Managing a Research Project
Principal investigator responsibilities
The principal investigator has primary responsibility for achieving the technical success of the project while complying with financial and administrative policies and regulations. Â鶹´«Ã½ Restricted Fund Accountants are available to assist with many post-award functions such as policies and procedures for rebudgeting, obtaining prior approvals, and no-cost time extensions.
PI’s project administration responsibilities
- Overall management of the budget.
- Understanding the sponsor’s general policies and specific terms and conditions covering the agreement.
- Authorizing only those expenditures which are reasonable and necessary to accomplish the project goals and are consistent with the sponsor’s terms and conditions.
- Spending no more than the amount authorized by the sponsor for the project period.
- Adhering to sponsor limitations on the amount of money that may be spent in any single budget category.
- Incurring costs only for goods or services that will be used or received during the project period.
- Charging project costs directly to the appropriate project account.
- Avoiding cost transfers because they are highly suspect during an audit.
- Documenting cost share commitment.
- Hiring and payroll actions.
- Complying with purchasing regulations.
- Following travel authorization and expenditure procedures.
- Timely submission of sponsor-required reports.
- Complying with facilities and administrative cost, intellectual property, property management, and project extension and termination policies.
- Ethical conduct of research and creative activity.