Many NIH grants involve either a domestic organization with a foreign subcontract, or a foreign organization with a domestic subcontract. While the following guidance is applicable to all consortium arrangements, it is particularly useful in situations involving international collaborations.
- Policy requirements “flow down”. A domestic institution administering a subcontract to a foreign institution must assure NIH that it is holding its collaborator to the policies required for foreign institutions. Likewise, if the foreign grantee is the primary grantee, it must assure NIH that its American collaborator is following all the policies required for U.S. institutions.
- Prior to beginning work, the parent grantee and subcontracting organization should:
- Develop and implement a written subcontract agreement,
- Develop a schedule and method for payments,
- Set up communication systems to ensure that progress reports, financial status reports, etc. are completed in a timely manner.
While NIH will not ask to see the subcontract agreement directly, a letter of support from the subcontract organization is typically included in applications.
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