January 21, 2014
Series 4, Session 1 of AAPLS
Mechanisms of Collaboration: Proposals that include more than one Tufts department or school, or a collaboration with Tufts affiliates
Applicants & Administrators Preaward Luncheon Series
Mechanisms of Collaboration: Proposals that include more than one
department or school, or a collaboration with Tufts affiliates
Speakers
Zoya Davis-Hamilton, CRA, EdD Senior Associate Director, Research Administration Office of the Vice Provost Tufts University [email protected]
Frederick Frankhauser, JD, MBA, RPh Director, Grants & Contracts Research Administration Tufts Medical Center [email protected]
Session Overview
Steps necessary at the proposal stage for:1. Proposals that include more than one department or
school at Tufts2. Collaborative submissions with Tufts affiliates
Scenarios of budgeting for a person’s effort via a scope budget, subcontract or a joint appointment
Challenges of F&A cost calculations
Multi-Department/School Proposals
Require One Internal Sponsor Coordination Form (ISCF)
Answer “Yes” to the question “Is this a multi-account proposal?” on p. 1 of ISCF and specify number of accounts
Work with department administrator(s) in collaborating department(s) to confirm budget amounts
Attach supporting budgets in Excel for each department/school (i.e. “scope” account)
ISCF Approval Signatures (Boston/Grafton)
For Multi-PI proposals, all PIs from Tufts University must sign For Fellowship proposals, both the student and the faculty
mentor must sign the form Co-Investigators are only required to sign the form if they are
from departments or schools that are different from the PI’s department
Only the Department Chair from the PI’s or lead PI’s department must sign the form
Dean, Director or Designate must sign the form for:1. Proposals with cost sharing and/or F&A rate that is reduced from the
federally negotiated indirect cost rate The signature indicates approval of cost sharing or a reduced F&A rate
2. Proposals that will have a “scope” account The Dean, Director or Designate for all schools involved in the proposal must sign
the form
Multi-department/school Proposals (cont.)
Use appropriate F&A rate for each component of the budget (Medford and the HNRCA have different rates: http://viceprovost.tufts.edu/researchadmin/write-and-submit-proposal/budget-figures-and-rates/)
Show one combined budget on ISCF and in the proposal to the agency
List base, rate and amount for each portion of the budget in grants.gov, PHS and other agency budget forms
Challenges of F&A Calculation
F&A rates differ between campusesFor subcontracts, F&A rate of subcontract
organization is used on subcontract direct costs
In addition, Tufts University charges F&A on the first $25,000 of each subcontract
Subcontract F&A amount is direct cost for Tufts University but is not factored into the direct cost limit on NIH proposals (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-004.html)
Tufts University Affiliates
Tufts University School of Medicine has a number of affiliated clinical sites
20 teaching hospitals across Massachusetts and one in Maine (Maine Medical Center)
Tufts Medical Center is the principal teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine
http://medicine.tufts.edu/Clinical-Affiliates
Proposals with Tufts Affiliates
Collaborator(s) from Tufts affiliates may assume the following roles in the proposal:1. No measurable effort – Other Significant Contributor2. Subcontract when work will take place on affiliate’s
premises3. Joint Appointment (JA) if a person is employed by
Tufts Medical Center and work will take place at Tufts University
These can be executed vice-versa
Proposal Paperwork
Resources, Equipment & Biosketch(es) are necessary for the collaborators
No additional paperwork for OSC or JA at the proposal stage
For subcontracts: 1. Subcontract organization’s business office must approve and
issue/sign a Consortium Letter of Intent/Statement of Intent2. Subcontract budget and budget justification are required for
non-modular proposals3. Subcontract total direct/indirect amounts per year and
personnel justification is required for modular proposals
Tufts Medical Center
Tufts Medical Center (TMC) is the principal teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine
TMC provides care for all patients from the tiniest newborns at the full-service pediatric hospital, Floating Hospital for Children, to centenarians in the specialized Geriatrics clinic
TMC conducts groundbreaking medical and health policy research and is in the top 15 % of independent institutions receiving federal research funding
Business Process for Collaborative Proposals at
Tufts Medical Center
Need notice of what is being done in order for an agreement to be drafted
Agreement, Scope of Work & Budget drafted/negotiated/ reviewed
IRB/IACUC review
Most Common Problems
Finding the correct people to contactOften find out after the protocol has been
submitted to the IRB
Questions?