Direct recipients of NSF funding on or after May 20, 2024, which are institutions of higher education (IHE), as that term is defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)) are required to submit a Foreign financial Disclosure Report (FFDR). See Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) Chapter VII.D.3 for additional information.

Section 10339B of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 (42 U.S.C.§ 19040) requires that each “recipient institution of higher education” must annually report all “current financial support, the value of which is $50,000 or more, including gifts and contracts, received directly or indirectly from a foreign source” which is “associated with a foreign country of concern.” If a recipient has questions about whether they meet the definition of an institution of higher education under the Higher Education Act of 1965, they need to consult with their legal counsel.

No, this requirement applies only to direct recipients of NSF funding and does not include entities that receive subawards or individuals that are beneficiaries of the award.

The submission window to report foreign support from countries of concern (see PAPPG Chapter VII.D.3 for additional information) received between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024 opens July 1, 2024. While the PAPPG and Award Terms and Conditions stipulate that the Foreign Financial Disclosure Report (FFDR) is due on July 31, 2024, NSF is providing a one-time grace period for the initial report until September 3, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. (based on the submitting organization’s local time).

The submission window for each report year refers to support received from July 1st of the previous year to June 30 of the reporting year. For example, foreign support received between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, must be reported during the 2024 submission window.

Yes, a negative report is required. Any IHE that receives an award or funding amendment on an existing award on or after May 20, 2024, must submit an FFDR regardless of whether financial support in the value of $50,000 or more in gifts and contracts from a foreign country of concern was received.

Tuition payments for a specific student(s) are excluded from the reporting requirement. However, if tuition payment is received from a foreign source in the form of a grant, scholarship, or other form of financial aid that stipulates specific criterion (e.g., student’s country of origin, students with a particular major, students studying a particular language, etc.), but not for the benefit of a sole student, the payment is reportable when the cumulative threshold of $50,000 from a foreign source is met.

Tuition for non-matriculated students have the same reporting requirements as tuition for matriculated students, as listed above.

Multiyear gifts are only required to be reported in the first year the gift is received. Multiyear gifts are reportable only if the total across all years is greater than or equal to $50,000. The full gift amount must be reported in the first FFDR after receipt of the gift.

IHEs are only required to report the first year of the gift. If the gift was received before the reporting period, the IHE is not required to report the gift.

If the initial date of the contract is before the reporting period, the IHE is not required to disclose this contract. An IHE is only required to report a contract if the total across all years is greater than or equal to $50,000 and the contract was enacted during the reporting period.

Yes, gifts and contracts made to an international branch campus are required to be reported by the U.S IHE.

Every entity of an IHE, whether a campus of a multicampus IHE, or a school of the IHE (e.g., a medical school affiliated with an IHE), that has its own Unique Entity ID (UEI) should prepare its own FFDR submission.

An intermediary means an individual or legal entity other than an institution of higher education that receives a gift or contract from a foreign source and then passes part or all of the gift or contract to the institution of higher education.

If the gift or contract originates from a country of concern and the gift or contract passes through an intermediary from a non-country of concern, an IHE is required to report the gift or contract if it is greater than or equal to $50,000.

For example, if an IHE receives a gift from a european foundation but the source of the gift originates from a country of concern and is greater than or equal to $50,000, the IHE must list the source of the gift as the foreign source based in the country of concern, the country of attribution should be the country of concern, and the intermediary would the European foundation.

Individuals with the FFDR Preparer role can initiate and submit FFDRs using the Foreign Financial Disclosure Report (FFDR) page link included in the FFDR system-generated emails from NSF or by clicking the Foreign Financial Disclosure Report (FFDR) link under "Manage Financials" on the Research.gov   homepage after signing in.

The FFDR Preparer role is required to access the Foreign Financial Disclosure Report (FFDR) link on the Research.gov homepage. NSF assigned the FFDR Preparer role to all individuals with the Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) role effective on May 20, 2024 to assist the research community with the first reporting period for the new FFDR requirement. If you need the FFDR role, your Organizational Administrator can assign it to you. The FFDR role cannot be requested by users in Research.gov as can be done for other roles such as AOR or Other Authorized User (OAU).

To view your role(s):

• Sign into Research.gov  
• Select ‘My Profile’ at the top of the page and then ‘View My Roles’ from the left navigation bar

If you do not have the FFDR Preparer role and are required to submit a report, click ’See Org Contact(s)’ for a listing of Organizational Administrators and contact them to assign the FFDR Preparer role to you.

Yes, any user with the FFDR Preparer role and associated with the submitting organization can access, edit, or submit the report.

Users cannot request to add the FFDR Preparer role in Research.gov Account Management but can contact their Organizational Administrator to assign the FFDR Preparer role to them. As of May 20, 2024, the Foreign Financial Disclosure Report (FFDR) Preparer role is automatically selected when the Administrator assigns the AOR role to a user. Uncheck the FFDR Preparer role if the user should only have the AOR role and not the FFDR Preparer role. You can still assign the FFDR Preparer role to someone else within the organization.

Organizational Administrators can add the FFDR Preparer role for individuals within their organization on the View My Users Administrator Dashboard. Refer to the View My Users – Administrator Dashboard job aid   in the Account Management User Guide for step-by-step instructions with associated screenshots.

Organizational Administrators can remove an assigned FFDR Preparer role for individuals within their organization on the View My Users Administrator Dashboard. Refer to the View My Users – Administrator Dashboard job aid   in the Account Management User Guide for step-by-step instructions with associated screenshots.

No, NSF only assigned the FFDR Preparer role to individuals with the AOR role effective on May 20, 2024, to assist the research community with the first reporting period for the new FFDR requirement. NSF does not plan to assign the FFDR Preparer role to new AORs going forward, but Organizational Administrators can add or remove the role for individuals within their organizations at any time.

Only IHEs are subject to the disclosure requirement at this time and must have an individual with the FFDR Preparer role to prepare and submit the annual report. Organizational Administrators can add or remove the FFDR Preparer role for individuals within their organization on the View My Users Administrator Dashboard. Refer to the View My Users – Administrator Dashboard job aid   in the Account Management User Guide for step-by-step instructions with associated screenshots.

All FFDR preparers affiliated with the IHE will be sent a system-generated email notification on July 1, 2024, which is the start of the first reporting period. The email will be sent from the [email protected] email address.

Yes, FFDR preparers for IHEs required to report that have not yet submitted an FFDR will be sent a system-generated email notification reminder on July 24, seven days prior to the July 31st submission deadline.

In the first year only, there is a grace period until September 3, 2024 to submit reports. System-generated submission reminder emails will be sent to FFDR preparers for IHEs that have not submitted a required report on August 1st, August 14th, and August 18th.

All individuals with the FFDR Preparer role are sent the FFDR system-generated emails from the [email protected] email address. These include notification and reminder emails as well as submission confirmation emails.

Please contact the NSF IT Service Desk at 1 (800) 381-1532 (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM ET; Monday - Friday except federal holidays) or via email to [email protected] if you think that your IHE must submit a FFDR but you did not receive a system-generated email notification. If an IHE did not receive a new award or a funding amendment on or after May 20, 2024, the FFDR preparer will not receive a system-generated email notification to submit during the first reporting period which opens on July 1, 2024.

Effective May 20, 2024, all AORs were assigned the FFDR Preparer role. This is a new user role for preparing and submitting the required annual disclosure reports. Please contact your Organizational Administrator to remove the FFDR Preparer role if necessary.

Contact the Organizational Administrator of your previous organization to request that they remove your affiliation with the organization so you don't continue to receive FFDR system-generated emails.

All FFDR preparers affiliated with the IHE of the submitted report will receive a system-generated submission confirmation email. The email will be sent from the [email protected] email address.

All FFDR preparers affiliated with the IHE will receive a system-generated confirmation email when an in-progress report is deleted. The email will be sent from the [email protected] email address. Please note that submitted FFDRs in Research.gov cannot be deleted or withdrawn.

The "Create Report" button will be disabled in the following scenarios:

• A report has already been created for the IHE. Only one report can be created in Research.gov for each IHE registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and issued a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). If the IHE's in-progress FFDR is deleted in Research.gov, the "Create Report" button will be enabled again.
• The report submission window has closed.

No, the FFDR is specific to support received from a foreign country of concern as defined in the PAPPG (Introduction Chapter D.1.g.  ).

FFDR errors and warning messages can be viewed by clicking "Check Error(s) and Warning(s)" button under Report Actions. Automated compliance checks will be run, and a page will be generated to display any compliance validation errors or warnings triggered by the FFDR. The report can be saved, but any identified errors must be corrected in order to submit the report. You can submit the FFDR with warnings; however, that is not recommended.

An in-progress report can be deleted from the report main page by clicking the "Delete Report" button under Report Actions. Once an in-progress report is deleted, the data is permanently removed and cannot be retrieved. A submitted report cannot be deleted.

No. If the cumulative value of all gifts and contracts received from a foreign source does not equal or exceed $50,000, then it is not required to report them in Research.gov.

Upon review of a submitted report, NSF may request that copies be submitted of any contracts, agreements, or documentation of financial transactions associated with the submitted FFDR.

Foreign support that is received after July 31st of the current reporting year will be reported during the next year's submission window. For example, if an IHE receives foreign support on July 31, 2024, this support must be reported during the 2025 FFDR submission window.

A one-time grace period extension for the first reporting period is available for IHEs to submit the FFDR by September 3, 2024. Failure to submit timely reports will delay the processing of additional funding and administrative actions, including, but not limited to, no-cost extensions. In the case of continuing grants, failure to submit timely reports will delay processing of funding increments.

FFDR preparers can edit submitted reports in Research.gov up until the submission deadline when the submission window closes. Report updates are done in Research.gov by opening the report, making revisions, and then resubmitting it. After the report submission deadline, any modifications to submitted reports must be requested to NSF.

A submitted report can be viewed in Research.gov by clicking the "View Report" link on the report main page. After the submission period for the specified report has closed, the report can only be viewed in read-only mode and cannot be edited unless an amendment request has been granted.

While print functionality is not available in the FFDR portal, FFDR preparers can print the report from their browser.