General Guiding Principles

Revised 1/29/03

This is the "better check before you do it" list

1. The Principal Investigator must be an employee with an appointment to the University of Utah, and not another university, agency, or institution.
2. All proposals must be reviewed by the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) prior to submission to a potential sponsor.
3. Proposals will be accepted less than 24 hours prior to the deadline at the discretion of the Director of OSP. OSP should be given 3 days to review the proposal.
4. Proposals that significantly deviate from sponsor requirements are likely to be returned without review.
5. Federal funds may not be used to procure additional federal funds, including funds for lobbying activities.
6. State funds will very likely include federal flow-through or block grant funds. The funds then, must be treated as federal funds.
7. OSP will provide the agreed-upon F&A rates for various State agencies.
8. The PI is responsible for mailing proposals unless other arrangements have been made.
9. Doing both consulting work for a private industry sponsor and accepting a grant or contract from the same sponsor is a potential conflict of interest. The Vice President for Research must approve such arrangements.
10. Cost sharing, including matching funds must be accounted for in restricted projects funds. If the award is federal, the matching funds become "federal" (i.e. federal expenditure regulations apply).
11. All Recharge Centers must be established in accordance with procedures of the University of Utah Governmental Accounting Office.
12. Use of facilities, instruments, or personnel by industry in more than a minimal or incidental use requires Chair, Dean, Vice President for Research, and/or Vice President Administrative Services approval.
13. A cognizant Vice President is the only person with the authority to approve F&A waivers.
14. Research support from industry, including clinical investigations cannot be considered a gift.
15.  The Institutional Review Board (IRB), not the PI, must make the determination regarding whether or not a project requires IRB approval.
16. OSP is responsible for carrying out all contract negotiations (except Statements of Work).
17. The Director of OSP is the authorized signatory for the University.
18. Intellectual property (including laboratory notebooks) are the property of the University unless otherwise specified by policy.
19. Funds should be expended as budgeted unless otherwise approved by the sponsor through OSP.
20. Restricted funds can never be diverted to support departmental expenses.
21. Funds allocated for one research project cannot be used to fund expenses on another project.
22. Program income must be reported to OSP and the sponsor.
23. Sale of products requires filing of tax forms and payment of sales and/or UBIT taxes.
24. Only the salaries and expenses that are budgeted and approved in the awarded project may be charged to that project.
25. Sponsors must be notified if the PI or Co-PI is absent from the university (including sabbaticals) for more than 90 days PRIOR to their absence.
26. If unallowable costs are incurred, the sponsor, during an audit, may subsequently disallow them. These will be charged to the college/department.
27. It is the responsibility of the PI to ensure total completion of project, including deliverables, unless written release is received from the sponsor.
28. Submission of a thesis or dissertation as a final report (other than funds for graduate student support) is acceptable only with sponsor approval.
29. Late final reports can result in barring the PI, Co-PI and other University investigators from receiving new funds from the sponsoring agency.