Award Setup

• Award Notification
  • Official Notification
  • Reviewing Award Terms & Conditions
    • The PI's role
    • LLU's role
• Accepting the Award
• Award Checklist

What happens next: Set up the Award (in the Post-Award Grants Cycle)

Award Notification

Official Notification

Upon approval, the sponsor typically sends the official Notice of Grant Award (NGA) toResearch Administration. Any unofficial notification sent directly to the PI, department, or school office should be immediately forwarded toResearch Administrationfor processing.

Research Administrationthen forwards the Notice of Grant Award to the PI with the following information:

• Title and description of the award;
• Award start and end dates;
• Dollar amount awarded;
• Terms of payment, e.g.letter of credit or invoicing;
• Programmatic deliverables;
• Financial invoicing or Reporting requirements;
• Cost sharing or matching expectations; and
• Revised budget (if changed from the proposed budget).

Reviewing Award Terms & Conditions

The PI's role: The PI should carefully review the Award Notice to understand its terms and conditions and to identify any changes the sponsor has made from the original proposal. In this review, the PI might ask:

• Are the programmatic deliverables and timelines acceptable?
• Does the project scope still accurately reflect the scientific or scholarly research originally proposed?
• Can the PI complete the scope of work within the time frame and funding established?
• If the budget has changed, will it still support the intended work?

LLU's role: Research Affairs (including the Research Administrationand FinancialManagement sections)must also approve all terms and conditions of the award, regardless of the sponsor, before accepting it on behalf of the institution. Many grants have general terms and conditions which address issues such as financial and performance reports, compliance with public policy, invention reporting, etc. These general terms and conditions are usually boilerplate documents attached to all grants awarded by a particular agency. If, however, theterms and conditions specific to the proposed award are not satisfactory to the PI and/or the institution, further negotiations may take place.

In reviewing the award's terms and conditions, LLU might ask:

• Will they meet the PI's needs?
• Have they changed from those previously proposed or negotiated?
• Are they consistent with LLUAHSC research policies for sponsored projects?
• Are they consistent with government-wide regulations for universities and non-profit organizations?
• Do they adequately address business/legal concerns for the institution, such as:
  • appropriate obligations for patents, copyrights, and data use?
  • minimized risk of loss?
  • maximized protection for the PI and for LLU?

Accepting the Award

Upon review and approval, LLU's designated signatory authority accepts the award on the institution's behalf. Since awards are made to the institution and not to faculty, staff, or others, these individuals cannot accept grants or sign contracts or agreements. For more information, see the LLUAHSC policy & procedure (H-33):Sponsored Project Proposal Review.

Once the award is accepted, LLU is legally bound to perform whatever is documented in the award. Violating the award terms and conditions could result in award restrictions, special monitoring by the sponsor, or even termination of the award.

Whathappens next: The official award file is transferredto the post-award department, Research Affairs - FinancialManagement.FinancialManagemenetworks with the PI to set up the award.

Award Checklist