University Approvals + Institutional Requirements

ePA-005 (Authorization to Seek Off-Campus Funding)

The ePA-005 is an internal form that provides the PI with all required "permissions" to submit a proposal for funding. The ePA-005 has two purposes: (1) It documents administrative, budgetary, and compliance information about the proposal and provides chairs, center directors, and deans with a summary of this information; and (2) Campus signatures on the form authorize the Research Foundation to submit the proposal (on behalf of the PI) to an external sponsor. A fully signed ePA-005 must be provided to Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) for every proposal to be submitted to an external sponsor.

An image of the completed form can be viewed from the proposal (and eventually the award) record in the PI Portal, an electronic research administration tool that provides you with secure online access to proposal, award, and sponsored project information.

Conflict of Interest

Federal regulations require that all persons who are involved in the design, conduct, or reporting of research must complete an annual conflict of interest disclosure. A financial conflict of interest exists if personal financial interests or other opportunities for personal benefit may possibly exert a substantial and improper influence on an employee's professional judgment in exercising any university duty or responsibility, including designing, conducting, or reporting research. University policies and procedures on financial conflict of interest require that an annual conflict of interest disclosure be completed by all faculty engaged in teaching and/or research activities, as well as by research staff and students who have a role in the design, conduct, or reporting of research.

University policies and procedures also require investigators to disclose personal financial interests with research sponsors or companies providing additional support (such as study drugs or project materials). This is required when submitting an ePA-005 or human subject, animal care and use, or biosafety new protocol for institutional review.

Effort Certification

Effort certification is the university's means of providing assurance to sponsors, especially the federal government, that faculty and staff have met their commitments to sponsored projects.  It should reflect that the salaries charged to sponsored projects are reasonable in relation to the work performed.

The PI initiates personnel appointments on the project, and payroll costs are distributed based on these appointments.  Effort reports are generated from payroll information, and investigators are asked to certify that the effort reports reasonably represent how effort was actually expended.

Effort has to be certified for all individuals who, during the subject quarter, receive some portion of their compensation from, or who contribute effort to, a sponsored project.