Important reminder regarding National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy on foreign components associated with COBRE-supported activities.
Under the current NIH Grants Policy, foreign components are not allowed to be associated with COBREs. The NIH Grants Policy Statement defines a foreign component as any significant scientific element or segment of a project conducted outside of the United States or involving a researcher affiliated with a foreign organization, regardless of whether grant funds are used.
Examples of activities that may be considered significant and meet the definition of a foreign component include:
- Collaboration with investigators at foreign institutions that may result in co-authorship
- Use of facilities or instrumentation located outside of the United States
- Receipt of financial support or other resources from a foreign entity
- Data collection activities conducted internationally
This means publications arising from COBRE core services, projects, or other IDeA-supported research activities must comply with NIH and NIGMS requirements governing authorship and funding acknowledgment. Foreign use of COBRE core services must remain strictly fee-for-service. In publications involving foreign recipients of core services, the core services may be acknowledged by name, but the award number may not be cited, COBRE core staff may not be listed as co-authors, and COBRE funds may not be used to support activities that constitute a foreign component under NIH policy, regardless of whether any resulting publication acknowledges the award.
Investigators and users should review NIH guidance on acknowledging federal funding and consult the Office of Sponsored Programs before submission where foreign affiliations, authorship, or funding acknowledgment may be involved.