Principal Investigators Guide
Award Negotiation
Pre-Award Costs
- Some sponsors authorize spending up to 90 days prior to an award to the University being finalized.
- The Principal Investigator (P.I.) must request pre-award costs by filling out the University Prior Approval Request Form.
- ORSP Project Administrators will contact the sponsor and get University approval before setting up a fund with a 90 day allocation of award costs.
Contract / Grant Negotiation
When a sponsoring entity has decided to provide support for a proposed effort, several types of award documents may be used between sponsors and recipients. Depending on the mission of the sponsor and the type of effort to be accomplished, the sponsor may determine any of the following types of awards to be appropriate.
- Contract (Fixed-Price, Cost-Reimbursement, etc.)
- Grant
- Cooperative Agreement
- Purchase Order
- Letter Contract
- Check (Advance Payment)
NOTE: All Contracts must be reviewed by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, University Counsels Office, and Risk Management before signature.
In all, some level of negotiation may be required prior to acceptance to determine the:
1. activity being supported or procured.
2. period of performance.
3. amount of money or value to be provided.
4. terms and conditions that will govern the sponsored effort.
Most routine negotiations are handled quickly and require little strategy or planning, but the Principal Investigator is always a team member during all stages of the negotiation process.
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs is the responsible agent within the University for negotiation with external sponsors. Sponsored project awards are generally awarded to the institution, not the individual responsible for the technical aspects of the project.
The University goal for a good sponsored agreement promotes negotiation of an award that:
- Supports a successful project
- Minimizes risk
ORSP considers an award to be officially received when written notification is received from the sponsor. In the case of contracts or subcontracts, an award is not official until the contract has been fully signed/ executed by both parties to the agreement. In some cases, a grant award must be accepted by signing and returning the grant award notification. This signature must be completed by one of the authorized signatories.
In most cases, ORSP receives the grant award notification from the sponsor. However, in some instances the grant award notification is sent directly to the PI. The PI must provide this grant award notification to ORSP for review, acceptance and setup of grant and fund.
1. A new grant number is assigned and entered into BANNER.
2. A new fund is set up with the budget allocated according to the sponsor’s awarded budget or proposed budget if no changes were made by the sponsor.
3. The proposal is incorporated into the official grant document file.
4. The following documentation is distributed to the PI and Departmental Administrator:
- A copy of the original award letter
- Budget breakdown
