Summary
Only eligible University of New Hampshire (UNH) faculty and staff may serve as a Principal Investigator, Project Director (PI/PD) or co-Principal Investigator or co-Investigator (co-PI) on externally funded research, or other sponsored projects.
Definitions
Principal Investigator or Project Director (PI/PD)
A faculty or staff member who bears responsibility for the intellectual leadership of a project. The PI/PD accepts overall responsibility for directing the project, financial oversight, and compliance with relevant university policies and sponsor terms and conditions.
Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI)
An individual collaborating with the PI in the scientific development or execution of a project may be a Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI). The designation of a Co-PI does not affect the PI’s role as having primary responsibility for directing the program, financial oversight, and compliance with relevant university policies and sponsor terms and conditions.
Co-Investigator or (Co-I)
An individual recognized by the University and the Principal Investigator as someone making significant contributions but does not have overall responsibility for the project.
Key (Senior) Personnel
Key personnel are those essential to conducting a project's work, typically those responsible for the design, conduct and reporting of the program. Key personnel include PIs, Co-PIs, Co-Is, and a third category known as “Key Persons.”
Professional Staff
Professional Staff is defined as all benefited employees who are not faculty. This category includes program managers, research engineers, and research scientists.
Sponsored Project
A sponsored project is defined as an activity that is sponsored, or funded, by an external organization, such as a federal, state, or private organization or agency.
Guidance
In the conduct of sponsored projects, the PI/PD or co-Principal Investigator bear responsibility for the intellectual conduct of a project and accepts overall responsibility for directing the program, overseeing financial transactions, and compliance with the sponsor’s terms and conditions and relevant policies and procedures. To serve as a PI/PD or co-Principal Investigator, the investigator must personally participate in the project.
Anyone holding the following positions may be designated as PI/PD or co-PI in applications for sponsored projects:
- All ranks of tenured and tenure-track Professors.
- All ranks of Research Professors, Extension Educator Professors, and Clinical Professors.
- Academic Administrators (holding faculty rank) and Executive Officers.
Anyone holding the following positions may be designated as PI/PD or co-PI in applications for sponsored projects with the approval of the department chair or center director; the approval of the cognizant Dean, Center, School or Institute Director and the Senior Vice Provost for Research, Economic Engagement and Outreach (SVPREEO) or designee:
- Retired and Research Active Part-Time Faculty
- Post-Doctoral Fellows. The Post-Doctoral Fellow’s mentor must be included as a Co-PI.
- Full-time Professional Staff.
In circumstances in which a UNH employee wishes to serve as a PI/PD or co-PI but does not meet the eligibility criteria set forth above, a request for an exception to this policy must be submitted to the SVPREEO or designee. ???
????Undergraduate and Graduate students may not be designated as PIs or co-PIs. However, when a Sponsor’s guidelines require a student to be listed as PI in the proposal, the student’s mentor/advisor will be the PI of record in the University's electronic research administration system and will be responsible for the conduct and oversight of the project.
Process
Complete the Investigator Status Form. Requests should be made as far in advance as possible (20 business days preferred) to give adequate time for consideration and to ensure proposals are not submitted late to SPA. SPA staff will not submit proposals that include investigators that do not have the appropriate PI/PD or co-PI status.
Anyone requiring approval to serve as PI/PD or co-PI will be required to take PI training within 30 days of proposal submission. If blanket approval is received, PI refresher training will be required upon renewal of Investigator status.
Outside Collaborators and PI Status
Outside collaborators (non-UNH personnel, including affiliate faculty) may not be listed as UNH Investigators. An outside collaborator is not a UNH employee and does not "automatically" have Investigator status nor would they have an on-going contractual relationship with UNH. The reason for not allowing this, however, goes beyond these two issues to the contractual relationships between UNH and its sponsors. The institutional signature on a proposal indicates compliance with the terms and conditions of the grant if an award is made. The signature also certifies that the University - and its Investigators - follow numerous federal regulations, such as the use of human and animal subjects, misconduct in science, conflict of interest, lobbying, affirmative action, cost accounting standards, to name a few. Signing a proposal that lists outside collaborators as Investigators would imply that UNH can certify compliance for other institutions and their faculty members when clearly, we cannot. Consequently, we require that outside collaborators be recognized in other ways in a proposal. Alternatives for working with and recognizing the key roles of faculty from other institutions include collaborative proposals, subcontracts, and consultancies.
Resources
Investigator Eligibility Approval Process
