Other support (NIH format)

NIH Other Support is required at the just-in-time stage and as a Research Performance Progress Report attachment. Following NOT-OD-21-073, the format requires PDF copies of contracts, agreements, and supporting documentation for foreign appointments and resources. Disclosure must cover all foreign and domestic activities, with PI signature certifying completeness. The expanded format substantially increased the operational burden but provides a clearer baseline for compliance with foreign influence policies.

What changed under NOT-OD-21-073, and what changed again in 2025

Before NOT-OD-21-073 (pre-2021)	After NOT-OD-21-073 (2021–2025)	Common Form (due dates/RPPRs on or after May 25, 2025 — NOT-OD-24-163)
Foreign in-kind resources described in a narrative summary; no supporting documents required	Signed copies of the underlying foreign contract, appointment letter, or agreement required as a PDF attachment, in the original language plus a certified English translation	Same documentation requirement, now filed on a standardized Other Support Common Form rather than an agency-specific free-text format
PD/PIs and other senior/key personnel with measurable effort submitted Other Support; Other Significant Contributors (OSCs) did not	Same population — the documentation burden increased, the population covered did not	Same population; the Common Form’s structure and certification statement are now standardized across NIH

The population required to submit Other Support has not changed across either revision: it is PD/PIs and other senior/key personnel identified with measurable effort on the project, not every listed collaborator. Other Significant Contributors, who commit no measurable effort of their own, submit a Biosketch but not Other Support — confirming which category a given person falls into, before assuming they do or don’t need to file, is one of the more common points research administrators get wrong.

What Other Support is not

Other Support is a single, NIH-specific document, not a general term for “current and pending” reporting. It differs from the general obligations described under pending grants disclosure and active grants disclosure in three concrete ways: it is filed per person rather than per proposal; it combines active, pending, and zero-dollar in-kind resources (space, equipment, personnel time) in one listing rather than separating them; and, since NOT-OD-21-073, it requires signed PDF attachments of the underlying foreign contracts and appointment letters themselves, not just a summary table. It is also not interchangeable with NSF’s Current and Pending (Other) Support module — both implement the same NSPM-33 policy objective, but each agency’s Common Form conventions, certification language, and submission portal are specific to that agency and cannot be substituted for one another.

Related NIH disclosure requirements

Other Support sits alongside, and is frequently confused with, foreign component disclosure, which addresses a narrower question — whether a specific NIH-funded project itself involves foreign performance sites, collaborators, or resources — rather than an individual’s entire outside portfolio. NIH institutes may also request supplemental documentation beyond the standard Other Support template on a case-by-case basis where a disclosed foreign activity raises follow-up questions.

Who owns this in a research administration office, and what a reviewer checks

Sponsored programs staff typically assemble the Other Support document at the just-in-time stage and route it to the PI for a certification signature; at many institutions, a disclosed foreign activity above a threshold set by institutional policy — not a uniform NIH-wide dollar figure — also triggers a parallel review by a research-security or conflict-of-interest-in-research office before submission. NIH’s extramural staff, and on referral the Office of Extramural Research Integrity, check three things in particular: that every foreign appointment or in-kind resource disclosed elsewhere by the institution also appears here; that the attached documentation actually matches what NOT-OD-21-073 requires — a signed contract or appointment letter, not a paraphrased summary; and that the certification signature date is on or after the document’s most recent revision, not carried over from an earlier submission.

Checking this against the current guidance

Whether a specific foreign in-kind resource has to be listed with signed documentation, or only described narratively, depends on exactly what NOT-OD-21-073 classifies it as. The answer depends on which type of foreign resource involved, and the page above states the general rule.

Ask CASRAI: If a PI’s foreign in-kind resources are provided by a foreign university with no signed agreement in place, does that resource still have to be disclosed on Other Support, and does the answer change if the offered resources were never actually used?

It searches CASRAI’s indexed corpus of research-administration guidance and cites the passage behind each claim, so you can open the source and check it rather than take its word — and it says so when the corpus does not cover something instead of guessing. Two questions a day are free while you are signed out, no account and no card. Everything CASRAI publishes stays free to read.

Frequently asked questions

Does Other Support have to be resubmitted for every progress report, or only at Just-in-Time?

Both. Other Support is required at the Just-in-Time stage before an award is issued and again as an attachment to each Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR), so it has to stay current at multiple points across the life of an award, not just once at the start.

Do Other Significant Contributors need to submit Other Support?

No. Other Significant Contributors (OSCs) commit no measurable effort of their own and submit a Biosketch instead; Other Support is required only for PD/PIs and other senior/key personnel with measurable effort on the project.

What happens if a foreign resource is disclosed late, or is found during an audit rather than self-reported?

NIH treats a late or audit-discovered disclosure as a potential compliance finding, not a routine correction — it can trigger a request for additional documentation, a referral to the Office of Extramural Research Integrity, and in some cases a hold on funding until the record is corrected and re-certified.

Does a zero-dollar in-kind resource, like free lab space at a foreign institution, still need to be disclosed?

Yes. Other Support explicitly covers in-kind resources — space, equipment, personnel time — with no dollar value attached, alongside financial support; a $0 line item is still a disclosable resource if it is real and ongoing.

Is the Other Support Common Form the same across every NIH institute?

Yes, for the form’s structure and certification language, since the Common Form standardizes those elements NIH-wide as of due dates and RPPRs on or after May 25, 2025 (NOT-OD-24-163). Individual institutes may still request supplemental documentation case by case when a disclosed foreign activity raises follow-up questions.

References

• NIH NOT-OD-21-073 (2021); NIH Grants Policy Statement.