Updated NIH Policy on Foreign Subawards
Memo sent to RAC 5/1/25
Dear Colleagues,
On May 1, 2025, NIH released NOT-OD-25-104, Updated NIH Policy on Foreign Subawards.
The new Policy states:
Effective with the date of this notice and until the details of the new foreign collaboration award structure are released, NIH will not issue awards to domestic or foreign entities (new, renewal or non-competing continuation), that include a subaward to a foreign entity. Additionally, NIH will no longer accept prior approval requests to add a new foreign component or subaward to an ongoing project. In all cases, NIH will allow Institutes, Centers and Offices (ICOs) 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 (domestic or foreign) or a domestic subrecipient. If a project is no longer viable without the foreign subaward, NIH will work with the recipient to negotiate a bilateral termination of the project, taking into consideration any need to support patient safety and/or animal welfare.
According to the notice, this will only apply prospectively to NIH grants and cooperative agreements (new, renewal and non-competing continuation) and existing awards will not be revised to remove foreign subawards at this time.
It is not yet clear how proposals that are being submitted to NIH now, but may not be awarded until after the new NIH structure is in place, will be handled if they include foreign subawards. SPA is attempting to receive clarification from NIH on this topic. For now, we suggest that researchers should discuss their proposals with foreign subawards with their Program Officers. If a proposal is submitted with a foreign subaward, researchers should be aware that they may need to rescope the project to remove the subaward or find a domestic subrecipient that could do the work in place of the foreign subrecipient.
If you receive communication from NIH regarding rescoping of a pending award, please let SPA know ASAP.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Jill
Jill A. Frankenfield
Associate Vice President, Sponsored Programs Administration