All proposals from Duke University must be prepared and routed for approval in Sponsored Projects System - SPS. To obtain access to SPS, please contact the ORS Assistant Director assigned to your department.

Policy on PI Status

It is University policy that only those with whom the University has or intends to have an on-going contractual relationship may serve as principal investigators (PI) or program directors (PD) for projects, research or otherwise, supported by external funding sources.

The status of Principal Investigator (PI) or program director (PD) is granted automatically as a matter of privilege to tenured and tenure-track faculty, regular faculty on the research and "practice of" tracks, and select senior administrators. All other appointments must receive permission from their deans or the Provost. Those who wish to be co-PIs must meet the same criteria as PIs and PDs. The Duke Policy on PI Status is found in the Faculty Handbook.

Graduate Students: In general, graduate students are not eligible to serve as PIs on sponsored research projects. However, several funding mechanisms require the graduate student be designated as the PI or Co-PI. For instance, NSF's Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants, require a faculty member, usually the student's advisor, to serve as the PI and the student is listed on the proposal as a Co-PI.

Requesting Special PI Status: The procedure for requesting eligibility to serve as a principal investigator may be granted in specific instances by someone with the appropriate authority such as the Dean of the school, the director of an institute, or a Vice Provost. Follow the link above for detailed instructions and guidance.

Outside Collaborators and PI Status

Outside collaborators (non-Duke personnel) may not be listed as co-PIs on Duke proposals. An outside collaborator is not a Duke faculty member and does not "automatically" have PI status nor would he or she have an on-going contractual relationship with Duke. The reason for not allowing this, however, goes beyond these two issues to the contractual relationships between Duke 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 PIs - are in compliance with 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 co-PIs would imply that Duke 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.

The coversheet of a proposal summarizes key information for a sponsor and provides the required institutional signatures. It may, at the sponsor's request, also include the PI's, or his or her chair's signatures.

Many sponsors provide coversheets, either pre-printed or available in electronic format. Care should be taken to ensure that the most current version of the sponsor cover sheet is used.

The basic information for all coversheets for proposals from Duke should be entered as noted below:

• The name of the applicant or the recipient is simply "Duke University", not the PI or any unit of the University. (The University, represented by the Office of Research Support, is the entity which will receive and accept responsibility for the award.)
• The contact for the applicant, or award recipient, is the Executive Director of ORS, Keith Hurka-Owen
• The applicant's address and phone number are those of the Office of Research Support: 2200 W. Main St., Ste. A-200, Durham, NC 27705; phone: 919/684-3030; fax: 919/684-2418; email: ors-grant@duke.edu.

If a coversheet is not provided by the sponsor, the PI will be asked to prepare a coversheet for the proposal. That coversheet can be generated by SPS by opening the SPS record, choosing Proposal Actions and then selecting Print Forms in the dropdown box. Choose Duke Generic for type of form and then Generate. Open the file as a PDF, save and print the first two pages of the document.

An investigator can create their own coversheet which should include the following information:

• Sponsor's name
• Applicant's name: Duke University
• Applicant's address and contact information: Office of Research Support, 2200 W. Main St., Ste. A-200, Durham, NC 27708; phone: 919/684-3030; fax: 919/684-2418; ors-grant@duke.edu
• Applicant's contact or award recipient: Keith Hurka-Owen, Executive Director, Office of Research Support
• Title of proposed project
• Name, title and contact information of the PI
• Period of performance
• Annual and cumulative budget totals
• Signatures of the PI and the authorizing official

Application coversheets and forms often ask for a wide variety of ID, Code, and Assurance numbers. Those numbers and other information for inclusion in proposals can be found on the Facts for Forms and Applications.

PIs, chairs, deans and others can not sign a proposal coversheet. Only authorized signing officials may sign a proposal for Duke. Please see Proposal Review and Approval at Duke.

Description

This information is supplied by the Office of Research Support at Duke University for use in conjunction with the proposal and award of grants, contracts, subcontracts, etc. Please contact ORS if additional information is required.

Duke University
c/o Office of Research Support
2200 W. Main St. Ste A-200
Durham, NC 27705-4677
Phone: 919-684-3030, Fax: 919-684-2418
Email: ors-grant@duke.edu

In a modular grant application to the National Institutes of Health, total direct costs up to $250,000 per year are requested in $25,000 increments or "modules" instead of being compiled from detailed and separate budget categories. At time of submission, NIH will accept a modular budget; however, at JIT, Duke must submit a detailed budget and justification. Supplies $1000 or more will require a detailed description within the budget justification.

A typical modular grant application will request the same number of modules in each year. Application budgets are simplified and the budget form pages of the PHS 398 application are not used. Instead, total direct costs requested for each year are presented on a simple modular budget form. A budget justification in narrative form is provided only for personnel and, when applicable, for consortium or contractual costs and major equipment costs.

Note that SPS and grants.duke are designed to prepare both regular and modular budgets in the correct format for NIH. Duke recommends creating a detailed budget in SPS at the time of submission.

Additional narrative budget justification is required if there is a variation in the number of modules requested from year to year. There is no routine escalation for future years. In determining the total for each budget year, applicants should first consider the direct cost of the entire project period. Well-justified modular increments or decrements in the total direct costs for any year of the project that reflect substantial changes in expected future activities may be requested. For example, purchase of major equipment in the first year may justify a higher overall budget in the first, but not in succeeding years.

NIH will request detailed budgets at Just-in-Time along with complete budget justifications. Important information regarding NIH Just-in-Time requests can be found here.

A line-item budget is one in which the individual financial statement items are grouped by category. It shows the comparison between the financial data for the past accounting or budgeting periods and estimated figures for the current or a future period.

Direct Costs

Direct costs are those which can be identified specifically with a particular sponsored project and which can be directly assigned to such activities, relatively easily and with a high degree of accuracy. For example, the supplies needed for a research project are easy to identify, as are the salaries of the individuals who will work on the project and travel expenses for those individuals.

Indirect Costs (Facilities and Administrative Costs, F&A)

The OMB defines Indirect costs as “costs incurred for a common or joint purpose benefitting more than one cost objective, and not readily assignable to the cost objectives.” Such costs are not directly allocable to one specific project because the indirect costs support multiple projects. For instance maintenance on a HVAC system may improve the air quality in many laboratories and offices in one building. Conversely, direct costs can be allocated to a specific cost objective with a high degree of accuracy. Employees who are working on the project or activity clearly meet the direct cost definition.

How are Indirect Rates Determined?

Every five years or so Duke submits and Indirect Cost Rate Proposal (ICRP) to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and then negotiates with DHHS the final rates. Though the government caps the Administrative costs at 26%, Duke’s calculation of its administrative costs is always a couple of points higher. The Facilities cost is not capped, but that also gets negotiated.

In general, a cost can either be direct or indirect but not both. If the cost is used as part of the ICRP, then it should not be charged directly to any grants. However, several types of costs live in both worlds and these deserve special consideration when building the proposal budget or charging expenses to an award.

Cost-sharing is that portion of a project's costs, direct or F&A, not borne by the sponsor. These costs may be contributed by the University or by third parties. The University will only commit to cost-sharing on a project if it is required by the sponsor and, generally only in the amount required.

While the terms matching and cost-sharing are often used interchangeably, matching has a specific meaning. Some agencies have programs which will "match" funds raised by Duke from third parties. The match is given in addition to the basic award. ORS is required to certify the award of the third party funds before the agency will provide the matching award.

SPS can prepare budgets with full cost-sharing details and, if not provided by the sponsor, can create an appropriate budget form to show the cost-sharing.

Four Types of Cost-sharing

• faculty effort
  • See - Salaries above the NIH Cap
• other Duke resources such as non-faculty salaries, equipment, supplies and materials necessary for the project
• reductions/waivers of indirect costs, considered only when an agency or program has a formal indirect cost rate lower than the University's current rate or disallows indirect cost recovery
• third party contributions, either in-kind or cash, for example, the donated use of an off-campus meeting space or auditorium for which a fee is usually charged.

Required Documentation for Commitments

* Other Duke resources include staff salaries, equipment, copying, etc.

NOTE: The University requires that F&A costs be calculated on faculty effort and other contributed resources, and included in the cost-sharing totals unless this is unallowable by the sponsor. The rationale is as follows: If instead of contributing these resources, Duke had asked the sponsor to provide them, Duke would also have asked the sponsor to pay the associated F&A costs. The F&A costs which the University will not collect are considered part of the cost to Duke of supporting the project.

Filling out the Request for Cost-sharing Form

If the sponsor requires cost-sharing, the proposal must be accompanied by a completed Request for Cost-sharing form when it is submitted to ORS for review. For each type of cost-sharing, for each year of the project, the PI should complete the worksheet section of the form and attach letters of commitment as described in the table above.

Required Endorsements

• School of Arts and Sciences: Department chair only (except for NIH salary above the cap which requires the Dean's approval)
• School of Engineering: Department chair and dean
• Schools of Law and Divinity: Dean only
• Fuqua School of Business and the Nicholas School of the Environment (NSOE): Business Manager
• If more than one unit will be contributing faculty salary or other resources, the appropriate chairs and deans from each unit must sign the form. If a School of Medicine Department is included, their approval of the SPS entry serves as approval.

Agencies which routinely require cost-sharing will provide budget forms with two columns, one for the request and one for Duke's contribution. If a form is not provided, the PI should create a double-column budget clearly describing Duke's commitment by cost category. Such a budget can easily be created in SPS.

Federal funds cannot be used to match other federal funds. Also, one source of funds, whether internal or third party, may not be used as a match more than once, nor used to meet more than one cost-sharing requirement.

In general, the largest portion of the proposed budget will be allocated to salaries and fringe benefits, so it is important to understand how to present this information and to ensure that the numbers are correct. 

The first step is to determine how much effort of various types of employees will be required to complete the project. The budget justification should describe what each employee will be doing on the project. These decisions have implications downstream because proposed effort becomes committed effort which becomes certified effort.

Next, determine how the sponsors require effort to be presented in the budget. Typically this is either in months or percentages. Some funding mechanisms require effort to be presented in hours or daily rates. Because Duke employees are paid either monthly or on a by weekly basis these two approaches are difficult to impossible to address.

After determining the amount of effort needed, the next step is to collect the Institutional Base Salary (IBS) of all project employees.(Employee Salary Request Form)The IBS is the of salary paid to an employee for 100% of the employee’s University Effort: research, instruction, administration, etc.

                                    IBS X % = Requested Salary

PI/PDs, Co-PIs and Key Senior Personnel (faculty members) are almost always identified by name in the budget. Postdocs, Professional/technical staff, students and staff generally are not and can be identified as To Be Determined (TBD). In these cases the budget should include appropriate estimates based on Duke’s established salary ranges as published Human Resources .

Only Duke employees and TBDs may appear in the Salary and Wages section of the proposed budget with the proposed compensation and fringe benefits. Non-Duke personnel may appear in the budgets as consultants, recipients of honoraria, participant support or as a subcontracting entity with a separate budget.

Duke personnel can be included in budgets with effort and zero dollars. This is referred to as Voluntary Committed Cost-Sharing and requires further reviews and approvals. Some sponsors like the NSF prohibit the inclusion of VCCS.

Fringe benefit (FB) rates are expressed as a percentage of salary. Separate FB rates are used for federal and non-federal grants and contracts, and those rates are divided by faculty/monthly employees, bi-weekly employees, Ph.D. students and other students. (The rate for students is only to be used when a student is not currently enrolled.) Federal rates are lower as a result of the government's decision to end participation in the tuition reimbursement portion of Duke's FB program.

Duke's FB rates are negotiated with DHHS; however, the negotiated rates usually cover only one fiscal year at a time. The University's Corporate Controller projects FB rates several fiscal years in advance for budget planning purposes. These projected rates have not been negotiated with the Federal Government. Unless the Sponsor stipulates otherwise, faculty are expected to use the projected rates when preparing proposals. The Controller's office notifies the faculty and ORS of changes in the projected rates. Current and recent past rates are available on the Financial Services website.

The budget periods in a proposal do not always correspond to fiscal years. A given budget period may include more than one fiscal year and, therefore, more than one fringe benefit rate would be applicable to that period. The method for resolving this issue depends upon the sponsor and the anticipated award mechanism. For grant proposals, the fringe benefit rate should be prorated across fiscal years. Please note that if you are submitting a DOD contract proposal, you may be required to use the single negotiated rate for all years.

If another organization, a subrecipient, will be paid by Duke University to conduct part of the proposed project, subawards or subcontracts are the most appropriate mechanisms for the transfer of funds if the following criteria apply:

1. the funds are to be paid to another university or business rather than to an individual (consultant).
2. the subrecipient will contribute to the scholarly or scientific design, conduct, and reporting of the project as described in a statement of work.
3. the subrecipient's portion of the project requires judgment, unique expertise, and original thought.
4. the subrecipient does not provide identical services to others as their primary business. Examples of identical services include the fabrication or repair of equipment, data processing, and routine analytical and testing services.

How to pay outside entities.

Capital equipment is defined by the University as a permanent asset costing $5,000 or more per unit and having a useful life of at least two years. The cost of shipping and installation is included in the cost of the equipment.

The budget should specify the name and manufacturer of the equipment whenever possible. Sponsors may want to see the manufacturer's specifications and price list, particularly if the equipment is very expensive.

Software: Operational software is purchased in conjunction with hardware and is considered part of the purchase price. Software applications which are purchased separately are considered equipment if they meet the dollar threshold per licensed user as described above. Leased software is not identified as capital equipment, regardless of cost.

Warranties: Extended warranties are not capitalized under Duke policy and should go in the "other direct costs" category.

Fabrication: If a project will need equipment which is not commercially available and must be fabricated, all the costs associated with its fabrication will be considered part of the cost of the equipment.

The final cost of fabricated equipment should be estimated, included in the equipment category, and excluded from F&A cost recovery. The budget narrative should clearly identify all of the costs which will be associated with the production of the equipment, such as materials, salaries, and travel. Sponsored Programs has postaward accounting procedures to track expenses associated with fabrication. When the equipment is completed it will be tagged and inventoried.

Buy American: If a contract is used to fund the proposed research, the purchase of non-U.S. manufactured equipment may require special authorization under the Buy American Act. The contact for information about the Buy American Act is:

Equipment Screening Form: The Equipment Screening Form is required for purchases made on reportable projects. The form will require signatures from a Departmental Representative confirming that they have reviewed the completed form and related attachments. The completed form must appear in the Notes and Attachment section of the Buy@Duke Cart. Questions regarding allowability or procedure should be directed to your OSP liaison.

What does this mean for PIs?

The PIs should expect to have conversations with their Grant Manager (GM) regarding the scientific or programmatic needs of the project. They should note that convenience is not a sufficient reason.

What does this mean for GMs?

GMs should expect to have conversations with their PI and Departmental Representatives regarding the scientific or programmatic needs of the project and how they are furthered by the purchase of the capital equipment.

The Supplies & Materials budget category applies to consumable supplies, regardless of cost, and equipment with a unit value of under $5,000 or a useful life of under two years. Supplies should be listed by general type such as chemicals or glassware.

General office supplies, such as paper, staples, pencils and pens and non-capital equipment such as calculators and printers, are generally not allowable on federal grants unless they can be directly allocated to specific project and are fully explained in the budget justification. This budget category can be supported by general descriptions of the type of supplies included and a best estimate of their cost. 

If the awarded budget includes general office supplies, the department must complete a CAS form.

For each trip, the proposed destination, purpose and duration of the trip should be described. An estimated breakdown of expenses for each person traveling should include:

1. round trip coach air fare
2. per diem or living expenses
3. other related expenses such as ground transportation, conference registration fees, and short-term Visa fees, etc.

For use in federal projects, the General Services Administration publishes the maximum allowable Federal per diem rates for U.S. and foreign cities.

The Federal Government imposes strict regulations regarding the use of U.S. flag carriers and the class of ticket a grantee must purchase. See Fly America Act

Participant support costs are direct costs for items such as stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not Duke employees) in connection with conferences, or training projects. Participant support costs are allowable expenses with the prior approval of the federal sponsor; funds budgeted for participant support costs can generally be rebudgeted to other costs only with the sponsor prior approval.

This category is used primarily for conference proposals or training proposals such as NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) proposals where the students come to Duke from other universities and colleges.

NOTE: Participant support costs are managed on subcodes because they must be accounted for separately and excluded from the calculation of the F&A costs

It is critical that all required forms be signed by an authorized institutional officer. A signature from the participating PI, a department chair, or dean will not suffice to commit the institution.

When preparing the Duke budget, include the total cost of each subaward, including the recipient institution's Fringe Benefits costs and F&A costs, as a line item in the direct cost section of the budget proposal.

After receiving the award, ORS will write and issue the subawards.

Collaborative proposals, if allowed by a sponsor, are an alternate mechanism for joint projects with other institutions. The funds awarded for collaborative proposals go directly from the sponsor to each of the collaborating institutions simultaneously and eliminate the need for subawards from a lead institution to the other participating institutions.

Doing the Math: Calculating F&A Costs

Step 1: Calculate the Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC).

Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) are that portion of total direct costs on which we are allowed to calculate the F&A costs for a sponsored project budget.
Duke's F&A cost rate agreement provides that the following costs are excluded:

1. Capital equipment (individual items which cost $5,000, or more, and have a useful life of more than two years).
2. Subaward costs in excess of $25,000.
   1. F&A Costs are collected on only the first $25,000 of the total cost of each subaward. The total cost includes all the years a subaward will be funded during a given project period. Thus, if your budget has a subaward line item of $40,000 in each year of a four year project, F&A Costs are only applied to $25,000 in year one. No F&A costs will be collected on the subaward for the remaining years of the project. However, if the subaward budget is only $10,000 per year, F&A costs would be collected on the entire subaward amount for years 1 and 2, on $5,000 in year 3, and not at all in year 4. If your application is for a competitive renewal, even if you are using the same subrecipiants, you may again collect F&A costs on the first $25,000 of each subaward.
3. Student support costs, such as fellowships and scholarships, can only be charged to projects for which student training is the primary intent.
4. When graduate students are paid salary from a grant or contract, the budget must include the appropriate Tuition Remission payments determined by and paid to the Graduate School. Under the negotiated rate agreement, these costs are also exempt from the F&A calculation.
5. The calculations shall also exclude capital expenditures, patient care costs, and rental costs of off-site facilities.

Step 2: Apply the correct F&A rate, taking into account Duke's rate and any restrictions imposed by the sponsor.

* Note that Modified Total Direct Costs  (MTDC) and F&A costs are automatically calculated by SPS. If a sponsor requires a rate different from Duke's, the system can calculate at the specified rate.

In the case of a competitive renewal proposal, F&A costs (link is external) associated with a subaward are calculated as if the proposal were a new submission.

Financial Reports, Rates & Documents

Links to the current rates can be found here: https://ors.duke.edu/grants-contracts-and-compliance/current-rates

Sponsor Rates

Some sponsors, like foundations, limit or eliminate the F&A rate an institution would ordinarily include in its sponsored projects' budgets. Duke will accept a different rate only when the sponsor has a written policy. When this is the case, please supply a copy of the written policy to ORS when submitting the proposal for review.