When Georgia Tech accepts a grant or contract from an external sponsor, the Institute assumes responsibility for the proper performance of the stated project, for the fiscal management of the funds received, and for accountability to the sponsor. The Project Director (PD)/Principal Investigator (PI) is responsible for determining the intellectual direction of the research and scholarship, and for the training of graduate students. In addition, the PD/PI is responsible for the design, conduct, and reporting – both scientific or technical and fiscal – of the research.

Therefore, it is the policy of the Institute that the Project Director or Principal Investigator must be a current member of the academic faculty or research faculty of the Institute as found in the approved List of Faculty Titles. Members of these faculty groups who are retired but working on an hourly-as-needed basis may serve as PD/PI provided there is at least one School/Laboratory/Department willing to provide the necessary administrative commitment to permit the program to be carried out. 

For awards whereby the sponsoring agency eligibility criteria require, encourage, or specifically allow for an undergraduate, graduate or postdoctoral individual to serve in the role of a PI or Co-PI, the Institute will request approval from the applicable Chair or Department Head and identification of a faculty mentor prior to submission of the proposal application. Examples include the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Institutional Training Grants or Fellowships and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants (DDRIGs).

There are other requirements for the title of Principal Investigator on studies reviewed by the Institutional Review Board, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, and the Institutional Biosafety Committee. Click here to access the Office of Research Integrity Assurance website: http://researchintegrity.gatech.edu/

The Principal Investigator (PI) is ultimately responsible for both the technical goals of a research project and the fiscal management of such project, in accordance with sponsor and Institute regulations. Such fiscal management responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Preparation and submission of proposal budgets, including consideration of allowability of costs, cost sharing, commitment of effort and estimating methods
• Authorizing only those expenses that are reasonable and necessary to accomplish the project goals and that are consistent with the sponsor’s terms and conditions
• Seeking sponsor approval (in conjunction with the Office of Sponsored Programs), if necessary, for any significant change(s) in financial plans, rebudgeting or carryforward of funds
• Spending no more than the amount authorized by the sponsor for the project period
• Charging project costs directly to the project account
• Monitoring and reviewing expenditures in a timely fashion to assure their appropriateness and correctness
• If subrecipients are involved, reviewing the invoices of the subrecipient to ensure that expenditures are in line with performance
• Documenting cost-share commitments
• Identifying and accounting for any program income that accrues to the project
• Ensuring that those to whom authority for expenditure approval is being delegated (for example, on Personnel Service Forms (PSF’s), requisitions, purchase orders, travel expense statements and check requests) be documented by the Principal Investigator in writing on the Sign-Off Form for the individual project or by documenting the department’s award file
• Overseeing proper financial closeout of sponsored accounts, including approval and certification of the draft financial status report prepared by Grants and Contracts Accounting

It is important to emphasize that, while Principal Investigators can delegate their authority, they are still ultimately responsible for the transactions.

Non-employees are not generally eligible to serve as a PD/PI on sponsored projects. Requests for exceptions for a non-employee to serve as PD/PI on a specific project for a limited time may be directed to the Executive Vice President for Research. A without-compensation appointment such as a Visiting Scholar Agreement and associated agreements regarding intellectual property, liability insurance, and compliance with institute policies and procedure and related matters will be required. This exception is generally appropriate for newly hired faculty in transition from another institution and enables research to continue with minimal interruption.

It is the policy of Georgia Tech that the PI/PD must be a currently active faculty member and that a substitute PI/PD be named in the event that a PI/PD is absent from regular duty, including leaves of absence, for 90 days or more. Schools, Labs and Departments must notify OSP when PD/PIs arrange to terminate their employment, take a leave of absence, or are absent for medical or family leave.

Georgia Tech policy is that a Principal Investigator (PI) or other senior researcher must devote at least 1% effort – or a level of effort as required by sponsor – on an ongoing basis over the term of a sponsored project award. After the award is granted and accepted, the PI and key personnel are committed to provide that proposed level of effort over the budget period unless the sponsor permits otherwise. The committed effort, whether mandatory or voluntary, will be separately budgeted and accounted for by way of either the sponsored project or a companion cost sharing account.

What does ongoing basis mean?

Ongoing basis means per budget year over the life of the project.

Why do I need to put at least 1% effort on my projects?

The federal government expects a commitment of some effort on the part of the principal investigator for conducting work, over-seeing students, preparing deliverables, etc. during each project year. This effort may be expended during the academic year or summer and may be charged to the project or paid by the Institute and treated as cost sharing.

Can another investigator on the project satisfy this requirement?

Any senior researcher on the project can satisfy the requirement for the entire project.

Are there any exceptions?

This requirement does NOT extend to:

• equipment grants
• dissertation support
• limited-purpose awards, such as travel grants, conference support, etc.

How are Calendar, Academic, and Summer months treated?

Cost shared effort is calculated the same as sponsor paid effort, so it is very important to use the calculation that pertains to your faculty appointment.

For faculty on academic year contracts, months are expressed as either academic or summer months. The academic year is defined as a nine month period. Summer is defined as a three month period. The monthly rate for AY faculty is their salary divided by 9. One month = 1/9 = 11.11%. (This also explains why faculty can earn up to 33.33% of their AY salary in summer.) To express 1% in academic or summer months, divide 1% by 11.11%, which equals 0.09 academic or summer months.

For faculty on fiscal year contracts, months are expressed as calendar months, never academic or summer. The calendar year is a 12-month period. The monthly rate for 12-month faculty is their salary divided by 12. One month = 1/12 = 8.33%. To express 1% of a 12-month contract in calendar months, divide 1% by 8.33%, which equals 0.12 calendar months.

Are there any special considerations I need to know for NSF?

Unless stated otherwise in the solicitation, cost sharing (match, in-kind, institutional commitment, etc.) is unallowable.

Are there any special considerations I need to know for NIH?

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants Policy Statement notes that “‘zero percent’ effort or “as needed effort” is not an acceptable level of involvement for Key Personnel. Those that may contribute to the scientific development or execution of the project, but are not committing any specified measurable effort to the project, should be described as Other Significant Contributors (OSC) rather than as a co-investigator.

If cost shared, how is this tracked?

If the PI chooses to cost share the 1% minimum effort instead of charging it to the sponsored project, a formal companion cost share account must be established. Voluntary cost sharing of this nature will not be reflected on the invoices or financial reports submitted to our sponsor.

Is the cost share reflected on the effort report?

Companion cost share accounts are established in the official Institute records and are reflected on the employee’s Workload Assignment Report E-mailed each month from the Salary Planning & Distribution Office in Grants and Contracts Accounting.

It is the policy of Georgia Tech that sponsored effort is accounted for on a consistent and reasonable manner.  The PD/PI and key personnel may have other responsibilities that prevent them from devoting 100% of their time to sponsored program activities. Those activities which are deemed unallowable through sponsored programs under the Uniform Administrative Requirements (2 CFR 200), therefore, cannot be paid from sponsored program accounts or included in Georgia Tech’s effort reporting system (Plan Confirmation System – Salary Planning and Distribution). Sponsored activities must be reviewed regularly to ensure that adjustments are made consistently with sponsored terms and conditions.