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Other Support Reporting for NIH

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Templates, Examples & Resources 


Tip: In some cases, part of this information on Other Support, including translated foreign agreements, may have already been disclosed in M-Inform. To facilitate completing the Other Support template, the discloser may want to log in to M-Inform to retrieve uploaded foreign agreements. 

Develop Proposal

NIH requires disclosure of all resources made available to a researcher in support of and/or related to any of their research endeavors, regardless of whether they have monetary value and regardless of whether they are based at U-M.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has submission requirements for Other Support reporting and Biographical Sketches (Biosketches). Keep in mind the following when submitting your NIH proposal, Just-In-Time (JIT) materials, or Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs). These changes may require additional time on your part.

How to Comply with NIH Other Support Reporting

Please do not use historical U-M templates or formats for Other Support. New resources are available on the right side of this page. See the Biosketch page for related updates.

Other Support

ON or AFTER 
January 25, 2022

Follow the format and instructions outlined in NIH guidance.

Required

Use of SciENcv to generate Other Support
Note: NIH anticipates the SciENcv template for Other Support will be available beginning in FY 2022.

Not required (optional when SciENcv template made available)

Disclose ALL active and pending sources of Other Support, including:

  • Sponsored projects/proposals (including projects not routed through U-M or conducted as part of a non-UM appointment)
  • External consulting, when an investigator will be involved in the design, conduct, or reporting of research as part of the consulting activities (e.g., work that may result in publication in an academic journal, designing a protocol, data analysis, serving on a steering committee for a clinical trial)
  • In-kind (i.e., non-monetary) resources that meet all the following criteria:
    • Are uniquely available to the researcher
    • Were provided by a non-UM entity (either domestic or foreign), and
    • Were provided in the past three years, and
    • Are not being used on the proposed project, and
    • Aside from the proposed project, are being actively used in support of any of an investigator’s other research endeavors.
  • In-kind resources include, but are not limited to:
    • Personnel (e.g., visiting scholars, visiting students, supported by a non-UM entity)
    • Space
    • Equipment
    • Materials
    • Supplies
  • ​​​​​Note: In-kind resources intended for use on the proposed project should be included as part of the 'Facilities and Other Resources' or 'Equipment' section of the application and not 'Other Support'

Required
(split into separate sections for sponsored projects/proposals and in-kind resources)

Active/pending sponsored project total award amount
Note: For subawards, only the total subaward amount needs to be included

Award Amount

(Direct + Indirect)

All investigators required to submit Other Support must also electronically sign their respective documents using the SignNow e-signature service or similar.

  • A typed name is not an electronic signature and is not acceptable.
  • Wet (ink) signatures are not acceptable.

Required

Flatten Other Support PDFs after signature.

Required

Supporting documentation in the form of English-language versions of any Other Support from entities outside the United States, including, but not limited to:

  • contracts
  • grants, and
  • any other agreements specific to appointments, affiliations, and/or employment with an institution or entity outside the U.S.

Note: Google translations, or similar, are acceptable but certified translations may be required upon request.

Required

Immediately notify ORSP of undisclosed Other Support (i.e., information that was missing from a proposal at Just-In-Time (JIT) or a Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR)).

Required

 

 

FAQs

Yes. For examples of documentation, download U-M's Common Other Support Examples (Word document). 

For a general list of what to include in Other Support documentation see the NIH - Other Support Reportng webpage.  

An international entity is one located outside of the United States (US).

"International" in this context does not refer to an entity that does business internationally, but rather to an entity that is formed outside the United States.

If an investigator signs a contract/agreement with a U.S. subsidiary of an international "parent" company, the U.S. subsidiary is not considered an international entity.

An appointment by itself would not be an entry in the Other Support document (although it would appear on the Biosketch).

However, active/pending projects that result from a non-U-M appointment must be included in Other Support. In this case, the non-UM appointment information acts as detail for the entry of the active/pending project.

In addition, any non-monetary resources (e.g., space, equipment, personnel) that result from the non-U-M appointment that are actively being used in relation to any of an investigator's research endeavors should be included as “in-kind” resources in Other Support.  Again, the appointment information provides detail for the resource entry. 

See Common Other Support Examples (Word, download).

Blue info iconImportant:

  • If a non-monetary resource will be used in the proposed project, include it in the Facilities, Equipment, or Resources section of the application rather than in Other Support.
  • Non-UM appointments, even if unpaid, should be reported in M-Inform as an outside activity. Start-up funding as well as salary, should be included in the value disclosed.
  • Any active appointment should be included on an investigator's Biosketch (including VA appoitments).

Any active appointment must be included an investigator's Biosketch, including a VA appointment.

U-M's current interpretation of NIH guidance is that for external consulting activity to be included in Other Support, it must:

  • Involve the design, conduct, or reporting of research; and
  • Be current or ongoing; and
  • Contribute tangible work to the research.

Examples include:

  • Developing a research protocol
  • Analyzing data from a research project
  • Serving on a steering committee for a research project
  • Work that results in publication of research (e.g., in an academic journal, at conferences, etc.) such that your contribution is cited in the publication.

High-level activity, such as a one-time phone conference to discuss the feasibility of a research concept or to provide subject matter expertise, is not considered an activity that needs to be reported as Other Support.

If the consulting activity is independent of an investigator's U-M appointment, then list effort as zero Person Months. However, the Other Support entry should still include the dollar amount for the consulting activity. 

See Common Other Support Examples.

Yes. For consulting related to a specific non-UM research project, include the total dollar amount for the project in Other Support.

To report non-project-specific consulting, enter the dollar amount of the investigator's consulting activity.

In General

Investigators should not list “0.0” Person Months (calendar or academic/summer) for projects/proposals listed in Other Support. If an investigator is an active member of a project team, then some value greater than 0 should be indicated for the project, even if no salary support is directed to the investigator’s participation on the project.

  • For a project with a No Cost Time Extension (NCTX), if the Principal Investigator (PI) is the person reporting Other Support, then they should have some measurable effort on the project. For other types of senior/key personnel on the project, if their work is complete, they should not list the project on Other Support.

  • For K (Career Development) awards where all the effort is reported on the K award, but the concurrent projects are benefitting from the work, the concurrent projects may be listed on Other Support with 0.0 effort, including a note referencing the K award in the project description.

Exceptions

  • Per the NIH, list any external consulting that involves the design, conduct, or reporting of research (i.e., consulting agreements that are not routed through U-M and are between a non-U-M entity and an individual faculty member) on the invesigator's Other Support with 0.0 person months.

  • If a clinical trial is “dormant” (i.e., not enrolling), senior/key personnel may list “0.0” person months if they are not actively working on the trial.

No, regardless of the value, if the in-kind resource meets these criteria, it should be reported in Other Support.

If the visitor is made available at no cost to U-M to support any of the U-M investigator’s research endeavors, they are considered an in-kind resource and must be included in the Other Support document.

If the visitor will be working on the proposed project, and are not a budgeted resource, then they should be included in the Facilities and Other Resources section of the proposal application.

See Common Other Support Examples.

The researcher should provide the project number and PD/PI name for the prime award as the "Source of Support" on the NIH Other Support template. All other information, including the total award amount and person months, should be specific to the subaward.

Yes, if the trainee is supported by a non-U-M entity (e.g., their home institution), and the trainee is contributing to any of the U-M faculty member's research endeavors, then the U-M faculty member would need to include the trainee as a type of "in-kind" resource on their Other Support document.

Do not include the trainee as an in-kind resource on the U-M faculty member's Other Support document if the trainee is supported solely through funds that are routed through U-M (including federal grants/awards).

Yes, when you are the career-development recipient. If you are serving as a mentor without specified effort, it does not need to be included in your Other Support.

If there is no overlap, you can simply state: “None of the active/pending projects listed above represents an overlap of science, budget, or committed effort.”

A digital signature is required, using an electronic signature software application. The University of Michigan recommends using the SignNow application.

Warning Icon

  • A scanned copy of an ink signature is NOT acceptable.
  • A typed name name of an investigator is NOT acceptable.
  • A .jpg, .png. or other type of image of an investigator's signature is NOT acceptable.

For SignNow guidance see the:

Yes, but with qualifications. Use Adobe's Prepare Agreement option under the Sign menu and the Insert Digital Signature function to ensure the required audit trail is assigned.  Do not use Adobe's "Fill & Sign" or "Sign Yourself" options.

NIH requires that "[a]pplicants and recipients maintain supporting documentation to reasonably authenticate that the appropriate individual signed the [Other Support] form."  In this case, supporting documentation is interpreted to mean an audit trail associated with each application of an electronic signature.  The individual is responsible for locating and providing a signature's supporting documentation upon request from NIH or others.  When using Adobe, the PDF file, electronic signature, and audit trail are stored locally (e.g., on an individual's computer drive). 

U-M recommends using SignNow to sign Other Support documentation.  As UM-supported software, the PDF file and correspondiing signature supporting documentation is stored centrally and availalble through SignNow.

Questions?