The Sponsored Projects Lifecycle

The sponsored projects lifecycle is the life of the project from inception (identifying the opportunity) to closing out the award (closeout). The stages of the lifecycle can be divided into two main categories: pre-award and post-award.

Sponsored Projects Offices (SPOs)

What is a Sponsored Project Office, or SPO? The role of the UCSD SPOs is to serve the research community with expertise in support of sponsored research proposal and award administration. The SPOs are responsible for the stewardship of sponsored research and research collaborations. They review and authorize proposals for submission as well as interpret, negotiate and accept contracts and grants for sponsored projects funded by government agencies, nonprofit, industry and other public and private sources.

The Role of the Fund Manager

As a fund manager, you will interact with various people and offices that support and manage sponsored projects throughout the project lifecycle.

UCSD Sponsored Project Offices (SPOs)

There are four SPOs at UC San Diego:

• OCGA—Office of Contract and Grant Administration

OCGA handles pre-award and post-award for general campus, as well as post-award for Health Sciences.

• • The Sponsored Research Team handles proposals, non-NIH federally-funded clinical trials and UCSD PI-initiated clinical trials, industry contracts and fellowships.
  •  The Ancillary Agreements Team handles outgoing subawards, unfunded agreements, incoming service agreements, outgoing multi-campus awards (MCAs), and some material transfer agreements (MTAs).
• HS SPPO—Health Sciences Sponsored Projects Pre-Award Office

HS SPPO handles pre-award and submits only NIH and AHRQ grants, subaward grants and fellowship proposals on behalf of the Health Sciences department.

• SIO OCGA—Scripps Institution of Oceanography

SIO OCGA serves as the administrative liaison for activities related to Scripps research, contracts, grants and other transaction agreements funded by federal, state and private agencies.

• OCTA—Office of Clinical Trials Administration

OCTA handles all industry-initiated, industry-funded clinical trials. OCTA is in VC Health Sciences. (Note: PI-initiated and non-NIH federally funded clinical trials are handled by OCGA.)

Other Offices

Office of Research Affairs (ORA)

The ORA supports, facilitates and promotes research at UC San Diego by optimizing services to compete for and win grants, speeding UCSD discoveries to the marketplace, building research collaborations and partnerships with industry and other institutions, supporting the next generation of researchers in our classrooms and labs, and continuous improvement of administrative and regulatory systems, and processes to manage risk.

The ORA oversees or supports many offices related to sponsored research including, but not limited to, Innovation & Commercialization (OIC), Conflict of Interest (COI), Organized Research Units (ORUs), and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Their website has links to many research-related offices.

Research Proposal Development Service (RPDS) The Research Proposal Development Service (RPDS) is UC San Diego’s central research-development unit, housed within the Office of Research Affairs. They help faculty write more competitive and compelling proposals. In addition, they have a resource library with job aids for creating strong proposals.

Compliance Offices

There are four core offices of the Research Compliance and Integrity Program.

• Conflict of Interest (COI): The COI Office ensures campus compliance with UC policy, state law and federal regulations pertaining to conflict of interest. The office also staffs the Independent Review Committee (IRC).
• Export Control identifies and manages export risks and provides export licenses in support of the research activities of university faculty, staff and students. Export control regulations require research to abide by strict rules governing the electronic transfer or shipment overseas (or to foreign nationals within the United States) of certain information, technologies and commodities, with certain exclusions and exemptions. Export Control Checklist.
• Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Office: The IACUC oversees the university's animal care and use program and is responsible for reviewing all animal use protocols, ensuring compliance with federal regulations, inspecting animal facilities and laboratories, and overseeing training and educational programs.
• Research Misconduct: All UC San Diego scholars are expected to aspire to the highest standards of integrity in their research and comply with applicable policies and procedures, both internal and external.

Other Compliance Offices

• Human Research Protections Program: The HRPP has responsibility for review of research involving human subjects conducted by all Schools, Centers, and Programs of UCSD. The HRPP office assists researchers in complying with federal, state and University policies regarding experimentation involving human subjects, and oversees the review and conduct of research conducted by federally registered Institutional Review Boards (IRBs).
• Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S): This office helps with risk mitigation, research safety and other issues related to workplace health and safety.
• SIO Ships/Diving: This office handles Export Control and EH&H type issues for all things related to SIO’s research vessels and diving.

Other Offices

• OCGA: International Research Collaborations International research collaborations can take many forms such as hosting a visiting researcher from a foreign university, a multi-site clinical trial with participants from Europe, or establishing an affiliation agreement with a partner in Australia. While OCGA handles some international agreements, they may consult with other teams such as COI, Export Control, UC OATS, or OPVSA among others.
• UC OATS (Outside Activity Tracking System): A system to facilitate tracking and compliance, as well as education for faculty, for matters related to the University of California, Office of the President (UCOP) Conflict of Commitment policies. The OATS portal allows faculty members to report outside activities and income in accordance with UCOP conflict of commitment policies. This office often collaborates with COI and Export Control.
• Research Service Core (RSC): The RSC provides pre- and post-award fund management services for VCHS departments as well as training and support with Training Grants.

Key Personnel Offices

• Graduate Division: The Graduate Division is the central resource for all matters related to UCSD graduate students, including reviewing and submitting Fellowship proposals.
• Office of Post-Doctoral and Research Scholar Affairs:This office provides guidance and expertise for academic research scholars.

People on the Proposal: Senior Key Personnel

• Principal Investigator (PI): The lead researcher who will personally direct the research effort or project and/or will personally oversee the program.
• Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI): secondary lead on a funded project
• Co-Investigator (Co-I): other faculty funded to provide research activities; may be from other departments. Note: this designation is only used on NIH proposals
• Multi- Principal Investigator (Multi-PI) Note: this designation is only used on NIH proposals

People on the Proposal: Other Personnel

• Postdoctoral Scholar (Post-doc): A post-doc is a person who is continuing their training following completion of a doctoral degree (e.g., Ph.D., M.D., Pharm.D.) They may work on multiple projects; policies are managed by OPVSA.
• Graduate Student Researcher (GSR): A Graduate Student Researcher is a registered UC San Diego graduate student who performs research under the direction of a faculty member. The research may or may not correspond to the student’s thesis research; polices are managed by the Graduate Division.
• Visiting Graduate Student (VGS): A Visiting Graduate Student (VGS) is a non-UC, pre-doctoral graduate student pursuing research at UC San Diego related to their degree program.
• Visiting Scholar: A scholar from another university, research institution, government agency or non-profit organization on leave from his/her home institution who visits the University for the purposes of participating in a University-sponsored educational program, cooperative agreement, or collaborative research project under the supervision of a UC San Diego faculty, for a short period of time.
• Staff: Staff members who work on the research project and/or assist in the lab. For example, technical/laboratory staff; Staff Research Associate (RSA), programmer, technician.
• Independent Contractors: Independent contractors are engaged by the university to perform specific functions or tasks (deliverables). Independent contractors have multiple concurrent clients, advertise their services in publications, work on separate/distinct project, and have invested in various business-related expenses. Most importantly, an independent contractor has no affiliation with the University.
• Consultants: Consultants provide management advice or recommendations, typically in the form of a written or verbal report; they provide services or consultation that are unique, specialized, or highly technical.

Award: Financial

• OPAFS: Office of Post Award Financial Services: This is the office that will set up the award and assist with all matters related to spending and managing the grant funds, including:

• • • Invoicing
    • Financial Reports
    • Allowability of costs
    • Closeout
• General Accounting: This office provides accounting services, reports and training on various accounting processes and procedures. In addition, General Accounting manages the identification and tracking of equipment inventory which can be accessed via the Campus Asset Management Systems (CAMS) on Blink.

Award: Contractual

• OCGA: This office makes sure your award is in compliance. They work closely with OPAFS.
• Audit & Management Advisory Services (AMAS): This office handles internal controls, financial accounting, fraud investigations, healthcare regulatory compliance requirements, etc. 
• Reporting: Go to reports.ucsd.edu for specific reports. If a report is not available, you can put in a ticket to request one.
• Advancement: It is comprised of seven collaborative departments that support philanthropic partnerships at UC San Diego.
• Office of Foundation Relations: This office cultivates, develops and maintains relationships with outside foundations.
• Corporate Relations: This office cultivates, develops and maintains relationships with corporate partners and sponsors.
• Closeout: The following offices will assist with certain aspects of Closeout.
  •  Office of Innovation and Commercialization (OIC): Reach out to this office if there is a patent that needs to be reported or if or intellectual property (IP) terms need to be negotiated.
  • OPAFS: Office of Post Award Financial Services