Unlike cost-reimbursement arrangements, where expenditures are reimbursed after they are incurred, some granting agencies award fixed price contracts.
When such an award expires, leaving a residual balance in the account, a determination must be made as to whether the remaining funds may be utilized. The decision belongs to the awarding agency, and is often communicated within the terms and conditions of the agreement.
If the unrestricted balance results from a firm, fixed-price agreement, it is often available for the investigator to spend. In such cases, where the direct cost balance is less than 15% of the original direct cost budget, the balance will be transferred; net of indirect costs, to an unrestricted discretionary account and be made available to the Principal Investigator.
Balances remaining that are greater than 15% of the original direct cost budget will be evaluated by the Dean of the School/College to determine their disposition.
A subaward is a portion of an award that is distributed by the University (pass-through entity or prime) to a third party (subrecipient) to facilitate performance of and payment for project work in compliance a project’s terms and conditions. The University issues a subaward as the recipient of a prime award or as the Subrecipient of another institution’s prime award.
Subawards are typically funded on an annual basis, renewable for additional periods as appropriate or based on availability of prime award funding. The University issues modifications or amendments as needed.
If the subaward activity was not originally proposed, a rebudget and sponsor approval are required. Please contact your Sponsored Program Services Post-Award team for assistance.
Subaward Process
To initiate a subaward the following documents are required:
Upon receipt of the requisition and aforementioned documentation, SPS will review, process and issue a draft subaward agreement for review and approval by the PI.
The PI should review the draft agreement, confirming the period of performance, budget, scope of work, and terms and conditions are accurate. Special attention ought to be paid to reporting requirements, publication terms, data sharing and project specific compliance concerns.
Upon receipt of PI approval, SPS will route the agreement to the subrecipient for partial execution.
SPS will negotiate any changes proposed by the subrecipient and obtain PI approval if necessary.
The agreement must be fully executed before invoices from the subrecipient may be received and routed for approval for payment.
For information, please contact the SPS Subawards general email subawards@uconn.edu.
Sponsored Program Services’ mission is to support research excellence at the University of Connecticut’s Storrs and regional campuses. We accomplish our mission by encouraging and facilitating the use of external sponsorship of project needs and by serving as stewards of funds provided to the University by sponsors. SPS maintains an atmosphere that is supportive and protective of the research and scholarly/creative activities of UConn faculty, staff, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. We view ourselves as research advocates and professionals dedicated to the best service possible, which means that we work with our campus constituent groups to increase accessibility and reduce encumbrances and streamline our business processes while ensuring adherence to sponsors’ requirements.
All awards received by the University include terms and conditions that are agreed to when an award is accepted by UConn. The terms and conditions typically include the timely submission of one or more of the following reports:
- technical/scientific/progress report,
- financial statement of expenditures,
- report of inventions,
- patent report,
- royalty report,
- inventory list of equipment purchased under the award,
- contractor’s release form, and/or
- final invoice or voucher.
In addition, the terms and conditions include the approved budget dollars and line items as well as the rebudgeting terms and billing terms. The University is also obligated to follow all federal rules and regulations such as Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Grant Guidance prescribing allowability of costs to awards and the Cost Accounting Standards.
eRA Help Desk
860.486.7944
eRA-support@uconn.edu
Self-Service Help Desk Portal: https://it.research.uconn.edu/SelfService/
Staff
The InfoEd eRA portal represents the entire InfoEd enterprise suite that houses all of the various modules. Effective 1/1/24, the v13 portal will no longer be supported by InfoEd Global and Research IT. All users should switch to the Enable Portal as Default in your Profile > Settings > Portal Preferences.
How To Materials
Listed below are various self-service handouts and instructional sheets with simple instructions on how to perform various functions within the InfoEd eRA portal tool such as login, change your password, or edit preferences within your user profile.
For technical issues with InfoEd, please email era-support@UConn.edu or call 860.486.7944.
The InfoEd eRA portal represents the entire InfoEd enterprise suite that houses all of the various modules.
How To Materials
Listed below are various self-service handouts and instructional sheets with simple instructions on how to perform various functions within the InfoEd eRA portal tool such as login, change your password, or edit preferences within your user profile.
For technical issues with InfoEd, please email era-support@uconn.edu or call 860.486.7944.
The InfoEd Proposal Tracking module acts as a central clearinghouse of both pre- and post-award information for Sponsored Program Services, faculty, and sponsored program administrators. It provides a single reference point for tracking all details related to proposals including: budgets, subcontracts, approvals, technical reports, and all associated communications.
How To Materials
Listed below are various self-service handouts and instructional sheets with simple instructions on how to perform various functions within the InfoEd My Proposals module. Please refer to the new Enable Portal Technical User Guide while we refresh these individual how to documents.
For technical issues with InfoEd, please email era-support@uconn.edu or call 860.486.7944.
The mission of Technology Commercialization Services is to expedite and facilitate the transformation of UConn discoveries into products and services that benefit patients, industry and society.
Our goals are to bring together UConn researchers and the business community in order to significantly enhance the commercial and societal impact of UConn’s research; identify and help move inventions by UConn faculty, staff and students towards the market through licensing or new company formation; secure patent protection for new technologies, where warranted by market forces; generate support for ongoing applied/translational research projects including industry partnerships.
Contact us to evaluate and protect a UConn invention; find proof of concept and/or startup funding at UConn, from the investment community, as well as state and private sources; receive coaching and mentoring for your new venture; start a company; license a technology; incubate your business at UConn; access University-wide programs supporting innovation and entrepreneurship.
We are here to help! You can contact any of our team members by visiting the Contacts page.
USEFUL LINKS:
- Issuance, Review and Execution of the Project Agreement: Because UConn Storrs and UCH are separate fiscal entities, a project agreement needs to be executed before funds can be transferred between the two campuses. After the lead organization has received its award, a project agreement is prepared by the lead’s sponsored program services (UConn Storrs) or the procurement office (UCH Farmington). This agreement is emailed to the subawardee’s sponsored program’s office for review and execution.
Note: The project agreement must be signed by authorized signatories of both parties. Pls are not authorized to sign.
- Award/Fund Setup: Separate project accounts are set up at the lead and sub’s campuses. Prior to account set-up, all compliance-related approvals should have been obtained, e.g., Institutional Review Board IRB)/Stem Cell Research Oversight (SCRO)/Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)/Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC).
- Invoicing: Before invoices can be paid, they must be approved by the lead campus’s principal investigator.
- Amendments: Competitive project periods often span multiple budget years. If the sponsoring agency awards funds on a budget year basis, issuance and execution of amendments will be necessary to next year’s funding after it has been released to the lead organization by the sponsor.
- Carryover of Funding and No-Cost Extensions: Carryover of funds and no-cost extensions (NCE) are not authorized without the lead awardee’s written approval. If needed, at least sixty (60) days prior to the end date of the current budget period the PI(s) should seek approval for any carryover or NCE requests.
- Award Closeout: So that awards may be closed out in accordance with sponsor requirements, final invoices will normally be required no later than 45 days following the termination date of the award project period.
For assistance with cross campus subawards,
There is a mechanism in place that allows Storrs graduate students, both US and international, to be paid directly by UCH as graduate assistants; there is furthermore a mechanism to allow them to have their tuition waived at Storrs. It is not necessary to use the subaward/project agreement mechanism for use of graduate students on grants.
All graduate students (including those at UCH) are enrolled through the Graduate School at Storrs. The only significant issues in the past had been obtaining tuition waivers for graduate assistants at UCH because of the different financial systems at our campuses. UCH’s Human Resources department provides the HR Database of Graduate Assistants to the Bursar’s Office at Storrs a list of all graduate assistants at UCH and they get an automatic tuition waiver similar to graduate assistants at Storrs.
International Students at Storrs are vetted through their International Office while UCH International Students are vetted by Ms. Jaishree Duggal in UCH HR. Both offices work in concert to ensure compliance with applicable immigration laws. International Students are registered through the SEVIS system operated by the Department of Homeland Security, INS, which recognizes the two campuses as separate entities.
State-of-the-art research is carried out in the twelve schools and colleges and the more than 80 research centers and institutes at the University of Connecticut. The annual expenditures at the University exceed $250 million.
Enhancing interdisciplinary research is a strategic goal for the University. An important component of this is the strengthening of the inter-campus collaborations between Storrs and the Health Center. We can assist faculty in preparing and submitting externally funded inter-campus proposals and awards.
Because UConn (Storrs) and UConn Health (UCH) are two separate fiscal entities, proposals seeking extramural funds are administered similar to sponsored activity involving any other inter-institutional collaborations – where one institution serves as the lead applicant and the other consortium partner acts as the subawardee.
At the proposal stage, the external funding agency will typically require a statement of commitment from each collaborating organization to ensure that there is appropriate programmatic and administrative support and oversight.
In order for Sponsored Program Services (SPS) at Storrs and UCH to approve a Letter of Intent/Consortium Statement, both the lead organization and subawardee proposals need to be routed, reviewed and approved by the respective academic and administrative offices.
- Lead Organization: One campus is the lead organization; the other campus participating in the project is the subawardee. The decision regarding which campus serves as the lead applicant typically is dictated by the scope of the project – the lead organization performs a substantive role in conducting the project and maintains appropriate oversight of all scientific, programmatic, financial, and administrative matters related to the grant.
- Budgets: The subawardee’s proposed costs (direct and F&A) get rolled-up into the lead organization’s budget. Each site (Storrs or UCH) applies and receives its respective F&A costs. The lead organization waives F&As associated with the first $25K of inter-campus subaward. Subawardee personnel cannot be included as personnel in the lead organization’s budget.
- Internal Review/Approval by the Subawardee Organization: At least 10 business days before the funding agency’s deadline, the subawardee principal investigator needs to submit internal forms (Storrs or UCH routing and significant financial interest, scope of work, budget and budget justification plus any additional documents requested to the subawardee’s sponsored programs office [Storrs SPS or UCH ORSP]). After review and approval by that office, the subawardee investigator will submit the approved consortium statement, scope of work, budget and budget justification plus any additional requested documents to the lead organization’s principal investigator.
- Internal Review/Approval at the Lead Organization: The principal investigator for the lead organization should route the complete application to his/her respective sponsored programs office, using the normal review, compliance, and approval processes and by that office’s stated deadline.
Staff Contacts
Roles and Responsibilities
Subawardee Pre-Award
- Prepares budget that includes all subawardee costs (direct and F&A), budget justification, scope of work, internal forms, and consortium statement.
- Routes sub’s proposal for internal review/approval (dept., dean) and submits to SPS/ORSP for review and approval.
- Submits sub’s proposal (consortium statement, scope of work, budget/ budget justification, etc.) to lead ’s PI for inclusion in lead’s proposal to be submitted to sponsor.
Lead Applicant Pre-Award
- Prepares the entire application budget — all lead organization costs, including the sub’s budget and lists subawardee as consortium partner.
- Routes proposal (including sub’s budget and consortium statement) through SPS/ORSP for review and approval.
- Submits proposal to sponsor.
- Notifies subawardee of sponsoring agency’s funding decision.
Experience indicates that there is no uniform approach that will meet the needs of our diverse industry partners. The University is committed to working with its partners to provide leases for incubation space, contact terms and IP rights necessary to meet company goals. Faculty working with industry partners should contact the Technology Commercialization Services (TCS) about specific requests; our policies provide an ability to offer industry research partners options that serve their unique needs.
Licensing Policies
Royalty Sharing Policy
The University of Connecticut policy provides that our faculty inventors share in revenue generated by their discoveries as follows:
- 33 1/3% to the Inventor(s) as personal income (Multiple Inventors share the income).
- 33 1/3%to be further subdivided as follows: (a) 50% to the Inventor(s)’ research program to be administered through an account set up by the Office of the Vice President (OVPR). (This allocation is only available to Inventor(s) having an active research program at the university); 30% to the Inventor(s)’ primary academic unit (department) or other administrative unit to be administered by the Director or Department Head; and (c) 20% to the Inventor(s)’ school or college to be administered by the Dean.
- 33 1/3% to the University of Connecticut.
If a faculty member is no longer at UConn, the portion of the revenue that would have gone to the inventor’s research program (50% of the 33 1/3%) will be shared equally between the appropriate dean and the university.
License Back Policy
If the University does not believe that it can successfully commercialize a University Invention, and if the faculty member is not interested in founding a Startup, the University will offer the inventor a license of the University Invention (such license referred to as a “license back”). In addition, the inventor may request a license back from OVPR at any time. OVPR is not required to grant a license back but will respond to any request within three months. If the University elects to license back the University Invention to the inventor, the inventor, as licensee, will assume obligations related to patent expenses and commercialization and will agree to pay a portion of the gross revenue that the inventor receives through his or her commercialization efforts. In addition, the inventor will not be entitled to the net revenue payments described in Section 3 of this policy.
As stated in the UConn IP and Commercialization Policy
Other Policies
Guidelines for Faculty, Staff, and Students who are affiliated with a company: Guidelines for FACs and SBIR-STTR 101818
Student Employment: https://policy.uconn.edu/2011/06/02/use-of-students-in-outside-employment/
Faculty Consulting: https://consulting.uconn.edu/
Financial Conflict of Interest: https://ovpr.uconn.edu/fcoi-home/
CT Code of Ethics: https://policy.uconn.edu/2011/05/24/guide-to-the-state-code-of-ethics/
UConn Code of Conduct: https://policy.uconn.edu/2011/05/17/employee-code-of-conduct/
Intellectual Property and Commercialization: https://policy.uconn.edu/2015/10/08/intellectual-property-and-commercialization-policy/
The Office of the Vice President for Research is responsible for assessing and addressing the education and information needs of UConn staff and faculty involved in sponsored research and compliance activities across UConn’s schools and colleges on all University campuses.
This section of the website provides educational information and support including tutorials, manuals, job aides, videos, and other reference guides to help and support faculty, staff, and students.
Subscribe to the UCRESADM-L Listserv for more information on educational opportunities and other OVPR notices.
Learn something new everyday!
Research agreements between the University and outside entities come in many form and serve a wide array of purposes. They cover applied research, evaluation, training, demonstrations, material transfers, confidentiality terms and data use, intellectual property, and more.
Through these agreements, we partner with a wide array of entities, both governmental (local, state and federal) and private (corporate and non-profit).
Our Contracts Team assists you in creating, negotiating and executing these agreements by facilitating discussion and negotiating terms.
Contact us at spscontracts@uconn.edu. Bring us in early. We are here to help!