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Frequently Asked Questions


Below is a list of questions that are commonly asked about various aspects of grant preparation and administration. If you do not find the answer to your question here, please contact your OSP Departmental Contact Person.

If the proposal is to be submitted via paper upload the completed proposal application into Emory Proposal Express (EPEX). If it is to be submitted via Grants.gov or some other electronic system, submit the necessary proposal information in EPEX, then upload the completed proposal into the required electronic system. PIs and Co-PIs must electronically approve the proposal in EPEX. All of the following should electronically approve for each KEY PERSONNEL listed on the application:

  • Division Chief(s) if applicable
  • Department Chair(s)
  • Deans Office(s)
  • The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) receives last after all of the above have signed.

Please review the Sponsored Programs and Institutional Advancement Proposal Routing Procedures.

If you have routed your application and are curious to see if OSP has received it you can view it's approval status in EPEX. EPEX is restricted to those users in the Emory domain.

For assistance on application completion:  Emory Fact Sheet

  1. Attach budget, work statement and any other forms that the sponsoring agency requires in EPEX and route.
  2. Provide the name and address of the Institution and Principal Investigator that will be collaborating.
  3. OSP will provide a consortium letter.

  1. Follow the instructions under "How do I route a proposal?"
  2. Additionally, include agency required forms for subcontractees (example, budgets, checklist, etc.)
  3. Need consortium letter from subcontractee, signed by subcontractees' institutional official.

  1. 10% on the Salary, Wage, & Fringe base
  2. If NIH, only 8% of TDC minus equipment is allowed for foreign subs on an NIH grant.

  1. Route proposal/contract information via EPEX
  2. Budget (internal and/or external)
  3. Protocol
  4. Clinical Trial Agreement (if available)
  5. IRB Approval (if available)
  6. Name and phone number of the contact person at the agency

Note: You do not have to wait for IRB approval to route your clinical trial.

  1. Note instructions and decision tree for determining whether or not Office of Clinical Research review is needed per the OCR website.
  2. If OCR review is needed, route the proposal to the OCR via EPEX and email the OCR information sheet plus attachments to clinicaltrials@emory.edu per the OCR website.
  3. If OCR review is not needed, prepare the following set of documents for routing: *fully endorsed proposal via EPEX *budget (Siteminder and sponsor budget) *protocol *clinical trial agreement *draft informed consent form *draft HIPAA form (if applicable) The routing documentation should also indicate the name and email address of the sponsor's contact person for the contract. The routing package should be routed, via the standard process for routing proposals, as described above.

Note: The non-industry sponsored trials are routed the same as standard proposals.

  1. Check agency guidelines for transferring policies. You may wish to consult your program officer and/or grants specialist at the sponsoring agency for further assistance.
  2. Have previous institution prepare a relinquishing statement (for federal grants) to send to sponsoring agency.
  3. Obtain a copy of the relinquishing statement for your records.
  4. Route proposal through Emory with revised pages, i.e. EPEX, face page, budgets, resource pages, checklist, etc. and a copy of relinquishing statement from prior institution. As per #1 above, you will know the sponsor requirements.
  5. Contact appropriate compliance committees here at Emory University and secure approval.
    Institutional Review Board
    Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

  1. Check agency guidelines for transferring policies. The PI should verify that transfers are possible and how to reapply for these funds at his/her new institution (i.e., NIH will require the PI to complete a PHS 398 or PHS 2590 with the new institutions signatures).
  2. PI should write a letter to OSP stating:
    • Title
    • Grant Number
    • Date of Transfer
    • Any equipment associated with this grant that the PI wishes to take with them.
  3. PI, department chair and dean must sign this letter.
  4. For federal grants, PI must complete Final Invention Statement.
  5. The signed letter and Final Invention Statement must be sent to OSP.
  6. Upon receipt, OSP and the Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting will prepare a relinquishing statement (for federal grants) to be sent to the sponsoring agency.

In making the determination of whether a subrecipient or vendor (consultant) relationship exists, the substance of the relationship is what is heavily considered. There may be unusual circumstances or exceptions to the general characteristics listed below but these are the general criteria used. It is not expected that all of the characteristics below will be present and judgment should be used when determining whether an entity is a subrecipient or a vendor.

Subrecipient Relationship

A subrecipient relationship exists when a third party:

  • performs a substantive portion of the programmatic work, which is defined as project activities that are a primary purpose of the prime award;
  • has responsibility for programmatic decision making;
  • uses the funds provided to carry out a program of the subrecipient as opposed to providing goods or services for a program of Emory;
  • is responsible for helping Emory meet the requirements of its prime award;
  • potential for patentable or copyrightable technology;
  • potential for publication of results;
  • has its performance measured against whether the objectives of the prime program/award are met; or
  • has responsibility for adherence to applicable prime program/award compliance requirements.

Vender (Consultant) Relationship

A vendor relationship exists when a third party:

  • provides professional services or highly technical advice, such as a consultant;
  • provides goods or services as a part of its normal business operations;
  • provides similar goods or services to many different purchasers;
  • operates in a competitive environment;
  • no potential for publication or patentable/copyrightable technology;
  • is responsible only for meeting the requirements of the contractual services contract between Emory and the vendor;
  • provides goods or services that are ancillary to the operation of the Federal program; or
  • is not subject to compliance requirements of the Federal program.

Current rates can be found by using this link.

Recent billing details can be found by logging on here, clicking on the appropriate month and searching for your smartkey and PI name.

Common CAS items can be found at this link.

Please e-mail the agreement to OSP-CONTRACTS@LISTSERV.CC.EMORY.EDU.

Information on submitting clinical trials can be found on this link.

Information on PI Eligibility can be found on this link.

Emory’s policy on VA Appointments can be found on this link.

Emory’s policy on effort reporting can be found on this link.

Yes, an eCOI form for an amendment must be completed by the Principal Investigator and any other research team member named in the contract with the sponsor. This is to verify if conditions of conflict of interest have changed since the initial contract or a previous amendment was signed. Note: Not to be confused with the separate, initial and annual eCOI forms required from all members of the research teams by the Emory Office of Research Administration (ORA).

 

If you have any compliance related concerns you can call the Trust Line for Compliance Concerns at 1-888-550-8850.