DECEMBER 7, 2010

SESSION 1 OF AAPLS –

APPLICANTS & ADMINISTRATORS PREAWARD LUNCHEON SERIES

Grant Submission at Tufts: Offices and Administrative

Policies

Goals of this Session

To introduce research offices and administrators

To review the process of submitting applications for sponsored funding

Who are the Administrators?

Departmental Administrators

Administrators at Central Offices

Departmental Administrators

Finance & Administration OfficersDepartment Managers, Accountants &

Other AdministratorsStaff Assistants Departmental Administrators play critical

roles in administration of research at Tufts. They are key partners of investigators & of central research offices in proposal preparation and in ensuring compliance.

Central Research Offices

Office of Proposal Development (OPD)Office of Research Administration (ORA)Office for Technology Licensing and Industry

Collaboration (OTL&IC)Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

(IACUC)Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine (DLAM)Institutional Review Board (IRB) for research that

involves human subjectsInstitutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)Radiation Hazard Control GroupsSponsored Programs Accounting (SPA)Corporate & Foundations Relations (CFR)

Office of the Vice Provost (OVP)

Located at: 75 Kneeland Street, 9th FloorBoston, MA 02111

Address: 136 Harrison AveBoston, MA 02111-1817

Main phone #: (617) 636-6550Web site: http://viceprovost.tufts.edu/

Offices: Proposal Development (OPD); Research Administration (ORA), Tech Transfer (OTL&IC)

Office of Proposal Development (OPD)

OPD is part of the Office of the Vice ProvostCollaboration with faculty on the

development of grant proposalsPrimary focus on multi-investigator

proposals, including: Institutional training grants Center grants Infrastructure- and capacity-building grants

Individual investigator assistance available as capacity allows

Further resources at grantwriting.tufts.edu

OPD Staff

• Amy Gantt, Director• Barbara Eisenhaure, Grant Writer• Jeralyn Haraldsen, Grant Writer• Bonnie Chang, Staff Assistant• Sarah Sherman, Proposal

Development Assistant

Office of Research Administration (ORA)

ORA is part of the Office of the Vice ProvostPre-award and non-fiscal post-award

administration of grants & contractsReview and submission of proposals for

sponsored fundingReview and acceptance of awardsContract negotiationIssuing subawardsApproval of rebudget requests before they go to

SPAProcessing no cost extensionsTufts authorized representatives for grants and

other research agreements

ORA, Boston Office

• Paul Murphy, Director• Zoya Hamilton, Senior Associate Director• Todd Conley, Associate Director• Suzanne Rocha, Research Administrator (in

Boston 2 days a week)• Elizabeth Brady, Research Administration

Coordinator (transferred to Medford ORA)• Jessica Chen, Research Staff Assistant

ORA Boston Areas of Responsibility

Research ComplianceManagement of Conflict of InterestLimited SubmissionsPI EligibilityGrants to Tufts Center for the Study of Drug

DevelopmentTufts Clinical And Translational Science

Institute (CTSI)USAID Avian & Pandemic Influenza & Zoonotic

Disease Program: RESPOND

Paul Murphy

Todd ConleyTodd Conley Zoya HamiltonZoya Hamilton

School of MedicineMolecular Biology &

MicrobiologyNeuroscienceOphthalmologyPathologyPublic Health & Community

MedicineAll other Clinical Sciences

Departments Cummings School of

Veterinary Medicine School of Dental Medicine

School of MedicineAnatomyBiochemistryEducational AffairsMolec. Physiology &

Pharmacology Sackler School of Graduate

Biomedical Science Gerald J. & Dorothy R.

Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy

John Hancock Research Center Jean Mayer USDA Human

Nutrition Research Center on Aging

PI eligibility

ORA Boston Areas of Responsibility (cont.)

Office for Technology Licensing and Industry Collaboration (OTL&IC)

Invention disclosure intakePatent applications and patent maintenanceNondisclosure agreementsOptionsLicense agreementsStart-upsMaterial transfer agreementsIndustry-sponsored research agreements,

including clinical trial agreementsTrademark & copyright agreementsInterinstitutional agreements

OTL&IC Staff

• Nina Green, Director• John Cosmopoulos, Sr. Associate Director• Colm Lawler, Associate Director• Martin Son, Associate Director• Thomas McVarish, Associate Director of

Operations• Linara Axanova, Licensing Associate• Donna Barretto, Administrative Assistant

Research Agreements with Industry

Processed by both ORA and OTL&ICORA is only involved when the agreement carries

fundingBudgets are reviewed by ORAInternal forms must be sent by the departments

to ORA, not to OTL&ICORA distributes fully executed agreements with

supporting paperwork to Sponsored AccountingEither ORA or OTL&IC can negotiate agreement

termsIntellectual property (IP) terms are primarily

negotiated by OTL&IC

Grant/Sponsored AccountGrant/Sponsored Account Gift/Department IDGift/Department ID

Represents an “exchange transaction” in which each party receives commensurate value

Has reporting requirements or specific restrictions on how the money can be spent

Has a specified time period over which the work will be done (a start date and an end date)

For cost reimbursable grants requires that unused funds be returned to the awarding agency/foundation/corporation

Goes through ORA. Accounts are set up by SPA.

http://finance.tufts.edu/spa/?pid=6

Represents a “contribution”, an unconditional transfer of cash which is voluntary and non-reciprocal

No reporting and no restrictions No specific time period Usually all the money is received

upfront. Tufts is given unconditional rights to the funds and funds do not need to be returned to the sponsor

Does not go through ORA. Accounts are set up by the Budget Office (for HNRCA and in all circumstances when it is not clear whether funds are a gift or a grant the final determination is made by SPA)

Grant vs. Gift

Proposal Process

Identify funding opportunityDownload application forms and instructionsEngage departmental administrators during

the completion of required forms in application package

Complete and route for approvals the internal forms for each application submission

Approved internal forms and the complete application are sent to ORA for review and submission to the agency

More on Proposal Process

Send completed applications and internal forms to ORA five (5) – FIVE!!! business days prior to the deadline

ORA can review budgets and forms in advance of submissions

ORA submits proposals to funding agencies. Some non-federal sponsors require investigators to submit proposals directly. Review and approval by ORA is always required prior to submission

See the proposal process overview on the ORA web site: http://researchadmin.tufts.edu/ under “Write and Submit a Proposal”

Internal Forms

Letter of Intent to Submit a Proposal for Extramural Funding (HNRCA only)

Internal Sponsored Coordination Form (one per submission, also required for continuation years)

Financial Interest Disclosure Form - required for each submission (including progress report/continuation) for each person at Tufts University with the role of Investigator on a proposal (i.e. PD/PI, co-PI, co-I). “Investigator” is defined as the PI and any other person who is responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of research

Download the forms from the ORA web site: http://researchadmin.tufts.edu/ under Forms

Internal Sponsored Coordination Form

Constitutes formal approval of the application by the department /school, including approval of any cost share

Includes assurances & certifications required for federally funded proposals

Provides information needed by several administrative offices for data collection purposes

Required for each submissionRouted by ORA to SPA when funding is awarded

Financial Interest Disclosure Form

Required under Tufts University Policy on Conflict of Interest in Research

Public Health Service (PHS) regulation at 42 CFR 50.603, Subpart F, designed to promote objectivity in PHS-funded research. Established standards to ensure that the design, conduct, and reporting of research funded under PHS grant awards is not biased by any conflicting financial interests of an Investigator

NSF Awards and Administration Guide, AAG Chapter IV. A contains policy on conflict of interest

It is Tufts’ policy to apply these standards to all sponsors, e.g. federal, state, local governments, corporations, nonprofits, foundations, foreign governments etc.

Budget Review by ORA

Can be done at any stage of proposal preparationAllow additional time for review of budgets with

subcontractsWhen no budget detail is required in the

application (i.e., modular budgets) departmental administrators are advised to compose detailed budgets together with investigators at the proposal stage

This will ensure that budgeted amounts are adequate for the work

Share detailed budgets with ORA for the modular proposal

ORA will forward detailed budgets to SPA upon receipt of the award

Conclusion

Investigators must not submit proposals without receiving institutional review & approvals because awards are made to the University

Agencies award funding based on the merit of research, however Tufts University must accept responsibility for each award along with the investigator(s)

The key to success is collaboration between investigators, department administrators & central research offices