Dear UC Irvine Research Community:
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced significant changes to the application and award structure for grants involving international collaborations (NOT-OD-25-155). NIH published an article yesterday, September 18th, stating that “effective for due dates on or after January 25, 2026, competing applications must be in response to a funding opportunity using a new grant type when requesting NIH funding for one or more foreign components.”
Key Changes
New Activity Codes Required:
- The new structure will leverage NIH’s multi-component or complex application package
- Applications with foreign components must now use PF5 (grants) or UF5 (cooperative agreements) activity codes
- International components will receive separate awards with RF2 or UL2 activity codes
Application Requirements:
- Primary applicant organization must be domestic
- Leadership must include at least one PD/PI from UC Irvine and one from each international partner
- Applications must be submitted to NOFOs supporting the new complex mechanism activity codes
Award Process:
- NIH will disaggregate funded applications, issuing separate awards to domestic and international organizations
- Each organization will be independently responsible for meeting their award terms and conditions
- Just-in-time documentation (IRB approvals, current/pending support) required from all organizations
Resources
NIH is developing additional resources, FAQs, and training materials for these new activity codes. Sponsored Projects will distribute updates as they become available.
Please reach out to Paul Lekutai at plekutai@uci.edu or me at warnerj@uci.edu if you have any questions.
Regards,
Jeff Warner
Senior Director, Sponsored Projects
Office of Research
University of California Irvine
949-824-7654