Letters of Collaboration to Replace Letters of Support

What's changing

Currently, letters of support for NIH applications may come from a variety of stakeholders, including collaborators, institutions, potential users of a resource, or any other interested parties, and can be a page or more in length.

In alignment with the format used by the National Science Foundation, NIH will replace letters of support with letters of collaboration which will be used to document 

• Collaborative relationships with individuals that are not identified in the application as senior/key personnel or other significant contributors. 
• Other relevant contributions to a project's success, such as Material Transfer Agreements

Letters designed to endorse the application without an intent to collaborate or provide material support will no longer be permitted in NIH grant applications.

Applicants for NIH training grants will be instructed to use a different field to upload the Institutional Commitment Letter currently included with Letters of Support. 

Letters of Collaboration format

Letters of collaboration should be limited to stating the intent to collaborate or provide material support as described in the application and should not contain endorsements or additional information about or evaluations of the proposed project. An individual letter of collaboration must not exceed 100 words.

NIH encourages applicants to use the following single-sentence format for letters of collaboration.

• For all applications except for fellowships:
  • "If the application submitted by [Organization Name and with PD/PI Name] as Program Director/Principal Investigator entitled [Grant Application Title] is selected for funding by NIH, it is my intent to collaborate and/or commit resources as detailed in the application."
• For fellowship applications:
  • "If the fellowship application submitted by [Fellow Name] entitled [Fellowship Application Title] is selected for funding by NIH, it is my intent to collaborate and/or commit resources as detailed in the application."

When will the changes take effect

To facilitate a smooth transition, we will align our move from letters of support to setters of collaboration with a future form update when attachment field labels and instruction changes can be implemented. Implementation is expected before the end of FY 2028. Details will be shared with the community through Notices of NIH Policy Changes and on our Implementation of New Initiatives and Policies page.

These future plans do not impact current (FORMS-I) applications. Applicants must continue to follow current NOFO and application guide instructions until additional guidance is issued.