Updates from Sponsored Programs to BU’s research community.

Proposal Summary Form (PSF) Updates

Sponsored Programs has released an updated Proposal Summary Form (PSF). Summary of Changes Addition of a Voluntary Uncommitted Cost Share type field to be used for CRC NIH training/fellowship grants only. Language surrounding specialized IT requirements has been updated under the Other section. This includes updating the email addresses to be used for both CRC […]

FRED 101 Training Session on July 24, 2025

We are excited to announce a new FRED 101 Training session designed specifically for new users of the Financial Research Expenditure Dashboard (FRED). This session will take place on Thursday, July 24th at 2:00 PM via Zoom. FRED is a powerful tool that supports grant management by providing real-time access to financial data, projections, and […]

New Annual Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program Certification for PIs/Co-PIs in Research.gov

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has released a new annual certification requirement for Principal Investigators (PIs) and co-Principal Investigators (co-PIs) regarding Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs (MTFRP). Details of the new policy are below. Starting on June 7, 2025, in accordance with the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) Chapter II.D.1.e(ii), […]

Memo: Lab Animal Per Diem Rate Changes

TO: Boston University Deans, Department Chairs, Principal Investigators, Department Administrators, and Grant Administrators FROM: Thomas Bifano, Vice President and Associate Provost ad interim for Research Karen Antman, Medical Campus Provost and Dean, Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine DATE: May 29, 2025 SUBJECT: Lab Animal Per Diem Rate Changes Boston University is committed to efficiently […]

NIH Policy Update on Foreign Subawards

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released an update to its policy on foreign subawards. In summary, NIH will not issue awards to domestic or foreign entities (new, renewal or non-competing continuation), that include a subaward to a foreign entity effective May 1, 2025. Additionally, NIH will no longer accept prior approval requests to […]

NIH Automatic NCE Link Removed in eRA Commons

On May 7, National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that they have temporarily disabled the No-Cost Extension (NCE) functionality in eRA Commons. Details of the notice in full are below. “This notice alerts the extramural community that NIH has temporarily disabled the No-Cost Extension functionality in eRA Commons. The Director of NIH has directed NIH […]

Memo: Enhancing Participant Privacy and Confidentiality

TO: Boston University Faculty, Staff and Graduate Students FROM: The Charles River Campus Institutional Review Board DATE: May 6, 2025 SUBJECT: Enhancing Participant Privacy and Confidentiality Recent federal actions and proposals have raised new concerns about privacy among Boston University researchers and research participants. During this time of transition, the BU Charles River Campus Institutional […]

NSF F&A Update and Guidance

Update for planned proposals to NSF as of 5/15/2025: As the NSF 15% F&A cap is being challenged in court, we learned that NSF will not reject outright any new proposals submitted to NSF at negotiated F&A rates simply because they do not comply with the new rate cap policy. Therefore, we are lifting the […]

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