then it does not need to be reported.

In addition:

• If the Stanford student or postdoc are supported by an internal fellowship (such as a Dean’s Fellowship), then this is not in-kind support and would not need to be disclosed in the benefiting Investigator’s NIH Other Support.
• Note: Please check with student services or the relevant department post doc administrator if unsure about a funding source. There may be some awards that appear to be internal, but are actually external: For example, the following are disclosable if they also meet the criteria in the first paragraph above:
• • Some MSTP students can be funded by/appointed to an externally funded NIH T32
  • Appointees to Institutional Training or Career Development grants such as T32’s and K12’s are disclosable.
  • NSF GFRP fellows since the main GFRP is an Institutional Award to Stanford.
  • If they are partially supported by both external and internal fellowships, only the external portion is disclosable as In-Kind support in the benefiting Investigator’s Other Support.

If the student or postdoctoral fellow directly receives Outside Funding not managed by Stanford and they are performing research activities in support of the Investigator’s research endeavors, their support must be reported as an in-kind resource. If the relationship is solely a mentor/mentee arrangement without research activities, then it does not need to be reported.

If the visiting student researcher is performing research activities in support of the Investigator’s research endeavors, their support must be reported as an in-kind resource.

If they are purely supported by the Investigator's internal funds and the VSR does not also directly receive any external funding (e.g., their Home Institution or external entity) then they do not need to be disclosed in Other Support.

If they directly receive partial external support, then they should be disclosed as an in-kind resource.

If the Visiting Scholar is performing research activities in support of the Investigator’s research endeavors, their support must be reported as an in-kind resource.

Yes, if the Visiting Scholar, as part of the Industrial Affiliates Program, is performing research activities in support of the Investigator’s research endeavors, their support must be reported as an in-kind resource to the Investigator.

Yes. If the high-value materials are (1) provided by an external entity, (2) not freely available, (3) uniquely available* to the researcher, and (4) currently used in their research endeavors, these should be listed as an in-kind resource in their NIH Other Support.

*Resources that are widely available (i.e., not "uniquely available") at no cost to the scientific community do not need to be disclosed. For example: NIH databases/respositories (or other similar sources that are free and widely available) that provide resources to the scientific community do not need to be disclosed.

Only materials and resources provided within the past 3 years and are also actively being used by the Investigator should be included. If it is a continuous resource or contribution (i.e. services) or a renewing resource (i.e. data that is updated or added to continuously), then it should remain disclosed.

When listing, include the source, summary of in-kind contribution, and the estimated value. If the dollar value is not readily ascertainable, reasonable estimates should be provided.

NIH requires that investigators disclose in-kind resources that are currently used in their research endeavors. This includes the “provision of high-value materials that are not freely available (e.g., biologics, chemical, model systems, technology, etc.).” 

Examples to consider include but are not limited to: molecules, biologics, chemicals, vectors, data, libraries, model systems such as transgenic mice, cell lines, or other resources, etc. provided by companies, outside entities, and external collaborators/colleagues for use in your research, provided under agreements.

Also consider additional in-kind support provided by companies, outside entities, and external collaborators/colleagues: such as data sets, cloud storage space, equipment loans, and transfers of goods and services that occur under unfunded collaboration or other agreements. 

Do not report items that you purchased from companies, as they are not “in-kind” support.

If the investigator’s access to the facilities, equipment, and resources will be used to benefit or used in support of the investigator's research endeavors,  this must be reported as an in-kind resource.

This is remains true even when the investigator is on sabbatical and performs research outside of Stanford and has access to facilities, equipment, and resources in support of their research endeavors. These must be reported as an in-kind resource as part of their NIH Other Support.

Important Note: If there will be work performed in support of federally-funded research at a foreign site, this may constitute a foreign component and will need prior approvals from the federal sponsor(s) before commencement of work. Please make sure to review the definition of foreign component and if prior approvals are needed, contact your Institutional Official right away. You may reach out to your Program Officer for guidance, as well.

Outside consulting or professional service arrangements that do not involve research do not need to be reported. However, if the investigator will be conducting research as part of consulting activities, it needs to be reported as Other Support.

If the investigator’s access to the Company’s facilities, equipment, and resources will be benefiting their research endeavors this must be reported as an in-kind resource.

Important Note: If there will be work performed in support of federally-funded research at a foreign site, this may constitute a foreign component and will need prior approvals from the federal sponsor(s) before commencement of work. Please make sure to review the definition of foreign component and if prior approvals are needed, contact your Institutional Official right away. You may reach out to your Program Officer for guidance, as well.