You are here

FAQs

You are expected to disclose the outside activities, relationships, and interests that:

  • Have happened in the past 12 months,
  • You are currently engaged in, and
  • Have changed or are new, within 30 days of the change or engagement.

Based on the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy's National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33), a foreign/international talent recruitment program (FGTRP) is an effort organized, managed, or funded by a foreign government, or a foreign government instrumentality or entity, to recruit science and technology professionals or students (regardless of citizenship, national origin, or full-/part-time status).

FGTRPs raise U.S. sponsor concerns when they appear to operate with the intent of acquiring proprietary technology or software, unpublished data and methods, or other intellectual assets to further the military and/or economic goals of a foreign government through actions including, but not limited to:

  • Incentivizing/compensating the FGTRP participant to relocate physically to a foreign country in order to import/acquire the proprietary technology, software, etc.;

  • Allowing for or encouraging the FGTRP participant to receive U.S. Federal research funds while concurrently working at and/or receiving compensation from a foreign institution for the same, or similar, work;

  • Directing FGTRP participants not to disclose their participation to United States entities;

  • Compelling FGTRP participants to enter into contracts that conflict with their responsibilities to U-M, or that are disallowed by U-M.

Compensation may include cash, research funding provided directly to the individual and not through U-M, access to research facilities or other in-kind support, honorific titles, career advancement opportunities, promised future compensation, or other types of remuneration/consideration.

U-M researchers are advised that participation in an FGTRP must be disclosed to the university in M-Inform, and to federal sponsors in Biosketches and Current & Pending/Other Support, as applicable.  Federal governments consider this disclosure in determining funding.  Failure to disclose participation in an FGTRP has resulted in legal action by the U.S. government against researchers who are engaged in federally-sponsored research.

Contact COI.Support@umich.edu if you need assistance determining whether an activity or relationship may be considered a foreign government talent recruitment program.

The Mcubed Diamond Program provided an opportunity for donors or internal U-M units to invest in research projects that align with their specific interests. At this time, we are not forming new Diamond Cubes. If you are a donor who is interested in sponsoring a research project, please contact David Thompson, Director of Development for UMOR, davidtho@umich.edu

 

Mcubed Communities was a program to help facilitate the formation of larger teams beyond an individual research project, grouped around shared expertise, research theme, or other method to build collaborations and showcase successes. At this point, Mcubed Communities is on hiatus and the website has been taken down. Please stay tuned for further communications about other ways U-M is helping facilitate team formation.

 

There are no plans at this time to have a symposium for recent Mcubed projects. UMOR will communicate details of expectations for final deliverables at project close.

 

 

 

No. Mcubed 3.0 will be the last round of cube funding. Operations were transferred to the U-M Office of Research (UMOR), which will see active cubes through to project close-out. Spending and financial questions are addressed below. You may contact McubedHelp@umich.edu with further questions.

 

A cube is a funded project with three investigators from at least two different departments. Investigators create projects and invite collaborators to join them.

A cube is a funded project with three investigators from at least two different departments. Investigators create projects and invite collaborators to join them.

 

GENERAL

What is Mcubed?

Mcubed was a seed-funding program developed at the University of Michigan to stimulate and support innovative research. The program grew out of the IdeaWorks project in the College of Engineering and was part of the University’s Third Century Initiative.

 

Yes. ORCR will consider requests for study start-up consultations. Please contact us at orcr-deptemail@umich.edu.

An external entity conducts business with U-M when that entity and U-M enter into a transaction, including, but not limited to:

  • Sponsoring/funding research, testing, or training,
  • Subcontractor on a research project,
  • Vendor/supplier for procurement (e.g., purchasing) purposes,
  • Giving a gift to the University, or
  • Providing goods or services (e.g., equipment, drugs, devices) for research purposes or other U-M business purposes.

Historically, RCR training has included instruction related to the conduct of research only. U-M recognizes the importance of scholarship and scholarly activities to the academic endeavor and therefore has chosen to prepare our current and future scholars with the same standards of integrity delivered to researchers. Additionally, as the U-M SPG 303.03 (Policy Statement on the Integrity of Scholarship) applies to allegations of misconduct in both research and scholarship, U-M believes it is vital that all individuals be trained in the ethical and responsible standards held by U-M. 

 

No, NIH requires that RCR training be conducted in-person for a minimum of eight (8) contact hours and include instructor-led discussions. Online instruction, such as the PEERRS-RCRS course, is not sufficient. 

 

 

Please contact UMOR.RCRS@umich.edu with your contact information and job description. UMOR will request you complete an attestation that you are not engaged in research and scholarship and will remove the PEERRS-RCRS course from your required training in My LINC. 

 

 

For questions regarding instructor-led RCRS training, please contact your unit/school.  Please contact UMOR.RCRS@umich.edu for questions regarding general or PEERRS-RCRS training requirements. Please contact peerrs@umich.edu if an alternative training option is needed due to visual impairment or other ADA compliance reasons. 

For help with My LINC navigation or browser pop-up blockers, contact the ITS Service Center at 734-764-HELP [4357] or 4HELP@umich.edu.

While some of the material in GCP and PEERRS Human Subjects Research Protections is similar to some material covered in a RCRS course, they are completely different training requirements. Completion of CGP and PEERRS Human Subjects Research Protections does not replace the requirement to complete the RCRS training course. Likewise, the RCRS training course does not replace CGP and PEERRS Human Subjects Research Protection.

Per NOT-OD-10-019, the instructor-led RCR requirement applies to “D43, D71, F05, F30, F31, F32, F33, F34, F37, F38, K01, K02, K05, K07, K08, K12, K18, K22, K23, K24, K25, K26, K30, K99/R00, KL1, KL2, R25, R36, T15, T32, T34, T35, T36, T37, T90/R90, TL1, TU2, and U2R.   This policy also applies to any other NIH-funded programs supporting research training, career development, or research education that require instruction in responsible conduct of research as stated in the relevant funding opportunity announcements.”

 

Same as above. (See answer to “What if the sponsor is a foreign entity.”)

Any U-M faculty member, staff member, or student listed in one of the following investigator roles on a Proposal Approval Form (PAF) for sponsored funding or a sponsored award (AWD) is responsible for disclosing their outside activities in M-Inform and complying with the U-M COI in Research policy:

  • U-M Principal Investigator
  • U-M Sponsor Principal Investigator
  • Participating Investigator with Specified Effort
  • Participating Investigator without Specified Effort
  • Other Non-Faculty Investigator

Per U-M SPG 201.65-1, the U-M "COI in Research" policy, and the Public Health Service (PHS) financial conflict of interest regulations, a "family member" is defined as a spouse, domestic partner, and/or dependent children.

If a family member has an outside activity with an external entity that is doing business with your U-M department, you should disclose this activity in M-Inform if you are in a position to direct business to that entity.

The recipient institution should evaluate the element of the project that is being conducted outside of the United States within the context of the project as a whole when making determinations about significance. Some examples of activities that may be considered a significant element of the project include, but are not limited to:

- collaborations with investigators at a foreign site anticipated to result in co-authorship

- use of facilities or instrumentation at a foreign site

- receipt of financial support or resources from a foreign entity

Per NIH: "The recipient institution should evaluate the element of the project that is being conducted outside of the United States within the context of the project as a whole when making determinations about significance. Some examples of activities that may be considered a significant element of the project include, but are not limited to:

  • collaborations with investigators at a foreign site anticipated to result in co-authorship
  • use of facilities or instrumentation at a foreign site
  • receipt of financial support or resources from a foreign entity"

This is not performance of a portion of the project and you should answer "no" unless the work is performed in a foreign country.

Just because your sponsor is a foreign entity doesn’t mean your project has a foreign component. It’s where the work is performed that determines whether there’s a foreign component. 

 

Please reach out to your NIH Grants Management Specialist or Program Officer to confirm whether or not these individuals need to be listed. When required, disclosure of foreign co-authors to the NIH should occur prior to publication. Other sponsors have not specifically commented on this. Should you have questions, please consult your ORSP Project Representative.

The NIH definition of “foreign component” states that “extensive foreign travel by recipient project staff for the purpose of data collection, surveying, sampling, and similar activities” is a “foreign component.” 

Yes. You may not perform a significant scientific element or segment of an NIH-funded project outside the U.S. without prior NIH approval. Per NIH Grants Policy Statement 8.1.2.10 “Adding a foreign component under a grant to a domestic or foreign organization requires NIH prior approval.”

Yes.  There are three potential reporting requirements in this scenario:

 

  1. Foreign Component: For proposals and progress reports, you will need to account for this visitor as a “Foreign Component” if (a) s/he is performing a significant element of the project and (b) s/he is performing at least some portion of the project outside of the United States.
  2. Other Support: For proposals and progress reports, the visitor should be disclosed as a source of non-monetary Other Support.
  3. Project Personnel: For progress reports, the visitor should be identified as a participant if s/he has worked at least one person month per year on the project during the reporting period, regardless of funding source.

To receive funding opportunities sign up to Research Blueprint. Additionally, find internal funding opportunities at the Research Commons webpage.

For more information about the University's disclosure requirement and reporting processes, visit our HEA 117 Reporting FAQ page. 

Yes. In general, the Department of Education considers instances where a foreign source pays tuition for a student or students to meet the definition of a “contract” under Section 117(h)(1).

No. HEA 117 reporting is only concerned with incoming funds to the institution, not outgoing.

Yes. "In-kind" gifts of property need to be reported if they have a value of $10,000 or more.

No. Gifts and contracts that were processed through the DART system and the eRPM system that need to be reported to the Department of Education to comply with the HEA 117 reporting requirement will be identified through system queries run by staff in the Office of University Development (OUD) and the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (ORSP).

While we're working with to U-M Tech Transfer to get this information, we encourage you to still report it to us using the Unit Data Collection spreadsheet and we'll ensure that no duplicate information is reported to the Department of Education.

Your Unit Administrator takes care of that through eResearch. If you find the information here is not up to date, your unit liaison can update it in the Reviewer and Unit Liaison Workspace of eRPM. Here are links to ITS's step-by-step guides:

The start/initial date of an outside activity occurs at the point that a written or verbal agreement is established with the outside entity, or you begin work/activities with the outside entity.

Professional effort, as it relates to outside interest disclosure, is the expenditure of time (measured in days) to perform or support an outside activity. 

For example, if you spend 8 hours in a given day on a professional activity (e.g., research) and 4 hours of that day is spent on behalf of your outside activity, you would calculate 0.5 days of professional effort spent on that outside activity.  If you spent 0.5 days six times per year on that outside activity, you would enter 3 days of professional effort when disclosing the outside activity in M-Inform.  

If the outside activity involves no spent time (e.g., royalties, stock ownership) or if you disclose an outside activity of your spouse or dependent, enter 0 days for professional effort.

Yes. To assist faculty during this uncertain and challenging time, we may extend awards which are active as of March 31, 2020 and scheduled to expire prior or up to December 31, 2020, at no cost for a period of up to twelve (12) months. Upon request, the NCTX will be issued per grant modification for the respective grant award. The NCTX is not official until you receive a grant modification approval from UMOR. Any award that expires beyond December 31, 2020 that requires a no cost extension will be examined as the need arises.  If you have received funds from UMOR through the FGA program and find you need an extension on your project, please contact UMOR-FGA-Submissions@umich.edu for assistance.

Updated May 4, 2020

UMOR will continue to accept applications for the FGA program, as support for research and scholarly innovation and impact is part of U-M's and UMOR's core mission. This includes supports for publication subvention. However, we ask that faculty and units wait to submit proposals focused on activities that would not be allowable under the current COVID-19 related financial freeze policy and public health restrictions (e.g., activities defined as "non-essential" such as travel, conferences, new staff hires, hosting; and activities not allowable under public health policy such as direct contact human subjects research, group events, etc.). Please refer to the President’s COVID information site and the UMOR FAQs about allowable internal research spending and public health restrictions.

Also, current projects can continue, but some projects may need to be revised based on current COVID-19 related policies and restrictions.

As President Schlissel updates on when/how those restrictions will be lifted, we will update the FGA process and FAQs accordingly. [Note: UMOR will be continuing the FGA program evaluation started in fall 2019 and will be incorporating changes based on that evaluation – along with COVID-19 related policies - into the FGA program starting 2020-21.]  Please contact UMOR-FGA-Submissions@umich.edu with any FGA project related questions. (updated 5/4/20)

Yes. UMOR is still accepting funding requests during the COVID-19 crisis. There is some research that would be able to commence or continue, regardless of the COVID-19 situation, (non-lab work and non-direct contact with human subjects). If you are proposing/starting a new research project then you may still apply for funding through the FGA program.  Please work with the Research Associate Dean in your school/college to coordinate your funding request. 

Opportunity

Funding

Due Date
General "Coronavirus Information"    
Dear Colleague Letter on the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19) existing funding mechanisms; RAPID, <$200K rolling

 

  1. Visit scival.com
  2. Click "Sign In" in the upper right corner
  3. At the "Welcome" page, click "You can also sign in via your institution, organization or OpenAthens"
  4. At the "Find your institution" page, type in your U-M email address
  5. Click "Sign in via your institution"

Pages