Below are the instructions for completing an NIH grant transfer from your current institution to your new institution. You will have to coordinate the relinquishing date from the originating awardee institution and the start date of the grant at the new institution.
If transferring out of UMass, you must follow the steps as outlined on the Transfer of Grants. https://www.umass.edu/research/awards/administration/transfer-grants page and then also follow the instructions below. Coordination with the Controller’s Office is needed for the generation of the relinquishing statement.
If you are transferring to UMass from another institution, it is important that prior to your appointment, the department or college business manager work with you to gain access to electronic systems needed to process your transfer request (scroll to criteria #3; Non-Employees or Pending Employees). The business manager in the department or at the college level will guide you through the University proposal process, assist with development of the transfer request, and develop the budget according to the University requirements for NIH funding.
Questions on the transfer process can be directed to the NIH proposal staff contact at OPAS.
From the Current Grantee Institution
Official Statement Relinquishing Interests and Rights in a PHS Research Grant is submitted via electronic Research Administration Commons (eRA Commons). The transfer application cannot be processed until this form has been submitted. This form provides the effective date of relinquishment, estimated unexpended Direct and Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs (funds from previous budget periods should not be included in these amounts), and a list of equipment costing $5,000 or more transferring with the project.
Relinquishing Statement Resources:
- Overview of Basic Tasks
- FAQs on Change of Institution/Relinquishing Statement (Type 7)
- Relinquishing Statement User Guide
Form HHS 568, Final Invention Statement and Certification. While this form is not required until 90 days after the project terminates, it is desirable to submit it with the transfer request documents.
Standard Form 425, Financial Status Report (FFR). The FFR must be submitted by the original awardee institution within 90 days following termination of the project.
Unobligated funds must be reflected as carryover in the required carryover field of the FSR in order for the funds to be available to the PI for expenditure at the new institution. These funds will be issued to the new institution after the change of institution application is submitted and awarded by the NIH.
From the Proposed New Institution
Contact the NIH Grants Management Specialist (GMS) assigned to the existing award in order to confirm the next steps, although generally they will not diverge from the steps noted below:
The proposed new institution should begin preparing its transfer application (detailed below) to submit as soon as possible (prior to the date on the relinquishing statement). This is especially true if the grantee is planning to transfer to an organization that has not previously received NIH support—the transfer will take longer to complete once it is approved because the proposed organization will need an established EIN and possibly an FWA, animal assurance, and IRB or IACUC approvals. The University of Massachusetts Amherst has a current EIN and FWA registration, but accommodations should be made for IRB/IACUC review and approval as applicable.
For instructions on how to complete an electronic change of institution application, please visit the NIH Parent Announcement website and scroll to the bottom of the webpage for “Change of Grantee Organization (Type 7 Parent Clinical Trial Optional)” – currently this is PA-18-590.
Be sure to always follow the instructions provided by the NIH Grants Management Specialist (GMS) if they diverge from the NIH Parent Announcement for Change of Grantee Organization applications.
UMass Specific: for change of institution applications being submitted by UMass on behalf of incoming faculty, the proposal should be built in the University’s electronic proposal administration system using the Program Announcement noted above.
The electronic application from the proposed grantee institution should include, at a minimum, the following information:
- SF 424 (R&R) Cover Page
Field 4.a. (Federal Identifier) populate with the institute and serial number of the grant (e.g. CA987654)
Field 8 (Type of Application), select “Revision” and then mark “E. Other” and insert “Change of Grantee Organization” in the text field
- PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement
Complete applicable fields
- SF 424 (R&R) Other Project information
Human Subjects section: Provide the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) assurance number and IRB approval for the new organization, if applicable
Vertebrate Animals section: Provide the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) assurance number and IACUC approval for the new organization, if applicable
Facilities & other Resources: Include probable effect of the move on the project
Equipment: Include detailed list of any equipment purchased with grant funds to be transferred to the new organization (inclusion of this list in the transfer application from the new organization indicates its acceptance of title to that equipment);
- SF 424 (R&R) Project/Performance Site Location(s)
- SF 424 Research & Related Senior/Key Person Profile:
Updated biographical sketches for the PD/PI and existing senior/key personnel and biographical sketches for any proposed new senior/key personnel, and updated "Other Support" page(s) as necessary – if there are changes since last reporting. https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/othersupport.htm
- R&R Budget Form
The R&R Detailed Budget form must be used, regardless of the form used for the initial application for current award for all research and career mechanisms.
The budget should be based on the direct costs relinquished by the original grantee organization, unless otherwise instructed by the awarding IC. On top of that, budget the F&A costs at the new institution’s rates. The budget is not typically constrained by the amount of F&A awarded originally.
Even if the budget for the original award was submitted in a modular format, the R&R Detailed Budget form must be used for an electronic application for change of grantee organization. For these modular budget based awards, grantees may either complete all of the fields in the R&R Detailed Budget as appropriate or, they may complete only the costs for the PD/PI (Section A), and include the remainder of the direct costs under Section F (Other Direct Costs) Item 8, and Section H (Indirect Costs).
UMass Specific: If a detailed budget is not provided due to it being modular, a detailed budget must be routed with the other materials for internal review purposes.
Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA). It is advisable for change of institution applications to forgo using COLAs since in the past when utilized, the NIH will sometimes opt for level funding salaries & fringe, but keep all other direct costs as proposed if cuts were built in at budgeting stage to accommodate increases to labor.
- PHS Research Plan Form
Include a statement indicating whether the overall research plans/aims have changed from the original submission. If the overall research plans/aims have changed, provide updated information.
If the overall research plans/aims have not changed, load the original research plans/aims to the change of institution proposal.
If transferring on the anniversary date, include the progress report for the current year that includes a statement regarding the goals for the upcoming year.
If transferring during the budget period (i.e., a mid-year transfer), contact the awarding IC to determine if a progress report is required. If required, the progress report should be included in the Research Strategy section.
UMass specific: if the research plans/aims do not change as a result of the change of institutions, provide a copy of the Specific Aims and Research Strategy from the original awarded proposal. Please route along with the other materials. This is for internal purposes only.
Other considerations for faculty transferring to UMass
Affiliation of Commons ID to UMass needed. Contact the OPAS Pre-award team member handling the NIH portfolio.