Awards are made by sponsors in full consideration of the skills and talents of the PI managing the project. Periodically, situations arise when a PI is no longer available to continue with the project.
Examples
- PI changed direction in research activity
- Leave of absence necessary for health or other personal reasons
- PI accepted a position at another institution and is leaving the university.
What May Happen?
The sponsor must be informed immediately in writing when this event occurs.
The sponsor will want to evaluate the circumstances and determine if another university PI can meet the project goals, if another institution will take up the work (leading to an early termination at our institution), or if the project will follow the current PI to his/her new institution.
How to Report
All notifications to sponsors should be in writing. Solely verbal conversations do not count as proper notification.
Make the request in RASS. OSP will send the request to the sponsor. See step-by-step instructions.
The university unit needs to gauge spending carefully to avoid unallowable expenses – when the PI is not managing the project, continuing expenses will be questioned by the sponsor.
Not informing a sponsor of a PI change may result in costly consequences to the university.