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PAF Question 1.2 - Purpose for Routing PAF
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This page will help you understand how to answer question 1.2 on the eResearch Proposal Approval Form (PAF).
Required PAF Question 1.2 asks:
The purpose for routing this PAF is (select one of the following):
- Proposal
- Contract
- Subsequent PAF
Why This Question Matters
Question 1.2 of the PAF is the first step in making sure a sponsored project, whether proposed or already funded, is set up properly in the eResearch System. A major distinction is that not all PAFs are considered proposals.
Accurately answering Question 1.2 ensures:
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Routing of the PAF to the appropriate Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (ORSP) team, and
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Completion of subsequent questions based on the option selected in the PAF.
ORSP will return the PAF for changes as 'Incomplete' when Question 1.2 is answered incorrectly.
Tip - Project Teams can enter an existing AWD ID in response to PAF Question 1.5, if applicable, no matter which PAF purpose is selected for Question 1.2.
Do you have a Proposal, a Contract, or Subsequent PAF? Let's find out!
Proposal
Full proposal to a competitive solicitation (NOFO, RFP, published on website), supplement application, or award transfer to U-M.
- Full Proposals to a competitive solicitation
Click for Examples
- Common Proposals
Proposals for submission to competitive solicitations such as Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) and Request For Proposals (RFP) or published on sponsor's website
- Federal Government proposals such as National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01, National Science Foundation (NSF) RAPID, NASA ROSES, Department of Energy (including National Labs), Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs)
- Non-Profit Associations or Foundations proposals such as American Heart Association, Breakthrough T1D, American Cancer Society and most Proposal Central submissions
- Industry propsals such as General Electric, Pfizer, Toyota Research Institute (TRI)
- Subaward to U-M
- U-M is a subaward on a direct sponsor's proposal submission to a prime sponsor under a competitive solicitation.
- A new Subaward Agreement to U-M is received and no PAF for the awarded funds exists.
- Subaward Agreement issued to U-M after the direct sponsor PI transfers institutions and this new agreement to U-M is issued from their new institution
- Examples of Subaward Agreements: FDP Templates or Sponsor's own agreement template.
- Tip - For Subaward Amendments issued to U-M for an existing project with an award record (AWD), see Subsequent PAF.
- Simultaneous Review of Terms and Submission of Proposal
Sponsor requests proposal materials be submitted to a competitive solicitation and that U-M review/red-line any terms or conditions at the time of submission. This is still considered a Proposal.
- Request for Proposal or Quote (RFP, RFQ)
- State of Michigan Procurement Proposals
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation
- Dept. of Defense Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs)
- Competitive Renewal proposal application - developed as fully as though the proposer is applying for the first time.
- NIH Competing Continuation (Renewal) - requests additional funding for a period subsequent to that provided by a current award
- NSF Competitive Renewal - both Traditional and Accomplishment-Based renewals
- Dept. of Energy (DOE) Renewal - additional funding to continue research for a project period subsequent to the current award
- Individual Projects under a Master Agreement - if they require submission in a sponsor system or are in response to an RFP.
- See Working with MDHHS webpage for example.
- After-The-Fact PAF
A proposal to a competitive solicitation has already been submitted to the sponsor but ORSP did not approve the PAF prior to submission (This includes if we've already received a check, notice of award, contract, draft agreement, purchase order, or a request for U-M to draft a contract for negotiation).
- Supplement or Additional Funding Application to a competitive solicitation
Click for Examples
- NIH Competing Revisions - an increase in support in a current project period for expansion of the project's approved scope or research protocol. Applicants must apply and undergo peer review
- NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Supplements on active awards
- NSF Dear Colleague Letters for Supplemental funds on active awards
- CDC Supplemental Funding for an active award (AWD)
- Supplement or Additional Funding Application (non-competitive) which must be submitted via the sponsor's system.
Click for Examples
- NIH Diversity Supplement
- NIH Administrative Supplement
- CDC Supplemental Funding Request under an awarded Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)
- Tip - For Supplement Applications (non-competitive) not submitted in sponsor system see Subsequent PAF.
- Award Transfer to U-M and sponsor requires U-M to submit information in a sponsor system or via email prior to issuing an award
Click for Examples
- A faculty member / Principal Investigator is moving from their previous institution to U-M and transferring a sponsored award to U-M and the sponsor requires U-M to submit information in a sponsor system prior to issuing an award
- NIH Transfer Awards submitted via Grants.gov or email
- NSF Transfer Awards submitted via Research.gov
- Tip - for Award Transfer to U-M where U-M is not required to submit materials in a sponsor system (e.g., Industry and Foundation awards) see Contract.
Contract
A project not in response to a competitive solicitation where sponsor has either:
- Provided a funding document (e.g., draft contract, Purchase Order (PO), check)
Click for Examples
- Clinical Trials - A pharmaceutical company reaches out to U-M to perform a clinical trial using U-M patient data and provides U-M with a contract
- Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Agreements - U-M faculty can work with any United States federal agency to enter into an IPA (e.g., VA, FDA, VERAM) and an agreement is issued to U-M. These are often already signed by the agency. See Ann Arbor VA IPA website for their template.
- U-M Faculty Consulting - A sponsor wants a U-M faculty member to provide consulting services and has provided U-M a contract where faculty will utilize U-M effort and funds will be paid to U-M
- Membership, Recharge, and Student Project Agreements - A single AWD record is used to manage agreements with multiple external entities. The initial PAF to set up the AWD and any subsequent PAFs to add external entities or new agreements are considered Contracts
- Membership Agreements - U-M manages paid membership (e.g., to a consortium or registry);
- Recharge Core Services (e.g., Animal Modeling, Imaging, Phenotyping);
- Student Projects (e.g., Multidisciplinary Design Program (MDP), Tauber, Ross Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP))
- Other projects where a single AWD will support agreements from multiple external entities
- Tip - For Amendments to existing external entity agreements only, see Subsequent PAF.
- New Master Agreements - The initial Statement of Work (SOW) or Work Order under the new Master Agreement is funded and both the Master Agreement and SOW or Work Order are provided at the same time
- Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) new Master Agreement(s)
- Industry projects where Sponsor wishes to use one Agreement to facilitate multiple statements of work
- Purchase Orders (POs) - PO issued as the funding agreement and no competitive solicitation is involved (e.g., NASA Purchase Orders)
- Service Agreements - A company wants U-M to perform laboratory testing on a company provided compound, material, or product and provides U-M with an agreement
- Editorial Services - A U-M faculty member has agreed to provide editorial services to a scientific journal and the journal provides U-M a contract
- Non-Collaborative Support - A U-M faculty member reaches out to a company or foundation and asks if they are interested in financially supporting a U-M research project or event, the sponsor informally agrees and writes U-M a check.
- Award Transfer to U-M - An agreement is issued to transfer a U-M faculty member's award from their previous institution to U-M
- Tip - For an Award Transfer to U-M which needs to be submitted in a sponsor system or via email, prior to issuing the award, see Proposal.
- Requested U-M draft an agreement
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- A company reaches out to U-M to perform laboratory testing on a company-provided compound, material, or product and requests U-M to provide the agreement
- Research Consortium - U-M manages through a Various Sponsors AWD and a new member signs a funding agreement to provide annual membership dues which U-M needs to sign or a current member signs an amendment to provide additional funding on the Various Sponsors AWD
- Faculty Collaborations - Faculty members from U-M and another institution want to collaborate on a project that will be funded by discretionary funds from the other institution and the other institution has requested U-M provide a contract.
- Required a specific ORSP Action prior to issuing an agreement (e.g., submission of documents by ORSP, authorized institutional signature, certification & representations, vendor forms)
Click for Examples
- Industry Sponsor - A U-M faculty member reaches out to a company (e.g., Pfizer, GE) not in response to a solicitation and proposes a research collaboration related to the company's product and the company has indicated that it intends to fund the project but first needs U-M to register as a vendor in its system and/or provide other types of documents (e.g., a budget or W-9) before providing a contract
- Simultaneous Review of Terms and Submission of Materials (non-competitive) - Sponsor (e.g., Dept. of Justice (DOJ)) requests review/red-line of draft award terms and requests materials be submitted via email (ie., vendor forms, budgets, scope of work) prior to issuing an initial agreement or amendment to an existing award and there is no competitive solicitation
Subsequent PAF
Additional funding for an existing AWD issued as an amendment (not a new award) and does not require a competitive proposal submission (total funding now exceeds approved PAF amount on AWD for the solicitation it was awarded under).
- Additional Funding (non-competitive) issued to an existing AWD via an Amendment, and now the total awarded funding exceeds original PAF'ed amount(s)
Click for Examples
- Subaward Amendment
- Amendment issued to U-M for an existing project with an award record (AWD) and total amount of funds on the project increases and no PAF has captured those additional funds. Most often you will see this with FDP Templates for Subaward Amendments.
For example, a Direct Sponsor like UPenn, who is funded by a Prime Sponsor like NIH, has issued a Subaward Amendment to U-M for additional funds on an existing project and all of the following apply:
- There is already an award record (AWD),
- The total authorized amount is now more than what the original PAF(s) had captured, and
- The funds are issued under the same prime funding solicitation
- Incremental Funds - Subaward Amendment which authorizes budget periods one year at a time under the same prime sponsor solicitation and there is an existing Award (AWD)
- Tip - for a new Subaward to U-M see Proposal.
- Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Modification or Extension - which increases funds to existing IPA Award (AWD)
- Amendments to Membership, Recharge, and Student Project Agreements - amendments to existing external entity agreements only (i.e., not adding a new external entity to the project) and project team is adding funds to an existing award (AWD) and no ORSP review of an agreement is needed
- Membership Agreements - where U-M manages paid membership (e.g., to a consortium or registry)
- Recharge Core Services (e.g., Animal Modeling, Imaging, Phenotyping)
- Student Projects (e.g., Multidisciplinary Design Program (MDP), Tauber, Ross Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP))
- Other projects where a single AWD supports amendments to agreements from multiple external entities
- Tip - For adding a new external entity to an existing AWD see Contract.
- Supplement or Additional Funding Application (non-competitive) and not submitted via a sponsor system
Click for Examples
Supplemental funds - A sponsor (e.g., National Labs, HRSA, CDC, Alzheimer's Association, Inc., Toyota, Dept. of Education) wishes to expand upon an already existing award (AWD) either through a revised Statement of Work (SOW) or an addendum to the SOW and requests documents be sent via email (e.g., budget, justification, revised SOW or Addendum) prior to issuing an agreement (e.g., an Amendment to an existing award (AWD)) and there is no competitive soliciation.
Additional reference: SOP 500.04 New PAF Requirements for Processing Additional Funds
Tip - for a Supplement Application (non-competitive) which must be submitted via the sponsor's system, see Proposal.
Still unsure? Try the Decision Making Tool below.
Properly answering PAF Question 1.2 is the first step in making sure a sponsored project is set up properly in the eResearch system. This survey is designed to aid in answering PAF Question 1.2.
PAF Question 1.2 Decision Making Tool (Open full screen in new window)