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News & Updates: July 17, 2025

NOAs from National Institutes of Health

Northwestern began receiving Notices of Awards (NOAs) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The week of July 7th we received nearly 100 NOAs, and they have continued through this week at a steady pace. The NOAs include continuations (67 as of July 16), revisions, and some new awards. Sponsored Research is working through new NOAs as quickly as possible, so faculty and staff in departments can be made aware of these positive updates. If you receive an award ancillary review, please respond promptly to help the team stay on top of these awards, especially with the fiscal year end coming up. 

➤ Reminder: NIH funding at Northwestern is still operating under the cost reduction principles outlined in Interim Guidance Support for Research

NIH Subaward Update

 Subawards Granted an Exception

  • Subaward exceptions under an NIH award that have received continuation funding will be handled by issuing a federal subcontract, following standard procedures.
  • Subaward exceptions that have not received a continuation NOA from NIH are still being worked through. We will share further guidance as soon as possible. Until further notice, units should not submit AMRs for this purpose.

Subawards Issued a Stop Work Order effective June 20, 2025

If a continuation NOA is received for a subaward currently under a stop work order, Sponsored Research will not generate amendments. Once the pause is lifted, CERES amendments will be issued for units to complete and submit to Sponsored Research. If you received an amendment in CERES for a subaward under a stop work order, it may have been sent in error. Please discard the CERES record.

New NSF Research Security Requirement

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently announced updates to its research security policy.  Beginning October 10, 2025, NSF will require certification that research security training has been completed by covered individuals on proposals within 12 months preceding a grant/contract application submission. Principal Investigators (PIs) and Senior/Key Personnel are always designated as Covered Individuals under NSF guidelines. While already implemented by the Department of Energy, we expect this requirement to expand to all federal submissions at some point in 2025.

Notice to Faculty about the New Training Requirement

NSF awardees were notified about the new training requirement earlier this week. The message directed faculty to complete Northwestern’s customized one-hour training module via  myHRLearn, which fulfills NSF compliance and is also accepted by other federal agencies.

Training Compliance Required for NSF Proposal Submission

Starting October 10, 2025, all key personnel must complete the required research security training before an NSF proposal can be submitted. Proposals will not be submitted if this training is incomplete. Prior to submitting the proposal record to SR for review, Research Administrators must verify: 

  • Covered individuals have completed the training per sponsor and solicitation guidelines
  • LOI's from participating subsites contain an attestation signed by an institutional official that the training has been completed by covered individuals

➤ Reminder: Administrators can use the Research Security Training Lookup Tool to verify if NU personnel have completed the training (VPN login required.)

➤ More information: Research Security website

Prespending Under Interim Funding Quick Reference

To support the recent “Advance and At-Risk Process Changes” outlined in the SR News & Updates (June 16, 2025), Sponsored Research (SR) has introduced a helpful new tool: the Prespending Under Interim Funding Quick Reference. This chart-style guide simplifies the advance and at-risk request process by mapping out the required documentation for SR approval, submission method, and chartstring for each “prespending” type. It's designed to save time and reduce confusion for researchers and administrators navigating interim funding scenarios.

NIH Progress Report Follow Up

As the Federal fiscal year end approaches, agencies are sending many requests for progress report follow up. These include effort and budget clarifications, publication compliance issues, and compliance items related to human subjects/clinical trial information.  SR will forward these to the departments and place the relevant CERES record into JIT status for tracking. We appreciate your assistance in resolving these inquiries as quickly as possible, with the hope that it will result in awards being released. Please note:

✅ What Sponsored Research Does

  • Invention Statement Sign-Off
    Sponsored Research (SR) signs off on invention statements. However, Principal Investigators (PIs) must first work with INVO on disclosures. SR can only report inventions that have been disclosed to INVO.
    ➤ Contact: SponsoredResearch@northwestern.edu for invention reporting assistance.
  • Human Subjects Data Updates in ASSIST
    SR serves as the Business Official to sign off on human subjects data updates in ASSIST. When updates are made, please notify SponsoredResearch@northwestern.edu to confirm submission.

 ❌ What Sponsored Research Does NOT Do

  • Clinical Trial Updates
    SR does not handle clinical trial updates. Refer to NUCATS documentation on how to use ClinicalTrials.gov.
  • Public Access Compliance
    SR is not responsible for public access compliance. While SR can flag warnings during RPPR validation, a Public Access PRAM is always required to verify non-compliant publications.
    ➤ Action: Work with the Assistant SRO who submitted the RPPR to submit the PRAM in Commons.
  • Effort/Other Support Monitoring
    SR does not review Other Support (OS) documents for detailed effort requirements.
    ➤ Reminder: Departments must monitor compliance, especially regarding prior approval for effort reductions and any minimum effort noted in the NOA.

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