Office of Sponsored Programs - 200.03 - Principal Investigator Eligibility

Title

Office of Sponsored Programs - 200.03 - Principal Investigator Eligibility

Purpose

Given that sponsored research is at the core of the University’s mission, it is essential that highly qualified individuals are designated to serve in the role of Principal Investigator (PI) in a manner consistent with the Board of Governor’s policy regarding the appropriateness of University Research, and aligned with the University’s policy on ethics in research.

Policy Statement

In accordance with University eligibility policy, a faculty member is eligible to serve as a PI on externally sponsored projects if they have:

• a permanent EHRA faculty appointment and
• 0.75 to 1.0 Full-Time Equivalency (FTE) hours.

If a faculty member's FTE is between 0.50 and 0.74, the PI Eligibility Waiver Request Form must be approved and signed by the responsible dean, director, or department head/chair of the faculty member's appointing department.

If a faculty member's FTE is less than 0.50, the PI Eligibility Waiver Request Form must be approved and signed by the responsible dean, director, or department head/chair and sent to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) for approval. 

Each PI and member of the research team must still meet eligibility requirements of the external funding agency and are responsible for assuring deans, directors, and/or department heads that their University commitments will be sustained during the duration of the sponsored project. As a reminder, PIs, deans, directors, and department heads do not have the authority to enter into legal agreements on behalf of the University. All sponsored program agreements involving grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements must be signed by a University representative with institutional signature authority.

I. Multiple Principal Investigators

When two or more PIs are designated by the University for the responsibility of scientific, technical, scholarly, or artistic direction of sponsored projects, these PIs share equal, full authority and responsibility for the intellectual, administrative, and financial aspects of the proposal and award, consistent with applicable laws, regulations, terms, and conditions.

Appointing multiple PIs is appropriate only when the research project has the potential to maximize team science projects and multidisciplinary research. Instances of multiple PIs are often seen in such agencies as the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Regardless of the number of PIs, each is required to complete certification in RAMSeS for any proposal where s/he is named as a PI.

II. Limited Submissions

The University utilizes an internal selection process to identify and fairly judge among numerous investigators interested in submitting applications for sponsored projects that limit the number of proposals originating from the University. The Office of Research Development is responsible for the identification, alerts to the research community, and the selection process regarding limited submissions.

Exclusions

While the majority of eligible PIs are faculty members as described above, some research projects are conducted by PIs with different employee designations:

• Postdoctoral Fellows

  • Postdoctoral fellows ("postdocs") cannot be designated as lead PIs in RAMSeS and are not recognized in that capacity by the University. Instead, postdocs are designated as other project team roles under the oversight of an eligible full-time, permanent EHRA faculty member, who is named as the PI in RAMSeS and assumes the role of "mentor" to the postdoc. Although this may contradict cases where agencies allow a postdoc to serve as a lead PI, the University’s designation prevails for administrative purposes.

• Non-Faculty EHRA and SHRA Employees

  • In very exceptional circumstances, non-faculty EHRA and SHRA employees may serve as Lead PIs. A PI Eligibility Waiver Request Form must be approved and signed by the responsible dean, director, or department head/chair and sent to OSP for approval.

• PIs Transferring to UNC-CH

  • Deans, directors, or departmental heads may submit proposals in RAMSeS on behalf of a PI transferring from a different institution to the University. The proposal must be submitted directly from the dean, director, or department head and requires attaching a memo or email in RAMSeS explaining the circumstances of the submission. Once the PI has transferred to the University, additional information about the PI may be added to RAMSeS.

Related Requirements

• Research Administration Glossary at Carolina
• The UNC Policy Manual, 500.1, University Research Relations with Government Agencies and Private Entities

Unit Policies, Standards, & Procedures

• OSP Operating Standard 200.02 - Signature Authority
• OSP Operating Standard 200.03 - Procedure 1: Preparing a Waiver Request for Principal Investigator Eligibility

Contact Information

For questions regarding this operating standard and its related procedure, please contact SponsoredPrograms@unc.edu.

For questions regarding Pre-Award management or Post-Award administration, please contact the assigned OSP Sponsored Programs Specialist/Officer (SPS).

For invoicing, reporting and other financial matters, please contact the assigned OSP Sponsored Projects Accountant.

OSP staff assignments may be found in RAMSeS or on the OSP website.

History

The operating standards in the Office of Sponsored Programs Operating Standards & Procedures Manual supersede any OSP operating standards, procedures and appendices previously included in the University Business Manual, a publication of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Division of Finance.