Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Developing a competitive and compliant proposal involves focus and commitment. There is no one template for this and depending upon the nature of a PI's research can involve several steps. The most common are listed below, but many proposals involve additional steps. Your preaward representative can assist in these situations. 

Keep in mind that certain RFP requirements add costs to the research that may not seem obvious at first. This includes costs for adjuncts, student housing, security, materials and supplies and equipment. The most common are discussed below.

Before starting work on a proposal, verify the following items:

• Make sure time for quality research is available
• Determine eligibility:
  • some proposals require PIs be non-tenured early in their careers 
  • make sure you have the support of your department and/or college 
  • The Request for Proposal will outline any of these eligibility requirements
• Verifying there is support from the department/college
  • All proposals are routed through management for approval (i.e. from PI to department head to dean to Vice President for Research)
  • These approvals are necessary for some of the reasons below:
    • In the event of an award, PIs may find that an adjunct is required to provide the time for a PI to work on a funded research project
    • Projects involving many students or research experiences can take many resources and much time to establish
    • Occasionally cost share is a requirement of an award. This involves a commitment of real dollars. Verifying they are available from the department or college before proposal is critical. 
• For proposals involving equipment:
  • Make sure there is space available to house the equipment
  • If the equipment is larger or requires modifications to an existing space (power, hoods, hazardous chemicals, laser, etc) 
    • Make sure you have the dept/college approval and the resources to outfit or retrofit the space
    • See if these costs are eligible expenses on an award
    • Consider shipping charges, insurance, maintenance, and warranty costs
• For proposals involving visiting students (REUs):
  • Arrange for safe housing
  • Plan the costs of food, stipend, and travel
• Training, Hazardous materials, sensitive research
  • Training has become a requirement of many sponsors. RIT has partnered with Citi Program to offer these trainings to RIT faculty, staff, and students. Most federal sponsors and some state sponsor require the following training before an award will be made. 
    • Cyber security, responsible conduct of research, IRB, Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program
  • Hazardous materials must be vetted by EHS
  • Sensitive research can involve animals, human subjects, cutting edge technology, or polarizing topics. Depending upon the nature of the work, PIs should consider the following:
    • Do I have IRB approval to conduct research with human subjects and human subject data?
    • Am I working with data or technology that might be considered export controlled?
    • If working with live animals, does the PI have access to an approved animal facility through RIT's IACUC
    • Does the research data need to be protected in specific format and under increased security? 

Preparing a proposal to an external sponsor at RIT is managed by Sponsored Research Services. SRS utilized the Novelution Grants Management System to store and process proposals and awards. 

The first step in preparing a proposal is for the Principal Investigator to file a Notice of Intent to Submit (NOIS).

Once the PI has filed a NOIS,  someone from the SRS preaward team will be assigned to the proposal and will work with the PI on:

• Helping interpret the Request for Proposal (RFP)
• Helping prepare a budget and budget justification
• Assisting with compliance matters
• Assistance with routing
• Submitting the proposal 
• Answering general questions
• Referring PIs to other resources at RIT that may be required for a submission

• Most federal and state agencies take six months or more to process and review proposals.
• Corporate proposals vary greatly, and PIs should work with their preaward representative on the detail
• Email is the most common notification method. SRS has central emails where most notifications are received. 
• Often PIs are copied on these emails.
  • Notices for proposals not selected for funding should be forwarded to preaward@rit.edu  
  • Notices for proposal that have been awarded should be forwarded to postaward@rit.edu
  • If you notice either of these emails on the notice, it is not necessary to forward
• For proposals submitted via grant management systems such as eRa Commons or Research.gov also provide statuses to PIs once they have logged in. 

For sponsored projects, a contingency account (sometimes called an advance account, pre-award account, or at-risk account depending on institutional terminology) is typically requested when work must begin before an award is fully executed or before funding has been received.

When a Contingency Account May Be Appropriate

You may consider requesting a contingency account when:

• A sponsor has indicated that an award is forthcoming, but the fully executed agreement has not yet been received.
• Hiring, equipment purchases, participant recruitment, or project start-up activities must begin to avoid delaying the project.
• The sponsor permits pre-award spending and there is a reasonable expectation that the award will be issued.
• Time-sensitive research activities would be negatively affected by waiting for the official award.

Why It Can Be Risky

A contingency account places the institution at financial risk because expenses are incurred before an award is fully in place. Risks include:

• The award is not issued. The department or other responsible unit may be required to cover costs already incurred.
• The award amount differs from expectations. Budgeted expenses may exceed the eventual funding received.
• The start date changes. Some pre-award costs may fall outside the sponsor's allowable period of performance.
• Certain costs are disallowed. Even if an award is issued, sponsors may determine that specific expenditures are not allowable, allocable, or reasonable under the award terms. Federal cost principles require costs charged to awards to be allowable, reasonable, and supported by appropriate documentation. 
• Additional administrative effort is required. If the award terms differ from what was anticipated, transactions may need to be corrected or transferred.

Please complete the contingency account form and return to postaward@rit.edu

Award transfers require early planning, close coordination between both institutions, and sponsor approval. The most successful transfers begin several months before the PI's departure and address financial, compliance, personnel, equipment, and data considerations before work is transitioned.

When a Principal Investigator (PI) moves to another institution and wishes to transfer an active award, the transfer requires coordination among the PI, the current institution, the new institution, and the sponsor. While sponsor requirements vary, the process generally includes the following steps:

1. Review the Award Terms and Sponsor Requirements

   • Determine whether the award is transferable and whether sponsor approval is required.
   • Review any restrictions on equipment, subawards, cost sharing, or participant commitments.

2. Notify the Current Institution

   • Inform department leadership, Sponsored Research, and other relevant administrative offices as soon as possible.
   • Discuss whether the project will remain at the current institution, transfer with the PI, or be split between institutions.

3. Develop a Transition Plan

   • Identify remaining project work, personnel, subawards, equipment, data, and regulatory approvals.
   • Determine which activities will remain with the current institution and which will transfer.

4. Prepare a Relinquishing Statement or Transfer Request

   • Many federal sponsors require the current institution to formally relinquish the unexpended balance of the award.
   • The relinquishing institution typically reports expenditures incurred to date and the estimated balance available for transfer.

5. Coordinate with the New Institution

   • The new institution prepares the documentation required by the sponsor, which may include:
     • Updated budget
     • Revised scope or timeline (if applicable)
     • Facilities and administrative cost information
     • Regulatory assurances and certifications
     • New institutional approvals

6. Address Compliance Requirements

   • Transfer or re-establish approvals related to:
     • Human subjects (IRB)
     • Animal research (IACUC)
     • Biosafety
     • Export controls
     • Research security requirements
     • Conflict of interest disclosures

7. Determine Disposition of Equipment and Data

   • Review sponsor and institutional policies regarding ownership and transfer of equipment purchased on the award.
   • Establish plans for transferring research data, records, and materials, as appropriate.

1. Close Out Financial Activities at the Current Institution

   • Complete final expenditures and cost transfers.
   • Reconcile encumbrances and commitments.
   • Submit required financial documentation to the sponsor.

2. Obtain Sponsor Approval

   • Many sponsors must formally approve the transfer before remaining funds can be moved.
   • The sponsor may issue a revised award, a transfer award, or a new award to the receiving institution.

3. Establish the Award at the New Institution

   • Set up the account.
   • Transfer project personnel as appropriate.
   • Resume project activities under the new award.

Common Risks During Transfers

• Delays in sponsor approval.
• Lapses in regulatory approvals.
• Unresolved effort commitments.
• Outstanding subrecipient obligations.
• Equipment ownership disputes.
• Cost sharing commitments that cannot transfer.
• Incomplete financial reconciliations.
• Data access and security concerns.

Now that the award is active, PIs may have the need to interact with SRS and SPA towards the on-going maintenance of the award. 

Typical adjustments include:

• Budget adjustments/approvals
  • Sponsors must often approve budget changes that exceed certain thresholds, necessitating a formal request and award modification
  • See your award T&Cs for details
• PI/Co-PI changes
  • PI replacement
  • PI transfer to another institution
• No Cost Extensions (NCEs)
• Award amendments
  • Funding increments
  • Processing award supplements
  • Other changes to the award 
• Subaward issuance and maintenance
• Renewal of expired training
• Submission of reports and/or deliverables

The process to implement these is not standard across all sponsors. Please reach out to your post award representative for information on how to make these adjustments. 

Though the PI may be done with the project, an award is not officially closed until:

• All reports and deliverables are filed and accepted by the sponsor
• All financial expenditures are invoiced and fully paid
• All subawards have submitted their deliverables and reports and have been fully paid for their effort

Once these are complete, the award is marked closed and resides in the Novelution system until expiration of the retention period set by RIT and the sponsor.

Subawards are an important aspect of research. When subawards are included on a PIs award, the sponsor is authorizing RIT and the PI to issue an award to a partnering institution. In effect, RIT and the PI take on the role of the sponsor and is responsible for the management of the subawardees' activities and compliance.  

PIs must ensure the subawardee is filing their reports, spending appropriately, and compliant with the terms of the award.

SRS will work with the PI to draft the subaward agreement, verify report requirements and due dates, and determine how funds will be issued. 

SPA manages the financial account, but the PI must certify that all subawardee expenses are valid and in support of the research

During the course of the research and for a period of time after an award has closed, RIT must maintain documentation related to the award in case of audit. 

SRS will maintain award documents, SPA maintains financials, and PIs must maintain copies of their research activities, including but not limited to publications, lab books or logs, research findings, sample retention, and others. 

The exact period of time will be determined by the RIT retention policy as well as sponsor retention requirements. 

For sponsored projects, a contingency account (sometimes called an advance account, pre-award account, or at-risk account depending on institutional terminology) is typically requested when work must begin before an award is fully executed or before funding has been received.

When a Contingency Account May Be Appropriate

You may consider requesting a contingency account when:

• A sponsor has indicated that an award is forthcoming, but the fully executed agreement has not yet been received.
• Hiring, equipment purchases, participant recruitment, or project start-up activities must begin to avoid delaying the project.
• The sponsor permits pre-award spending and there is a reasonable expectation that the award will be issued.
• Time-sensitive research activities would be negatively affected by waiting for the official award.

Why It Can Be Risky

A contingency account places the institution at financial risk because expenses are incurred before an award is fully in place. Risks include:

• The award is not issued. The department or other responsible unit may be required to cover costs already incurred.
• The award amount differs from expectations. Budgeted expenses may exceed the eventual funding received.
• The start date changes. Some pre-award costs may fall outside the sponsor's allowable period of performance.
• Certain costs are disallowed. Even if an award is issued, sponsors may determine that specific expenditures are not allowable, allocable, or reasonable under the award terms. Federal cost principles require costs charged to awards to be allowable, reasonable, and supported by appropriate documentation. 
• Additional administrative effort is required. If the award terms differ from what was anticipated, transactions may need to be corrected or transferred

To request a contingency account, please fill out the contingency request form

.

A no-cost extension (NCE) is appropriate when additional time is needed to complete the approved scope of work and project objectives, but no additional sponsor funding is required.

Common circumstances that may justify a no-cost extension include:

• Delays in project activities due to unexpected research, technical, or operational challenges.
• Time needed to complete data collection, analysis, or dissemination of project results.
• Delays in hiring key personnel, obtaining equipment, or securing necessary regulatory approvals.
• Unanticipated circumstances that slowed project progress but did not change the project's objectives.
• Completion of remaining project work using unobligated funds already awarded by the sponsor.

A no-cost extension is generally not appropriate when:

• The primary purpose is simply to spend remaining funds.
• Delays resulted from poor project management or lack of effort.
• The project scope is substantially changing.
• Additional funding is needed to complete the work.

To request a no cost extension, please complete and return the NCE Request Form