Academic Policies Pertaining to Sponsored Project Proposals

1. Principal Investigator Eligibility

Only members of the Academic Council are eligible to submit proposals to outside agencies. Any exceptions to this policy must be approved by the appropriate School Dean, and by the Vice Provost and Dean of Research, as outlined in RPH:  Principal Investigatorship (PI) Eligibility and Criteria for Exceptions. A copy of the approval memorandum must be part of the final proposal package submitted to the Office of Sponsored Research.

Stanford University requires all PIs to review their obligations for stewardship of sponsor funds and compliance with applicable regulations. For that purpose, specialized briefings are conducted. Individuals may also certify their review of this material on this website.

Those ineligible for PI status may be identified as Associate Investigators, but not as Co-PIs.

Proposals must be submitted in the name of the individual who will be primarily responsible for the scientific, technical, and fiscal direction of the project. Submission of the proposal in the name of a "nominal" PI who then delegates primary responsibility to an ineligible PI is inconsistent with the responsibility of Academic Council members for the intellectual direction of the University and is not permitted.

Emeriti faculty recalled to active duty are eligible to act as principal investigators on sponsored projects and are eligible to submit proposals for both externally sponsored research and certain internally funded projects as defined in 2.A.3 of this policy, provided such activities are within the department’s intended role for the individual. Emeriti faculty must be recalled to active duty through a formal appointment process initiated and approved by their academic department. The project must not exceed the duration of the recall period, and the department must be willing to accept responsibility for meeting obligations to students and staff associated with the research, as well as the contractual obligations, in the event of the principal investigator’s inability to do so.

If faculty are retired under the current Faculty Retirement Incentive program (FRIP), apart from the initial 50% FTE recall period under the program, emeriti faculty will not be eligible to be recalled to active duty and hence will not be able to serve as principal investigators. Additional information about FRIP can be found here:  FRIP (Faculty Retirement Incentive Program). 

For more detailed information regarding recall appointments, including the school and department approval process, please refer to the Faculty Handbook 2.6.7 Recall of Emeriti Faculty to Active Duty.

2. Educational Component

Sponsored projects should have an educational component, typically evidenced by student involvement (either with or without charge to the project), for purposes of training and support of students doing thesis or dissertation-level research.

3. Openness in Research

Proposals must not result in a grant, contract, or any form of agreement whose terms would violate the policy on Openness in Research adopted by the Academic Senate . The University will not accept a project which violates this policy. To avoid questions of conflict of interest or non-compliance with the Openness in Research policy, the full identity of a particular sponsor must be made known for all sponsored projects. [See Openness in Research checklist]

4. Presence at Stanford

A PI may be absent from campus yet remain engaged in a project. In cases where the PI of an on-going sponsored project will be disengaged from the project for a period of three months or more, another Academic Council member must be named as Acting PI (see RPH 2.2) to assume direction of the project, subject to approval of the sponsoring agency.

5. Rights and Safeguards