Award Life Cycle
- Finding Sponsored Funding: the Research Administration team members can assist principal investigators with searching for funding opportunities. To check for current listings, please visit the Funding Opportunities page or contact your Portfolio Manager (Portfolio Distribution list).
- Proposal Preparation: When a PI identifies a funding opportunity that matches his/her research interest, she should contact her Portfolio Manager immediately.
The portfolio manager will assist in gathering all the relevant information and pieces for a proposal. Some of the questions that a Portfolio Manager may raise are: is it sponsored?; does the researcher have a PI status?; does the proposal require provost approval?; does the proposal involve other institutions, and if so, in what form?; is the project appropriately governed, meaning does the PI have overall responsibility to manage and administer the grant?; are there any intellectual property issues?; does the proposed research use human subjects or animals?; does the proposal budget accurately reflect SEAS costs?; does the proposal follow sponsor’s and University guidelines?
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Proposal Submission: Once a proposal is complete and finalized, it is then forwarded to Harvard University of Sponsored Programs (HU-OSP) for final review, approval, and submission to the sponsor.
- All proposals must be submitted to HU-OSP five (5) business days prior to the sponsor submission deadline, in accordance with the Harvard 5-day submission deadline policy.
- Depending on the level of complexity of the proposal, it may also require Provost approval.
- HU-OSP will ultimately review and approve the proposal and confirm its submission with the Portfolio Manager.
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Award Receipt: If the proposal is recommended for funding, the sponsoring agency will issue an award document. This will usually be sent to HU-OSP. If the sponsor sends it directly to you, make sure to forward it to your Portfolio Manager for review, processing, and set-up. The most common funding mechanisms are:
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grant,
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contract, and
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cooperative agreement.
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Negotiation: All awards should be made out to the President and Fellows of Harvard College, which is the legal name for Harvard. Once the agreement is received by HU-OSP, the Grants and Contracts Officer will initiate the negotiation process with the sponsoring agency on behalf of SEAS. Only HU-OSP has authority to negotiate and accept sponsored awards.
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Obtaining Approvals: If the proposed research uses animal and/or human subjects, the PI will need to obtain IACUC or IRB approval, respectively. Other approvals may include a participation agreement for new researchers, cost sharing certification, conflict of interest disclosure, and provostial approval.
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Account Setup: When the agreement is signed by both HU-OSP and the sponsoring agency, HU-OSP sets up a billing account to be used for posting charges related to the project. The PI and all others who have an active role on the project will receive an Action Memo generated from GMAS (Grants Management Application Suite). The Action Memo will include all the basic information, including the PI’s name, sponsor name, project dates, award number, obligated and anticipated dollar amounts, and the billing code.
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Expenditures: Your Portfolio Manager reviews and approves expenses to a sponsored billing account and insures they are expended in accordance with the approved budget and the sponsor guidelines. Any expenses that deviate from the budget will be reviewed and checked with the PI. When expenses that deviate from the budget and sponsor terms are required, the Portfolio Manager will work with you to make any requests and/or adjustments necessary for keeping expenditures in compliance.
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Billing and Reporting: Every sponsored award requires timely billing and reporting on a schedule agreed upon by Harvard and the sponsor. HU-OSP submits financial reports and invoices to the sponsor so that the PI can focus on the technical reporting requirements.
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Compliance: Part of compliance is to insure that all the necessary institutional and sponsor approvals have been obtained and kept up-to-date, so that research can take place unabated. The University is subject to the federal OMB Circular A-21, “Cost Principles for Educational Institutions,” cost and your Portfolio Manager works with you to ensure that these principles are consistently applied to all applicable sponsored awards.
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Award Closeout: Unless the project needs additional time and/or funds, no expenses may be made to a sponsored account beyond the project end date mandated by the sponsor. The award closeout process includes:
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Ensuring that all allowable expenses are made within the designated project period;
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Preventing overexpenditures and account deficits;
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Determining that all expenses comply with the sponsor’s cost principles and the approved budget.
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Your Portfolio Manager is responsible for communicating any financial issues to HU-OSP, and for assisting with the submission of the final financial report. Other aspects of the closeout process include the final narrative/technical report (for which the PI is responsible), and any required patent, invention, and/or equipment reports (submitted by HU-OSP).
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Audit: Harvard University is subject to internal and external audits, and each year a number of sponsored awards are randomly selected for this process. Auditors review every aspect of the award for compliance with both institutional and sponsor guidelines, including:
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timely submission of required reports and salary certifications;
- Allowability, allocability, consistency, and reasonableness of all expenditures;
- Proper monitoring of subawards;
- Proper and adequate record-keeping practices.
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