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Dean’s Office College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Post-Award/Award

Services

Once the sponsor has notified you that your proposal has been funded, the Post-Award team of Research Administrators (RAs) will assist with the following activities for sponsored research in CLAS-supported units:

  • Reviewing notices of award and sponsor award documents to identify budget restrictions, reporting requirements, special terms and conditions, and required follow-up actions
  • Setting up the agreement in UFIRST and routing it for the appropriate signatures
  • Setting up the award in UFIRST, including allocating the budget and creating subprojects for key personnel in other departments at UF
  • Establishing subcontracts for key personnel at other research institutions
  • Reviewing award terms and conditions for post-award requirements, restrictions, reporting obligations, and sponsor-specific prior approval requirements
  • Processing award modifications and sponsor/UF prior approval requests in UFIRST, including:
    • Budget revisions
    • Change of key personnel
    • Change in scope of work
    • Requesting a no-cost extension (NCE)
    • Carryforward/carryover requests
    • Releasing incremental/supplemental funding on the main award and subcontracts
    • CAS exemption requests, when applicable
    • Reduction in PI/key personnel effort
    • Other sponsor-required prior approvals
  • Reviewing sponsor guidelines**, award terms, and UF policy** regarding the allowability of expenses or award actions
  • Assisting with award reporting requirements as requested
  • Managing UFIRST deliverables and sponsor due dates related to post-award actions, as applicable
  • Acting as the liaison between the PI and core research offices at UF, including DSP and Contracts and Grants
  • Assisting with incoming and outgoing award transfers, including relinquishment statements, transfer budgets, sponsor approvals, and coordination with the receiving or transferring institution
  • Coordinating award closeout requirements, including final technical, financial, invention, property, or other sponsor-required reports, as applicable

Post-Award Team

Contact Us

For questions, reach out to resoffice@clas.ufl.edu. All CLAS RO personnel have access to this account, which ensures a quick response time.

GENERAL FAQs:

Only Authorized Organizational Representatives (AORs) can accept an agreement or award on behalf of the University of Florida. Please do not sign any sponsor documents before confirming with your CLAS RA what necessary steps should be taken.

If you need to reduce the amount of effort committed to a sponsor, CLAS RO can assist with reviewing the prior approval requirements. Many sponsors have a threshold that determines when they need to receive a prior approval request for a change in effort. CLAS RO can assist with creating the prior approval request and updating UFIRST. However, CLAS RO is not involved with certifying effort or effort reporting in myUFL.

Please make sure you have completed RSH 500 and RSH207 as well as updated your profile on eDisclose. If you have never created a profile on eDisclose, instructions are available here: Navigating eDisclose (Discloser)  

START DATES AND PRE-AWARD SPENDING:

The start date is the first date any expense can be incurred. The end date is the date you agreed to complete the work by. The start and end date are listed in UFIRST along with how much money has been received and whether any incremental funding is expected.

Incurring expenses before the UFIRST start date, known as “pre-award spending”, may be possible depending on the sponsor and the circumstances. Please contact CLAS RO if you need to make a purchase before the funding start date.

MY INVESTIGATOR AND BUDGETS:

MyinvestiGator is the “online banking” for grants. You can find your current budget, balance, transaction details and pay data for all of your projects. If you have any questions or something looks incorrect, please let us know.

Each sponsor and award has different requirements for approving a budget revision. It is best to contact CLAS RO about your specific circumstances to determine what action needs to take place in UFIRST or with the sponsor before revising the budget.

In general, if your award is listed as a “Budget Level 3” in myinvestiGator, you can rebudget across categories without the sponsor’s approval. If the award is listed as a “Budget Level 5”, sponsor approval is needed to move money between categories.

END DATES AND EXTENSIONS:

Expenses incurred during the last 90 days of an award are highly scrutinized and there may be additional restrictions. If your award is nearing the end date and you need to make a purchase, please confirm with your CLAS RA prior to making the purchase.

If you are nearing the end of an award but do not anticipate completing the work, please notify us as soon as possible! A no-cost extension should be requested. If the sponsor denies a no-cost extension you must accomplish what you can by the end date and explain to the sponsor what prevented the project from being completed.

Sponsors have different guidelines for when to request a NCE. Typically, you should reach out to CLAS RO at least 90 days prior to the end of an award if you need more time. We will process an NCE request. The request should include your justification for why you need the additional time as well as how much additional time you need.

If you are co-PI on an award and the PI belongs to a different department, they will need to request the NCE.

INVOICING AND CLOSEOUT:

During grant closeout, any spending problems will be addressed. If your award is overspent, corrections will need to be processed. A review will also take place to ensure that all expenses have been assigned to the correct project and no anticipated charges are missing. Once all expenses have been verified, Contracts and Grants will process all necessary closeout paperwork.

Invoices are processed and submitted to the sponsor by Contracts and Grants. If they have any questions, they will require a review before submitting. It is imperative that we review and respond quickly so that invoices are not delayed and deadlines are met.