Sponsored Programs
Award Negotiation and Set Up
Award Negotiations
Award Negotiations
Award negotiations is the period of time and the scope of activities between proposal
submission and UCR's acceptance of an award. During this period, the award mechanism
(grant, cooperative agreement or contract) and the sponsor will largely determine
the length and complexity of the negotiation process. The end result of award negotiations
is a mutually agreeable set of terms under which UCR will conduct the proposed project.
Who Can Negotiate the Award?
The authority to negotiate an award on behalf of the University has been delegated
from The Regents to the Chancellor. The Chancellor has redelegated this authority
to Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA). SPA works in conjunction with the Principal
Investigator to negotiate an award that is acceptable to the University, Principal
Investigator, and sponsor.
Changes to the Scope of Work and/or Budget
Any time a sponsor requests or requires a change in the originally proposed budget
or scope of work, the Principal Investigator should always notify and coordinate
a response through the Contract and Grant Officer assigned to their unit before
submitting a revised budget or scope of work to the sponsor.
Back to top
Grants and Cooperative Agreements
Grants and cooperative agreements usually contain references to a sponsor's established
grants management policies or in the case of government grants, government-wide
regulations, laws or directives. While most grants and cooperative agreements from
federal sponsors do not require negotiation of terms and conditions, grants from
private non-profit sponsors and other non-governmental sponsors may require negotiation
of a variety of terms. These negotiations usually revolve around such issues as:
- indemnification
- intellectual property rights
- allowability of costs
Back to top
Industry Research Contracts
Agreements with for-profit sponsors cover many activities including basic, applied
or developmental research, collaborative research, and various types of testing.
As a public, non-profit educational institution, the University is bound by certain
policies and regulations regarding what it can and cannot accept in an agreement.
These policies are designed to foster the University's basic mission of teaching,
research and public service and to ensure the academic freedom of our faculty. Because
for-profit sponsors are motivated by different forces, they sometimes do not understand
the ideals and principles behind our policies. Consequently, negotiations can take
additional time while SPA works with the sponsor to arrive at a mutually acceptable
agreement.
Whenever possible, the University tries to negotiate an agreement using the appropriate
standard University contract language for the activity proposed. These standard
agreements address key concepts required by University policy. When a for-profit
sponsor prepares an agreement or insists on controlling the preparation of an agreement,
these concepts may or may not be addressed and can lead to protracted negotiations.
Contract negotiations with for-profit sponsors can be difficult and complex because
the agreements must address a substantial number of issues in a variety of areas
such as budget, payments, audit, scope of work, intellectual property rights, publication
rights, indemnification, termination and confidentiality.
Before commencing negotiations, SPA attempts to discuss all aspects of the proposed
project with the Principal Investigator. In particular, SPA needs to know whether
graduate students will be involved in the project, if existing University or sponsored-owned
intellectual property will be used in conducting the project, and if research materials
that are not of UCR origin are needed to perform the work.
Back to top
Federal/State Contracts
Federal
Contract negotiations with a federal government agency primarily focus on budget
and scope of work issues. The terms and conditions of the award are usually fixed
by law or regulation. However, differeinces in the interpretation of law and regulation
can result in the negotiation of certain clauses, espeically in the areas of export
controls, restrictions based on citizenship status, contractual requirements to
provide protected private information in the absence of any regulations, options
to classify the project as secret, publication apprroval and other publication restrictions
or editorial controls. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the terms and
conditions imposed by the agency are appropriate for the work proposed and applicable
to the University.
State
Contract negotations with state agencies primarily focus on budget and scope of
work issues, payment terms, use of UC travel rates, reporting requirements, requirements
for documenting invoices, audit, ownership of research records, termination and
penalty clauses for breach of contract.
Back to top