Questions and Answers Table of Contents
Where can I find information for international
grantees and applicants?
Check the International Grants
and Contracts section of the NIAID
Research Funding Web site for resources, funding links, and contact
information. Also see the Foreign and International Grants and Components SOP and Foreign
Workers on NIH Awards SOP as well as Does NIH Fund Foreign Institutions and Investigators? and Foreign Applications
Have an Extra Review Step in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.
Where can I learn about working
on a grant as a non-U.S. citizen?
The Foreign
Workers on NIH Awards SOP has information for non-U.S. citizens.
Do I need U.S. affiliation or citizenship to
be a grantee or PI?
No. You don't need U.S. affiliation or citizenship to become a grantee
or PI. Find out more at Part 1. Qualifying for a Grant the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.
Do I need U.S. affiliation or citizenship
to be a trainee on a training grant or receive a career award or fellowship?
Yes, with one exception: the K99/R00.
For all other career development awards and training
grants, you
must be a U.S. citizen, a noncitizen national, or a permanent resident
with a valid Alien
Registration Receipt Card (a "green card") at
the time of award. For more information, check our Tutorial for Training and Career Awards, Fellowships, and Supplements.
Does visa status affect my ability to work on an NIH grant?
See the Foreign Workers on NIH Awards SOP for more information.
Are H-1B visa holders eligible
to apply for R01s and R03s, or is it necessary to have a
residency card?
Investigators who have an H-1B
visa are eligible, but it must allow
them to stay in the U.S. long enough to complete their project.
The sponsoring applicant institution is responsible for ensuring that
the PI has an appropriate visa. For more information, see the Foreign
Workers on NIH Awards SOP as well as Part 1. Qualifying for a Grant.
Can foreign applicants succeed in obtaining an NIH grant?
Yes. Foreign applicants can and do succeed in obtaining an NIH grant. They should offer expertise or resources not available here. For more information, see Foreign Applications
Have an Extra Review Step in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.
Do foreign organizations have additional registration steps for electronic applications?
Yes. Foreign organizations
must obtain a NATO
Commercial and Government Entity code in addition to an Employer
ID Number (EIN) and a DUNS
number.
The organization's business office registers for these numbers, not the principal investigator.
For more information on registering, see the following:
As a principal investigator, may I register my organization for an Employer
ID Number, a DUNS number, or other accounts?
No, not as a principal investigator. Your institutional business official should register for an Employer
ID Number (EIN), a DUNS number, or other accounts such as the eRA Commons.
However, your organization may decide to make you the institutional business official. In that role, you may register your organization.
Learn more about registration above at Do foreign organizations have additional registration steps for electronic applications?
If I'm applying
from a foreign institution, do I need to indicate
this on the application?
Yes.
Both
paper
and electronic
applications
have a checkbox for foreign institutions and domestic institutions
with a foreign component.
For more information, see the Applicants section
of the Foreign and International Grants
and Components SOP.
Are foreign
companies eligible for Small Business Innovation Research grants?
No. To
be eligible for an SBIR grant, a
company must have majority ownership by U.S. citizens
or permanent resident aliens, and conduct all the research
funded by the grant in the U.S. This condition makes subsidiaries of
foreign companies ineligible unless they are majority owned by U.S.
citizens.
For more information on small business awards, see Advice on NIH SBIR
and STTR Applications and Small
Business Awards questions and answers.
What is different about the review of foreign applications?
In
addition to standard review criteria, peer
reviewers look for additional information in foreign applications,
such as whether they can provide expertise or resources
that
can't
be found in the U.S. For further details, read Foreign Applications
Have an Extra Review Step in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal.
For second-level
review, NIAID must present foreign applications as special
issues to our advisory
Council. See the Special
Issues Requiring Council Review SOP for more information.
Who can and cannot work with sensitive materials?
For a list of restricted persons, see the Foreign Workers on NIH Awards SOP.
Do foreign applications involving select agent
research have a special review and approval process?
Yes. Read the Select Agent Awards SOP for an overview. For a more detailed
look, go to the Procedure
for New and Continuing Grants that Include Foreign Institutions and
the NIAID Select Agent Policy for
Foreign Institutions questions and
answers page.
Does an American citizen living in a foreign country
have a better chance of being funded than a foreigner?
No. Being an American citizen in a foreign country does not give
you an advantage since funding decisions are based on the quality
of your application.
Are foreign institutions eligible to receive money
for alterations and renovations?
Yes. With prior approval from NIAID, alterations
and renovations are
an allowable cost for foreign grants. Note that the Grants Policy Statement still lists alternations and renovations as not allowable.
Are there special budget requirements for applications from foreign institutions?
Yes. NIH announced a requirement for detailed
budgets in the August
23, 2006, Guide notice.
Foreign institutions may use an
F&A rate of up to 8 percent. Read more in the March
29, 2001, Guide notice.
Should foreign PIs use salary caps?
Yes. For further details on caps, go to our Salaries and Stipends questions and answers.
Will NIH funding support foreign postdoctoral
fellows?
Foreign postdoc fellows may work on NIH-funded research grants, but
they may not work on an NRSA fellowship or training grant.
According to the NIH
Grants Policy Statement, PIs and others supported
by NIH research grants are usually not required to be U.S. citizens,
though some programs have citizenship requirements.
Check the program announcement or request for applications to be sure.
If you plan to work with select agents, see Foreign
Workers on NIH Awards SOP and Part 1. Qualifying for a Grant in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal
If I relocate to a new country, can I take NIH-funded equipment
with me?
Yes. If your grantee organization agrees, you may take the equipment to
a new site. Your organization needs to submit an Official
Statement Relinquishing Interests and Rights in a Public Health Service Grant
form (PHS 3734). Grants management and program staff will review the form, then send it
to the NIAID Advisory Council for approval.
Can I include my foreign collaborator as a co-PI on an NIH grant?
NIH allows awards to foreign investigators, so that part is not an issue. However, we do not use co-PIs.
We do have an option of a multiple PI approach, but we strongly suggest you get advice from an NIH program officer before writing a multiple-PI application. This approach is quite complex and has many requirements and caveats.
You can read more at Take Heed -- You Might Want to Avoid a Multiple PI Application in the NIH Grant Cycle: Application to Renewal and use NIAID's Contact Staff for Help to contact a program officer in your science area.
How does an international grantee receive funds?
NIH's Office of Financial Management pays international grants with U.S. Treasury checks in four equal installments. You may also receive funds through a direct deposit or wire transfer.
For more information, contact Joyce Lee.
What if my question wasn't answered here, or I'd like to suggest a question?
Email deaweb@niaid.nih.gov with the title of this page or its URL and your question or comment. We answer questions by email and post them here. Thanks for helping us clarify and expand our knowledge base. |
