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Institutional Reporting

Are you an institutional official who needs to report that an individual identified as PD/PI or other Senior/Key personnel has been removed from their position or otherwise disciplined due to concerns about harassment, bullying, retaliation or hostile working conditions? Learn how to report the action and what happens when you do. Note, the procedures below are effective July 9, 2022. See NOT-OD-22-129

Standard Procedure

flow chart process described on page

  1. Authorized Organization Official of recipient institution notifies NIH within 30 days of disciplinary action being taken. Notifications must include, at a minimum:
    • The name of the Authorized Organization Representative submitting the notification
    • The name of the individual of concern
    • A description of the concerns
    • The action(s) taken
    • Any anticipated impact on the NIH-funded award(s).

  2. NIH's Office of Extramural Research (OER) assesses the report, checking for whether:

    1. Staff are key personnel on an NIH-funded grant
    2. If NIH-funded grants are involved
    3. Whether the person of concern is involved in and should be removed from peer review service


    Notification is done via this web form
    Notify NIH

  3. OER may reach out to the institution to better understand
    1. If an institutional investigation commenced; if there was a finding
    2. The impact, if any, on NIH research
    3. If any identified risks to research staff and/or students have been mitigated
    4. Actions taken and safeguards that have been put in place
    5. Other factors and actions relevant to the allegation
  4. Appropriate actions are taken to ensure NIH-funded research is occurring in a safe environment. These actions may include, but are not limited to:
    1. Coordinating with funding NIH Institute on necessary grants management actions, which may include requesting the recipient institution identify a replacement principal investigator on the award
    2. Holding pending awards associated with the PI of concern while compliance issues are resolved
    3. Declining to approve requests to transfer grants involving the PI to another institution
    4. Requiring special reporting requirements from the institution
    5. Requiring follow-ups with institutions to ensure issues have been fully addressed

This page last updated on: May 10, 2022

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