On May 1, 2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued Notice NOT-OD-25-104, announcing a significant policy change regarding foreign subawards.
Key Policy Changes
- New Award Structure: NIH will implement a structure where foreign subawards are issued as independent awards linked to the primary grant. This allows NIH to track funds individually while the primary institute reports scientific progress collectively.
- Effective Date: The new structure is expected to be in place by September 30, 2025.
- Applicability: The policy applies prospectively to all NIH grants and cooperative agreements (new, renewal, and non-competing continuations) to domestic and foreign entities. Existing awards will not be retroactively revised.
- Restrictions: Effective immediately, NIH will not issue awards that include subawards to foreign entities. Prior approval requests to new foreign components or subawards to ongoing projects will also not be accepted.
- Exceptions: The policy does not apply to funds provided to support foreign consultants or the purchase of unique equipment or supplies from foreign vendors.
- Future Plans: NIH intends to expand this policy to domestic subawards for consistency.
Next Steps
Any investigators with a pending or active NIH award that involves foreign subaward(s) should reach out to their assigned OSRA Specialist to review and discuss options. Guidance on this will continue to evolve as NIH releases more information on next steps. As we await further clarity, we highly recommend PIs reach out to their NIH Program Officer for additional guidance.
In all cases, NIH will allow Institutes, Centers and Offices 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 or a domestic subrecipient.
If a project is no longer viable without the foreign subaward, NIH may move towards termination. OSRA will work with the PI, Department, and Senior Leadership to explore all alternative options before termination is considered.
We've provided a summary table below based on the various scenarios of NIH active or pending proposals with foreign subaward(s):
Scenarios with Foreign Subawards | Possible Action |
Upcoming NIH submissions | Consider removing foreign subaward(s) or postpone submission until new award structure is outlined. |
Application currently under NIH review | Assess whether the project would be viable without foreign subaward(s) and reach out to OSRA to discuss options for communicating with the SRO. |
Active award with upcoming RPPR | If a project is viable without the foreign subaward(s), include a plan to remove the foreign subaward in the RPPR. If it is not viable without the foreign subaward(s), reach out to OSRA for further discussions. |
Active award with a pending non-competing NOA where RPPR was submitted prior to the notice | If a project is viable without the foreign subaward(s), draft a brief outline for the plan to remove the foreign subaward and submit to OSRA for review and submission to GMS and PO. If it is not viable without the foreign subaward(s), reach out to OSRA for further discussions. |
For questions contact your assigned OSRA Grants Specialist or email grantsandcontracts@med.cornell.edu.