Other Support

The updated federal Current and pending (other) support Common Form will be "used to assess the capacity or any conflicts of commitment that may impact the ability of the individual to carry out the research effort as proposed.  The information also helps assess any potential scientific and budgetary overlap/duplication with the project being proposed."

A Conflict of Commitment is a situation in which an individual accepts or incurs conflicting obligations between or among multiple employers or other entities.  A Conflict of Commitment occurs when a University Employee's Outside Activity interferes with, or could interfere with, their obligations to the University of Arizona.  Conflicts of Commitment relate to an individual's distribution of time and effort between their full-time duties as a University Employee or University research responsibilities and their responsibilities resulting from Outside Activities, University resource allocation, use of University assets, intellectual property protection and potential for conflicts of interest.

"Many organizational policies define conflicts of commitment as conflicting commitments of time and effort, including obligations to dedicate time in excess of organizational or research agency policies or commitments.  Other types of conflicting obligations - including obligations to improperly share information with, or to withhold information from, an employer or research agency - can also threaten research security and integrity, and are an element of a broader concept of conflicts of commitment."

Other Support refers to:

1. all resources made available, or expected to be made available, to an individual in support of the individual's research and development efforts, regardless of (1) whether the source is foreign or domestic; (2) whether the resource is made available through the entity applying for a research and development award or directly to the individual; or (3) whether the resource has monetary value; and
2. includes in-kind contributions requiring a commitment of time and directly supporting the individual's research and development efforts, such as the provision of office or laboratory space, equipment, supplies, employees, or students.

This term has the same meaning as the term Other Support as applied to researchers in NSPM-33.

For researchers, Other Support includes all resources made available to a researcher in support of and/or related to all of their professional R&D efforts, including resources provided directly to the individual rather than through the research organization, and regardless of whether or not they have monetary value (e.g., even if the support received is only in-kind, such as office/laboratory space, equipment, supplies, or employees).  This includes resource and/or financial support from all foreign and domestic entities, including but not limited to, financial support for laboratory personnel, and participation of student and visiting researchers supported by other sources of funding.