[Isl] Fwd: NIH Is Replacing Letters of Support with Letters of Collaboration

[Zhe He]

Hi all,

Please see the forwarded info about NIH new policy on letters of collaboration.

Best
Zhe

Begin forwarded message:

From: Julia Sheffler <julia.sheffler at med.fsu.edu>
Date: July 29, 2026 at 9:46:15 AM EDT
To: Zhe He <Zhe.He at cci.fsu.edu>
Subject: FW: NIH Is Replacing Letters of Support with Letters of Collaboration


This may be useful to share with ISL as well

Julia L. Sheffler, PhD, ABPP
Assistant Professor
Center for Translational Behavioral Science
Florida State University College of Medicine

From: Sara Green <sara.green at med.fsu.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2026 8:23 AM
To: Sylvie Naar <sylvie.naar at med.fsu.edu>; Karen MacDonell <karen.macdonell at med.fsu.edu>; Scott Pickett <scott.pickett at med.fsu.edu>; Nicole Ennis <nicole.ennis at med.fsu.edu>; Jason Chapman <jason.chapman at med.fsu.edu>; Ivan Balan <Ivan.Balan at med.fsu.edu>; Laura Reid Marks <laura.reidmarks at med.fsu.edu>; Julia Sheffler <julia.sheffler at med.fsu.edu>; Rebecca Giguere <rebecca.giguere at med.fsu.edu>; Amy Hall <amy.hall at med.fsu.edu>; Prince Addo <prince.addo at med.fsu.edu>; Sherelle Harmon <sharmon at psy.fsu.edu>
Cc: Brenda Echeverri Alvarado <brenda.echeverri at med.fsu.edu>; Grace Sanders <grace.sanders at med.fsu.edu>
Subject: NIH Is Replacing Letters of Support with Letters of Collaboration

Hi,

Beginning with Forms J (FY 2027), NIH will eliminate traditional Letters of Support and replace them with Letters of Collaboration. These letters must be limited to confirming a collaborator’s specific role or material contribution (e.g., sharing resources or materials), may not contain endorsements of the application, and are limited to 100 words; applications that continue to include traditional support letters after implementation may be returned without review.

See language and link below:

"With the implementation of Forms J in Fiscal Year 2027, the NIH will no longer allow letters of support but will instead require letters of collaboration to document any collaborative relationships with individuals that are not identified in the application as senior/key personnel or other significant contributors. Because senior/key personnel and other significant contributors must provide biosketches in the application, letters of collaboration from them are unnecessary and burdensome. Letters of collaboration will also be used to document other relevant contributions to the 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. Letters of collaboration should not be provided from trainees or staff in the laboratory of the Program Director/Principal Investigator(s), including graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and technicians. When Forms J are implemented, applicants should disregard any NOFO-specific instructions regarding content pertaining to Letters of Support as those instructions will be superseded by the new guidance. Applications that continue to include letters of support after the implementation date may be returned without review.

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."

For training grant applications, applicants will use a separate form to upload the Institutional Commitment Letter. This process will be described in the Forms J instructions.

NIH will revise the application forms along with instructions to replace "Letters of Support" with "Letters of Collaboration." Further details will be issued prior to implementation."



https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-26-094.html<https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgrants.nih.gov%2Fgrants%2Fguide%2Fnotice-files%2FNOT-OD-26-094.html&data=05%7C02%7Cisl%40lists.fsu.edu%7C50cb810a7c9f4f0d68a508deee7db222%7Ca36450ebdb0642a78d1b026719f701e3%7C0%7C0%7C639210420772159753%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ap%2FpBz16%2BjHRjq2m%2F5DjZhERHhONHgu4vxYOpGkZ8EU%3D&reserved=0>


Sara K. Shaw Green, MSW

 Assistant Director

Center for Translational Behavioral Science

Florida State University College of Medicine

http://ctbs.fsu.edu<https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fctbs.fsu.edu%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cisl%40lists.fsu.edu%7C50cb810a7c9f4f0d68a508deee7db222%7Ca36450ebdb0642a78d1b026719f701e3%7C0%7C0%7C639210420772182157%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=4uk0QWFrCgRxO4OKT7ciW98jHM8Nce432bHm7Aqtc24%3D&reserved=0>

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