Who can serve as Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator?
Full time faculty members, Emeritus faculty members, A&P staff, and post-doctoral employees can serve as a Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on a sponsored project proposed to a Federal, State, foreign or local governmental agency, commercial entity, and foundation.
Graduate student employed by the university as either Graduate Teaching Assistants/Associates (GTAs), Graduate Research Assistants/Associates (GRAs), or Graduate Associates (GAs) can serve as a Principal Investigator for any fellowship authorized by the sponsoring agency; GTAs, GRAs, and GAs also may serve as Co-Principal Investigator on any grant or proposal being submitted with a member of the university community already authorized to submit proposals. Undergraduate students can serve as a Principal Investigator under a fellowship authorized by the sponsoring agency.
Exceptions
Exceptions to this policy must be processed in accordance with the procedures delineated in the Procedures section, found at Who Can Serve as a PI Guideline.
Huron Research Suite (HRS) – Grants
If you plan to submit a proposal for funding, please fill out the COS Huron Proposal Form and submit it to COSpreaward@ucf.edu. The Primary Purpose and Research Purpose responses must align. Please see Research Purpose Matrix for more detailed information. The COS Pre-award team will create the Funding Proposal (FP) on your behalf.
Institutional Information
Budget Templates
Be careful to ensure no “overwriting” of formulas as calculations may return erroneous results. On the PI budget tab select the number of budget periods.
COS Budget Template (Fringe Rates effective July 1, 2025
Cost-share
Cost-share is the portion of the project or program cost not borne by the sponsor. It is the University’s share in the cost of conducting the project/program. The University is moving towards a prohibition of voluntary committed cost-share. Please alert your COS Proposal Manager as soon as you know your project will include “voluntary committed cost-share,” i.e. no salary requested for you or any Key Personnel.
If you plan to request cost-share funds from OR via the P3 Program, please note that your request must be submitted for approval ten (10) business days in advance of the Sponsor’s deadline to allow the VP of Research to review.
Budget Justification
This template is provided as a “guide” and can be revised as needed.
Budget Justification Template (Fringe Rates effective July 1, 2025)
Facilities and Other Resources
This template is provided as a resource to revise as needed.
COS Facilities and Other Resources
UCF Fringe Benefit Rates
UCF composite fringe benefit rates are available at https://fa.ucf.edu/cfbr-ucf-cfbr/.
UCF Facilities and Administrative Rate Agreement
Facilities and Administrative also referred to as Indirect and/or Overhead costs are costs that are incurred for common or joint objectives and therefore cannot be identified readily and specifically with a particular sponsored project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity.
Unless the Sponsor stipulates in their guidelines or via publication on their website, UCF defined F&A rates (also known as Indirect Costs) will apply to all funding proposals submitted. Please see most recent agreement linked below:
University F&A Rate Agreement
For exceptions please see the Indirect Cost Rate Reduction Request Form.
A reduced rate may be considered if:
- The sponsor has a published limited rate less than our negotiated rate for organized research, 49% MTDC. If the sponsor limits the rate we may charge or does not allow F&A to be charged, then we will honor that rate and adhere to the guidelines. The guidelines and the proposal needs to be submitted through workflow to meet the 5-day rule.
- The F&A Rate Reduction Form may be completed for non-federal proposals (with the exception of SBIR Phase 1) if they meet one of the eligibility criteria on the form to request consideration of a reduction in F&A to 10% TDC if approved. This form, along with the budget and SOW, should be submitted in advance prior to sending the HRS/FP in workflow to allow for approval to be received and budget to be finalized. Per the form, this should be submitted 10 business days prior to the deadline.
- Requests for use of F&A Rate (IDC) other than our federally negotiated Organized Research Rate (49% MTDC) must be submitted and approved prior to submitting the HRS/FP in workflow with final budget. This should be submitted 10 business days prior to the deadline.
For Sponsored Awards Under $10,000 a 0% indirect cost rate will apply, see standard operating procedure for Streamlined Indirect Cost Rates for Sponsored Awards Under $10,000. The process is as follows:
- At the time of proposal, the research coordinator in their home unit will work with the Pl to create the proposal budget.
- Budgets for projects up to and including $10,000 will use a 0% indirect cost.
- In order to comply with consistent treatment for Federal funds, Federal projects with a total project period budget of $10,000 or less will receive the same benefit.
- Should supplemental funding resulting in greater than $10,000 be awarded, the budget for supplemental funding would be subject to and would include the appropriate indirect cost rate for the entire supplement.
- At award closeout, the procedures which are in place at the time of closeout will govern the disposition of any residual funds. Projects will not be penalized for following the streamlined procedures. These projects will be treated as if they were granted full indirect costs.
Graduate Research Assistants (GRA) Stipend
If you have questions regarding stipends and tuition, please consult with your COS Pre-award assigned team member for guidance.
GRA Stipend per Department
Student Tuition Rates
Course and Research Buyout
Research Buyouts and Salary Savings – Research & Facilities
Travel
Travel expenses for conferences, workshops, site visits or other travel necessary to carry out the project are generally allowable direct costs. Travel costs include:
- Airfare
- Lodging
- Ground Transportation
- Per Diem
- Registration Fees
International travel may need prior approval by the sponsor. Foreign Travel Rates.
The use of a US flag carrier is required on federally sponsored awards.
International travel to countries under U.S. sanctions, embargoes or U.S. Department of State travel warning may have restrictions, particularly if technological equipment is being exported. Export Control and International Travel.
Travel for consultants may also be included in this budget category if they are not included under the Consultant budget category.
Resourceful Travel Links:
UCF Quick Summary for Travelers
Requirement for Supplier and Consultant Bids on Sponsored Projects
Federal sponsors do not accept naming a supplier/consultant in a proposal as proof of competition. UCF must still meet federal procurement standards before naming any supplier or consultant.
Noncompetitive procurement is allowed only when:
- Micro-purchase threshold not exceeded.
- Single-source availability.
- Public exigency/emergency prevents delay.
- Federal agency approves noncompetitive procurement.
- Competition is inadequate after solicitation.
Proposal Phase
- If sponsor requires naming: only name if documentation is on file, or add ‘*Subject to competitive search upon award*’.
- If naming not required: use TBD and note that competitive process will occur upon award.
Key Points
- Naming suppliers in proposals does not satisfy federal rules.
- Only listed situations allow noncompetitive procurement.
- Begin procurement processes early to avoid delays.
Other Resources:
NIH
Subcontracts
Subtracting is defined as employing a person or business outside of one’s company to do work as part of a larger project.
Subcontract Proposals MUST include the following information (sponsor specific requirements may also apply):
UCF/OR Subaward Policy and Procedure
1. Scope of Work (aka Statement of Work or SOW)
2. See required forms below and definitions for use:
UCF Subaward Letter of Intent (LOI) to be used for all subcontractors on UCF proposals.
Sub-recipient Commitment Form to be used only if UCF subcontractor is not located in the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) Clearing House- https://fdpclearinghouse.org/.
Audit Certification and Financial Status Questionnaire to be used if the subcontractor is not subject to the Single Audit Act. The LOI and Subrecipient Commitment form are also required.
Subaward Predetermination Form or a Statement of Rationale to be used for all subcontractors on UCF proposals (if applicable-this form is completed internally by the Office of Research).
4. Budget
5. Budget Justification
Consultants
A person(s) who provide professional or expert advice.The use of paid consultants may be justified when the project calls for expertise of a highly defined nature for a fixed period of time and only for tasks where on-campus expertise does not exist.
Federal regulations preclude the use of consultants who are employed by the federal government in any capacity. If you use faculty from other universities as consultants, the guidelines of their home institutions apply.
Consultant fees are based on an hourly or daily rate.
Collaborative Proposals – Subcontract or Not
Collaborative proposals are when 2 or more organizations propose to work on one project. How the award is established, determines whether there will be a sub-award.
- If a single award will be made, then issue sub-awards, the lead institution submits one proposal inclusive of the sub-awardee’s proposal information i.e. SOW, bio-sketches, budget, etc.
- If multiple awards will be made, the proposal is a true collaborative. Each organization creates a proposal for submission with unique titles. There may be one lead organization and the other organization(s) link to the lead proposal.
Institutional Review Board (IRB) Process
Office Hours and Phone
Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
IRB Staff Office Hours are Wednesdays 10am-12pm and Thursdays 2pm-4pm. Schedule an appointment with the IRB staff here.
Graduate Students: To schedule a meeting with the IRB Ambassador, click here.
To schedule a meeting with the IRB Office Assistant to discuss navigating Huron, uploading documents, and submitting your study to the IRB, click here.
Email: irb@ucf.edu
COS Red Team Review
Request an optional internal review of your proposal prior to submission to a funding agency.
Office of Research (OR)
https://www.research.ucf.edu/research.html
OR Research Development Office
https://www.research.ucf.edu/SponsoredPrograms/FundingOpportunities/proposal_development.html
UCF Research Foundation
http://www.research.ucf.edu/ResearchFoundation/FoundationTools.html