Contracts Application Life Cycle

The flowchart below provides an overview of the whole research contracts process from idea stage to approval in principal to opening the cost centre. Research contracts are more complicated than grant applications as a few more steps are involved such as negotiations, legal assessment, intellectual property etc. If you are working on developing a contract touch base with a Contracts Manager as soon as possible and allow for more planning time. Some of the text in the flowchart is linked to specific reference pages, for more information click on the text of interest.

 

Idea/ Planning Stage: Researcher Meets with Grant Facilitator to:

• Choose the best granting agency and determine eligibility.
• Choose the best granting program/ opportunity.
• Determine if this is to be a team or individual application.
• Discuss the type/stage of this opportunity (e.g. letter of intent, development grant, full proposal).
• Review the specific grant criteria and instructions.
• Discuss application format guidelines (e.g. proposal and CV).

Draft Proposal Reviewed by Grants Facilitator:

If you would like feedback on the content (structure, reviewer criteria, proofreading and editing) then the Grants Facilitator will need your application/proposal three weeks in advance to:

• Review according to the grant agency assessment criteria;
• Review for adherence to proposal format prescribed;
• Review for clarity and understanding;
• Review budget and matching funds commitments; and
• Provide overall comments as an informed reviewer.

 

 

Proposal attached to Institutional Signature Sheet and Department and Faculty Signatures Obtained:

All research applications require an accompanying Institutional Signature Sheet. This document records institutional commitments (cash and in-kind), ethics certifications required, etc. made at the time of the application submission.The Grants Facilitator can assist in preparing this document, and it is strongly recommended that it be reviewed by the Facilitator for accuracy prior to you circulating it for signature.

The proposal and the Institutional Signature Sheet must be circulated together in order to obtain the authorizing signatures from your Department Chair, the Dean of the Faculty, and any Directors you may report to (e.g. Director of a Research Centre).

Every grant application, letter of intent, or letter of support (that includes a cash and/or in-kind contribution) needs to have authorizing signatures from various people at the intuition. This ensures that those that need to know about your plans for the research are in-the-know.

For example, your Department Chair needs to know out of courtesy and in case workloads or department resources need to be adjusted. Likewise, if you are working under the auspices of a research centre or institute, that Director needs to know of any proposed use of centre/institute equipment, facilities, personnel, and/or funds.

Your Dean provides the final department-level review and signs to confirm the eligibility and appointment of the applicant and to signify awareness of faculty research activities and acceptance of resource commitments, including institutional cash and/or the in-kind commitment(s) listed. Any budget requests listed will need the Dean to assign a cost centre so that Finance knows where those commitments are coming from.

You need to start this process at least three weeks before the application needs to be sent off. We realize that time can be tight, and as long as the attached proposal is in a good draft form (ie. the substance is not changing, nor is any VIU resource commitments or the overall budget changing), then there is not a problem with attaching a draft copy when asking the Department Chair or Dean to sign.

The budget section on the ISS only needs budget figures IF the project requires some financial or in-kind funds from VIU to help support the project. Don’t forget to list any other types of in-kind resources needed such as additional office space, space for student assistants, etc. The intent here is to make sure discussions for these resources take place and everyone agrees before the grant proposal is submitted rather than trying to reconstruct the commitments after the grant is approved.

Proposal & Institutional Signature Sheet submitted to the Research Scholarly Activity Office for Review and to Arrange for Signature by the Vice-President of Academic and Provost:

One working week prior to the agency deadline, the application and Institutional Signature Sheet containing signatures of the applicant, Department Chair, Centre/Institute Director (if applicable) and Dean must be submitted to the Research & Scholarly Activity Office for review and approval by the Director of Research Services and the Vice-President of Academic and Provost. The Research & Scholarly Activity Office will organize the review and signature by the Vice-President of Academic and Provost. Applications will not be submitted until the appropriate authorizations at each level are obtained.

Research & Scholarly Activity Office Submits to the Funding Agency:

The Research & Scholarly Activity Office will ensure your application gets submitted whether online or paper copy and the Grants Facilitator will e-mail you an exact copy of what was submitted.

Contract Received:

Upon receipt of the official unsigned contract from the contractor, by the Research & Scholarly Activity Office the Contract Facilitator will review the contract as a whole, but in particular will be reviewing for: indeminity, publication rights for researchers and students, ownership of research results and ntellectual property, sub-contracting clauses, ethics requirements, ownership of equipment as a result of the contract, confidentiality, reporting requirements, termination and amendments, project leader obligations and restrictions, institutional obligations and restrictions, payments and legal jurisdictions.

If the applicant receives the contract it needs to be sent to the Contracts Facilitator as soon as possible.

The Contracts Facilitator will consult with staff responsible for Risk Management and with lawyers as needed. Once the Risk Management people have reviewed the indemnity clause, then the VPAdministration will authorize the contract to be signed by the VPAP. The Contracts Facilitator will manage this signing process within the institution.

Cost Centre Paperwork:

All research contracts will be assigned a cost centre within the Research range. Cost centre paperwork will be prepared by the Research & Scholarly Activity Office and forwarded via e-mail to the researcher with instructions for completion. The respective Dean, and/or Director and Secretary will be copied on the e-mail.

Researcher Completes the Cost Centre Paperwork:

Within one week of receipt, the cost centre forms should be completed by the researcher. A completed cost centre package should consist of the 1) cost centre request form; 2) Funding Agency Notice of Award; 3) ethics certifications (if applicable); 4) budget cashflow form; 5) signing authority forms. The researcher is required to fill out the forms and obtain all the required signatures. Signing authority forms for anyone other than the researcher must be authorized by the researcher and not the Dean.

Dean Signs the Cost Centre Paperwork:

The authorizing signature of the Dean is required on the cost centre paperwork. The researcher should return the whole package to the Research & Scholarly Activity Office.

Research & Scholarly Activity Office Checks for Certifications:

Upon receipt, the Research Office reviews the cost centre package for completeness and ensures that any ethical (human/animal/biohazard) certifications required are in place. The cost centre paperwork is then forwarded to Finance. Cost centre paperwork is only forwarded to Finance for activation once all certifications are in place.

Finance Opens Cost Centre and Assigns Signing Authorities:

Finance will activate the cost centre and funds will be available (if received) for the researcher’s use.

Governance (e.g. Notice of Award, Eligible Expenses) Documents Uploaded to the Financial Records System (FRS):

Once the cost centre is active, governance documents, including the Notice of Award, Institutional Signature Sheet, certification documentation, web links to the granting Agency's guidelines for financial management, etc. will be uploaded to the cost centre and available to anyone with signing or viewing access. If a reporting template is provided by the agency, this will also be uploaded for easy access. Note that access to the funds in the cost centre will be suspended if appropriate certification, including renewals if required, are not obtained.

Cost Centre Orientation Meeting:

Once the cost centre is open and governance documents uploaded, the Research Services Manager meets with the researcher(s) and applicable budget personnel to review the cost centre, signing authorities, guidelines for eligible expenditures, ethics renewals, etc. An in-depth Financial Records System (FRS) orientation can be arranged if required.