Upcoming Changes to the NIH Biographical Sketch and Other Support *Possible Action Required*

December 16, 2021

To: NIH funded investigators and lead administrators
From: Pamela Caudill, Senior Associate Provost for Research Administration
Subject: Upcoming Changes to the NIH Biographical Sketch and Other Support

*Possible Action Required*

Dear Colleagues:

As previously announced, the NIH has made significant changes to the NIH Biographical Sketch and Other Support requirements effective for application due dates and Progress Report (RPPR) submissions on or after January 25, 2022. The Office of Research Administration has been working closely with departmental grants staff and ITS to develop tools to provide some of the additional information required by the changes to Other Support reporting. These tools and associated training are now available.

The first tool is an Other Support report that has been enhanced to provide information on current and pending support, which includes some of the new required elements, e.g., indirect costs and committed effort. Departmental business offices (DBO) have access to these reports to assist with the building of Other Support pages. The report can be accessed through the Office of Research Administration, Research Enterprise Reporting, under Pre-Award Reports.

We have also developed a table summarizing what must be reported to assist departmental staff with gathering information related to sources of support from external entities that are not found in any Yale database or cannot be easily identified, such as in-kind support, certain gifts, and external professional activities. This is available on the Office of Sponsored Projects website: Other Support Information.

NIH issued guidance, effective May 25, 2021, that investigators must disclose all sources of Other Support, which includes total costs (Direct and Indirect) for the entire project period, and related information, including external professional activities (e.g. consulting that involves research, visiting professorships, etc.) In addition, effective January 25, 2022, supporting documentation, including contracts, grants, or any other agreements, associated with foreign appointments, activities and/or employment must be submitted as part of the Other Support pages. If the contract, grant, or other agreement is not in English, investigators must provide a translated copy. This is a significant change for which we have developed a process to assist in compliance.

All documents related to external professional activities that investigators must submit as part of their Other Support will require institutional review in advance of submission. This review is to ensure that the documents are consistent with Yale policy. We have developed a Third-Party Agreements Library to which investigators must upload all translated documents that are to be submitted to the NIH. Investigators will need to upload the documents a minimum of 30 days prior to the Other Support or RPPR submission. Investigators have the option of uploading these documents directly or assigning a delegate to upload on their behalf. The documents will then be reviewed, marked accordingly, and stored for access by the investigator. Any document that has not been reviewed and marked will not be submitted, possibly delaying the submission to NIH.

Also, effective January 25, 2022, NIH will require investigators to personally certify with their signature their Other Support documentation. We are partnering with ITS to implement a tool that will facilitate obtaining the required signature. As this process is finalized, additional communications and instructions will be sent to the research community.

I encourage all investigators who are engaged in NIH research to review these notices, along with the related format instructions and frequently asked questions, to familiarize themselves with the new requirements. If you have any questions relating to Other Support requirements, please contact your DBO grant support staff. For questions relating to the 3rd party agreements library and Yale policy on external professional activities, please contact osphelp@yale.edu.

A town hall will be scheduled for January to review these changes and Yale’s response.

Regards,
Pam

Pamela S. Caudill
Senior Associate Provost for Research Administration
Office of Research Administration
Yale University
25 Science Park, 150 Munson St, Room 322
P.O. Box 208327
New Haven CT 06520-8327
203-785-3012 (Office)
203-785-3510 (Fax)