What Does the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects Support?
Learn more about what the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects supports at the University of Michigan and how it works with other offices across the university.
The Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (ORSP) at the University of Michigan supports researchers in obtaining and managing external funding for projects through services like proposal submission, award negotiation and award management. Research institutions like U-M rely on central units like ORSP to safeguard and advance research. ORSP engages with faculty and staff across U-M’s schools and colleges on all three campuses, as well as external sponsors, to support the administration of sponsored research and ensure compliance with applicable award terms, regulations and U-M policies.
Learn more about what ORSP does and how it works with other offices across U-M.
ORSP: U-M’s sponsor liaison
ORSP acts as a liaison between researchers and external sponsors, ensuring that all proposals, awards, and contracts and agreements comply with institutional policies. The office handles pre-award and non-financial post award activities, negotiates research agreements and is part of the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR).
A sponsor is an external entity that funds a project that might include research, training or other sponsored activity through funding mechanisms such as grants or contracts. ORSP also works with external entities to negotiate unfunded agreements (e.g., nondisclosures, memoranda of understanding) related to research projects.
There are various types of sponsors, such as state or federal government, nonprofit organizations, or private corporate or industry sponsors. The largest sources of sponsored research funding are government agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Energy.
The federal government mandates that a central unit at universities administer research activities funded by sponsors. Funding requests, agreements and awards must be processed through ORSP for review, proposal submission, award negotiation and acceptance. ORSP has signature authority to officially sign legal agreements on behalf of the university and is the authorized organization representative (AOR) for liaising with sponsors.
$2.16B
FY2025 total research expenditures
ORSP (Research) and Sponsored Programs (Finance)
“Sponsored Projects” and “Sponsored Programs” each manage separate functions within the sponsored projects lifecycle.
ORSP, a unit of OVPR, is responsible for pre-award and non-financial post award activities and negotiates research agreements. To locate the officers for a department, visit the ORSP Staff Lookup.
Finance-Sponsored Programs is responsible for financial post-award activities and other sponsored activities, such as outgoing subawards, processed through its Office of Contract Administration. To locate a contact in Sponsored Programs, visit the Sponsored Programs Coordinator Lookup.
Sponsored projects versus gifts
Gifts are processed differently than sponsored projects. Funds provided by individuals and in some cases by private nonprofit or for-profit organizations may fall under the category of gifts rather than sponsored projects. The Gifts and Records Administration Office in the Office of University Development processes gifts that come into the university. Learn about the characteristics of a sponsored project versus gifts.
Contracts and agreements
A contract or an agreement may be part of a sponsored project or separate. Sponsors may issue a grant, contract or cooperative agreement to the university. Contracts and agreements can come in the form of those that are funded, such as clinical trials or sponsored contracts, and those that are unfunded agreements, such as data use agreements, because there is no money attached. Learn more about Unfunded Agreement (UFA) Types.
Faculty, chairs, departmental administrators, and other staff do not have the authority to accept agreements on behalf of the University and must work with ORSP for support.
ORSP does not process material transfer agreements (MTA) or software licenses. For further information about MTAs, please refer to the Innovation Partnerships MTA website.
Research administration
Research administrators within U-M’s three campuses employ their broad knowledge of institutional and sponsor policies and procedures to support researchers in managing a research project from start to finish. ORSP works closely with research administrators across U-M to help researchers secure, manage and administer grants and contracts, ensuring overall compliance with institutional and sponsor guidelines.
While research administrators support the entire project lifecycle, ORSP’s role is primarily within the Route and Submit Proposal, Negotiate and Accept, Set Up Project, Manage Project and Closeout Project phases. The Find Funding and Develop Proposal phases are led by the schools/colleges at the unit level with support from other units in OVPR, such as the Office of Research Development. Learn more about other units that support the research enterprise below.
Helpful tips when working with ORSP
As a partner to the schools and colleges across U-M’s three campuses, ORSP processes a large volume of proposals, grants, contracts and agreements for sponsored projects. Project teams play a critical role in helping ORSP respond timely and efficiently. To that end, ORSP recommends a number of helpful project team practices.
In early discussions with sponsors about indirect cost arrangements, first work with your school/college/institute.
Utilize ORSP for negotiation and review of agreements and grants.
Leverage our signing authority services and grant acceptance on behalf of the university.
Sign up for the RAP and its related newsletters for need-to-know sponsored research updates and resources.
ORSP reviews and submits all proposals seeking external funding.
Proposals must adhere to ORSP’s Deadline Policy for review and timely submission.
Identify one individual who will serve as the single point of contact on all requests and inquiries.
Provide complete and accurate information or documents when submitting a request or inquiry.
Ensure agreements to be negotiated are editable.
Send questions related to a proposal that has not arrived at ORSP yet to [email protected].
For other questions, contact the assigned ORSP officer by checking the eRPM record (listed in the Project Representative field) or the Ironclad record (Workflow Owner). If an eRPM record has not been created yet, use the ORSP staff lookup to find the Officers assigned to your department.
When contacting ORSP, please include the following when available:
- Principal Investigator (PI) name
- Relevant record number for PAF/AWD/UFA/ACR/IC (proposal approval form/award/unfunded agreement/award change request/Ironclad)
- Sponsor contact name and email address, if applicable
For urgent issues, the project team should call their ORSP officer to discuss the situation.
The officer will do what he/she can to honor the project team’s request among other high-priority or time-sensitive requests. To find your ORSP contact, visit the ORSP Staff page.
Who to contact among central offices
While ORSP is a key part of the research lifecycle, other central offices are critical to a successful sponsored research project. The following highlights other offices and roles to contact for various aspects of the process. Research administrators within schools, colleges, departments and units are also key resources that help with policies, processes, systems and forms. To find research administrators, use the Find an RA search.
Office of Research Development (ORD): ORD connects researchers to resources and increases its investigators’ competitiveness in obtaining extramural research funding. Learn more at the Office of Research Development.
U-M Library: Get support for all stages of research — from the planning stage to funding strategies, help with formatting and citations, and sharing and preserving your work. Visit the library’s Help with Research page or Research Funding and Grants Guide for more information.
ITS eResearch: The ITS eResearch team manages the university’s site for electronic research administration, including regulatory management, M-Inform and proposal management. Visit eResearch to learn more and get help.
Research Ethics & Compliance: Ethics and compliance in research covers a broad range of activity from general guidelines about conducting research responsibly to specific regulations governing a type of research. Learn more about research integrity, human subjects research, animal care and use, export controls and more at Research Ethics & Compliance.
Sponsored Programs-Finance: Sponsored Programs manages the financial post-award activities of U-M’s research enterprise and other sponsored activities to ensure compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws as well as sponsor regulations. Learn more at Sponsored Programs.
Corporate and Foundation Relations: The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations in the Office of Development at U-M serves as the central point of contact for private foundations and corporations interested in supporting university research and programs. Learn more at Corporate and Foundation Relations.
Innovation Partnerships: Innovation Partnerships plays a critical role in translating discoveries from U-M faculty and researchers into real-world solutions by supporting patent protection, commercialization, startup company formation and growth. To learn more or submit an innovation, visit Innovation Partnerships.
For more details on U-M’s efforts to catalyze, support and safeguard research, visit the OVPR Units and Initiatives, the Sponsored Project Lifecycle and Roles and Responsibilities resources.