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Government Sponsors

The federal government mandates that a central unit at the University administer the initiation of sponsored activities. These administrative responsibilities require a professional staff with broad knowledge of the regulations of federal agencies and a support staff to maintain the extensive records required by federal sponsors. ORSP's staff reviews proposals, assists with formats, presentations, and budgets, reviews grants, negotiates agreements, and processes all awards to Sponsored Programs.

Research Relations with Government Sponsors

The federal government mandates that a central unit at the University administer the initiation of sponsored activities. These administrative tasks require a professional staff with broad knowledge of the regulations of federal agencies and staff to maintain the extensive records required by federal sponsors. ORSP staff reviews proposals, negotiates agreements, and processes all awards to Finance-Sponsored Programs. 

ORSP provides support for research and other sponsored activities with state and local governments. While discussions regarding the technical work should be carried out by the project team, faculty members are not authorized to negotiate the general terms and conditions of agreements. They should refer such negotiations to ORSP. 

Who at ORSP can help me work with my Government sponsor?

Our ORSP project representatives triage all types of sponsored projects. We are organized by school or college, so we can help you with any project. Look up my ORSP Government Team Project Representative.

What are some examples of Government Sponsors and what are tools I need to work with them?

National Institutes of Health

National Science Foundation (NSF)

  • NSF Fastlane

US Department of Agriculture

(July 30, 2013) The USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Research Terms and Conditions mandate that all faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and staff participating on awards receive training in the responsible conduct of research (RCR). To that end, U-M has determined that completion of the "Foundations of Good Research Practices" online module in the Program for the Education and Evaluation in Responsible Research and Scholarship (PEERRS) will meet NIFA's training requirement. Individuals subject to this training requirement must complete the PEERRS "Foundations of Good Research Practices" module before USDA NIFA awards will be released. See http://my.research.umich.edu/peerrs/ to register for the "Foundations of Good Research Practices" module. Questions regarding NIFA's responsible conduct of research training requirement should be directed to PEERRS@umich.edu.

Federal Departments and Agencies