Northern Illinois University is the legal applicant for grants and contracts. Sponsored awards are made to the Institution, not to the faculty or staff member recognized by the sponsor. This individual is typically referred to as the Principal Investigator (PI) or Project Director (PD).
To ensure compliance with University policies and state, federal and agency regulations, university administrative officers must review and approve applications for external funds prior to submission to prospective sponsors. OSP fulfills this review through the initiation and routing of the System Tracking and External Project (STEP) form.
OSP oversees various aspects of the regulations, certifications, and compliances listed in the links below. Faculty, staff and students who intend to submit applications for external funding should also be aware of and comply with federal and university regulations, as reflected in the following university policies: Research Integrity, Conflict of Interest, Research Compliance, Intellectual Property and Patents, Drug-Free Workplace, and Lobbying.