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's deadline policy (PDF, updated 12/15/08) states that proposals submitted less than ten (10) business days prior to the published sponsor deadline will not be reviewed without the approval of the PI's department chair.
The Tuition Remission Policy and Procedure (PDF, updated 1/29/09) outlines OSP's policy that funds for tuition costs (tuition remission) for graduate research assistants (GRA) included in all grant proposals and contracts be requested from all sponsors unless the sponsor expressly does not allow tuition remission. Requests for the university to cover all or part of the tuition costs will be considered when inclusion of such cost places a hardship on the PI in completing the proposed project. Tuition Cost Share Request Forms (PDF, updated 1/29/09) will be evaluated by OSP.
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.