Reminder

Compliance protocols MUST be approved and linked in SeRA to a SPO project record prior to award acceptance. 

See ORA's Award Acceptance Resources for additional information.
Stanford
Office of Research Administration

When Investigators Leave Stanford

When PIs of active sponsored projects leave Stanford they and their department must address several key action items prior to the PI departing Stanford.

Certification of Expenses

PIs must certify all expenses incurred on their sponsored projects prior to leaving Stanford. See How do PIs review and certify expenses if they are leaving or have left Stanford? for more information.

Closing and Transferring Awards

Active sponsored projects on which a departing investigator is named as the PI need to be either…

  1. Closed early (aka early terminated)

    • For each project an investigator has that will end/close as a result of the investigator leaving Stanford, an early closeout or termination must be processed.  All Stanford expenditures must be incurred prior to initiating an early closeout/termination request so that Stanford can accurately report to the sponsor and conclude any final sponsor billing.  This includes PI & Key Personnel effort has been appropriately charged to the project in accordance with the award’s terms & conditions. Any significant reduction of PI and/or senior key personnel effort may need prior sponsor approval.
    • Once the department research administrator (DRA) has confirmed and verified all Stanford expenses for a project that will be incurred actually have been incurred, the DRA can initiate in SeRA a Central Office Request (COR) form) Other - Postaward (Accountant) to request an early closeout/termination for the project.
    • Either after OSR Post award completes their early closeout or concurrently, the the department research administrator (DRA) must also notify their institutional official of the intent to early terminate the award so that the institutional official can contact the sponsor.  For awards processed by the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR), the DRA can initiate in SeRA a Central Office Request (COR) form) Other Preaward Request.  For awards processed by the SoM's Research Management Group, work directly with your Research Process Manager (RPM).

  2. Transferred to another investigator here at Stanford

    • For each project an investigator has that will transfer to another investigator here at Stanford, the supporting DRA should submit a SeRA-COR Sponsor Approval for PI Change transaction as soon as they become aware of the investigator’s intent to leave Stanford and name a new PI.  All expenditures for the departing PI should be incurred or at least forecasted prior to contacting the sponsor so that Stanford can accurately report to the sponsor and conclude any final sponsor billing for the departing PI. This includes ensuring the departing PI’s effort has been appropriately charged to the project in accordance with the award’s terms & conditions. Any reduction of effort may need prior sponsor approval.
    • If the new PI and departing PI would like to create a subaward that would be issued to the departing PI’s new institution to provide support for the departing PI to continue their work on the project at their new institution, it is highly encouraged the departing PI confirm with their program officer at the given sponsor that the sponsor would be open to this.  Assuming yes, the supporting DRA should prepare and submit a SeRA-COR Sponsor Approval for New Subaward transaction for each affected project as soon as they become aware of the departing PI’s intent to leave Stanford and the new PI's desire to subaward to the departing PI at their new institution.
    • Please note, as part of requesting a new subaward, the departing PI’s new institution must complete and sign a Subrecipient Statement of Collaborative Intent (formerly Commitment Form)  OSR Form 33.  The OSR Form 33, along with all other relevant and required supporting subaward documents should be attached to the SeR-COR Sponsor Approval for New Subaward transaction.

  3. Transferred to the investigator’s new institution

Property/Equipment Considerations

Refer to Property Management Manual section 4.2 Disposition and Transfers.

In general, equipment purchased with sponsored project funds for use in a specific project should remain available for use for the duration of the project. PIs who are in the midst of projects that included funding for equipment and who will continue the project at a new organization, should work with their DRA and Department Property Administrator (DPA) to have the equipment transferred with them. Shipping costs for such equipment usually may be charged to the original or transferred award as an allowable cost.

Other Considerations

For sponsored projects where the departing Stanford investigator is not the PI, but is senior/key personnel named on the project’s most recent Notice of Award, it is typically required that a sponsor prior approval request be submitted to and approved by the sponsor to remove the investigator from the project.  The supporting DRA should submit a SeRA-COR  Sponsor Approval for Key Personnel Change transaction for each affected project as soon as they become aware of the investigator’s intent to leave Stanford and remove themselves from the project.

Alternatively, if a lead PI would like to create a subaward that would be issued to the departing investigator’s new institution to provide support for the departing investigator to continue their work on the project at their new institution, the supporting DRA should prepare and submit a SeRA-COR Sponsor Approval for New Subaward transaction for each affected project as soon as they become aware of the investigator’s intent to leave Stanford.  Please note, as part of requesting a new subaward the departing investigator’s new institution must complete and sign a Subrecipient Statement of Collaborative Intent (formerly Commitment Form)  OSR Form 33.  The OSR Form 33, along with all other relevant and required supporting subaward documents should be attached to the SeRA-COR Sponsor Approval for New Subaward transaction.

FAQs

  1. My PI will be working on and incurring expenses on their projects up until their last day at Stanford.  How can we finalize expenses for them to certify and to initiate an early closeout or transfer prior to their leaving in this case?
    • The PI and department should project final expenses as accurately and as is reasonably possible and then proceed ASAP with requesting the early closeout or transfer as above discussed.  Final projections should be communicated to your OSR Post award Research Accountant in the early closeout request. 
  2. If my PI wants to transfer their existing project to another Stanford PI who would then issue a subaward to my PI at their new institution, does the newly named Stanford PI have to commit effort to managing the project?
    • Yes.  The only exception to this would be if the project meets the criteria to be exempt from Stanford’s requirement of a commitment of PI effort e.g. if the project were an equipment grant, student augmentation award, or a project classified as Other Sponsored Activity.
  3. What if a PI has already departed Stanford, has active sponsored awards remaining at Stanford, and is unavailable and/or unresponsive?
    • For Certification of expenses refer to What do I do if my PI is unable to review and certify project expenditures due to illness or death?
    • For each project an investigator has that will end/close as a result of the investigator leaving Stanford an early closeout or termination must be processed.  All Stanford expenditures must be incurred prior to initiating an early closeout/termination request so that Stanford can accurately report to the sponsor and conclude any final sponsor billing.  Once the department research administrator (DRA) has confirmed and verified all Stanford expenses for a project that will be incurred actually have been incurred, the DRA can initiate in SeRA a COR Other Postaward to request an early closeout/termination for the project.
    • For projects where an alternative Stanford PI can be identified the supporting DRA should submit a SeRA-COR Sponsor Approval for PI Change transaction as soon as they become aware of the original investigator’s departure.
  4. What if my PI plans to transfer an award that has subawards to other institutions? Are there extra steps in that situation?
    • If there are subawards on a project that will need to be terminated earlier than currently awarded, we generally need to provide all affected subrecipient institutions at least thirty days’ notice prior to early termination (check the subaward agreement for timeline). It is important to notify your OSR institutional official right away in the event that subawards need to be terminated early.
    • Stanford must continue to pay any invoices from subrecipient institutions for costs properly incurred during the remaining subaward period, even if the subaward will be reissued from the PI’s new institution once the main award is transferred.
    • Any subawards will need to be closed out and invoices fully paid before the award can be closed and transferred to the PI’s new institution.

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