NIH Updates

Recent changes to federal agency policies regarding foreign collaboration and research security have sparked many questions from the UC Davis research community. In particular, the PDS team has been fielding questions regarding how these changes impact ongoing and proposed projects, as well as steps that investigators need to take to be compliant with the new guidance. Here, we share answers and resources to address the most frequent questions regarding foreign collaborations and research security.  

In this Agency Update, you'll find information on:

Developing a strong grant proposal can take months of preparation. The UC Davis Proposal Development Services team recommends three to five months to develop a strong proposal. In the past year, however, funding opportunities with very short turnaround times – sometimes as little as 4 to 6 weeks! - have become the norm.  

In early 2026, most federal agencies updated their certification for biographical sketches and current and pending support documents, requiring that investigators: 

In early 2026, both National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced changes to the format and creation of their Data Management and Sharing Plans (DMS Plan). Here, we summarize how the changes will impact your proposal preparation and provide resources to help you prepare for the updated forms. 

NIH is requiring personnel documents for all submissions due May 8 and after to be created using the Common Form in SciENcv (NOT-OD-26-079). This affects proposals, RPPRs and JIT submissions. Details of the changes can be found in the original notice (NOT-OD-26-018).

• They look just as expected based on the Preview forms.
• All sections of the Common Form must have something entered in order for you to download a compliant form. 
• You can add formatting to narrative sections (Personal Statement and Contributions to Science) using HTML code.

NIH is requiring personnel documents for all submissions due May 8 and after to be created using the Common Form in SciENcv (

UPDATE: As of January 30, 2026 we are anticipating a partial federal government shutdown starting at midnight Friday Jan 30th.  If it happens, this partial shutdown will impact only Dept of Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, Defense, Transportation, Homeland Security, State, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development.  

Not impacted are NSF, NASA, NIST, NOAA, Dept of Commerce, DOE, and USDA. These agencies should continue operating as normal. 

IMPORTANT: Federal requirements continue to evolve, so if you have any questions regarding whether you need a foreign justification please reach out to the Sponsored Programs Office (SPO) at [email protected]. 

What is a foreign justification and why do I need one?

NIH recently announced a plan to limit PIs to submitting no more than 6 grant applications per calendar year, including new, renewal, resubmission or revision applications. What does that mean for UC Davis investigators?