Award Management: FAQs

No. Faculty members and staff outside of ORA are not authorized institutional signatories and are not permitted to execute agreements on behalf of the University.

The authorized signatories for sponsored research agreements (contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements), as well as certain non-sponsored agreements (data use agreements, material transfer agreements, nondisclosure agreements, memoranda of understanding) are certain staff members within ORA to whom signature authority has been delegated by the Dean. A copy of the current SOM authorized signature delegation list can be viewed here.

No.  Facilities and Administration costs on federal award are at negotiated rates and cannot be reduced.  JHU’s current rate agreement can be found here.

The School of Medicine has further established indirect cost rates for commercially sponsored projects. Rates are based on the project activity type (Organized Research, Clinical Research, Other Sponsored Activity, Instruction) and whether the work takes place on or off campus.

Yes!  Whenever data or materials are leaving the University, an appropriate agreement must be in place prior to the transfer.  ORA can help you determine what type of agreement you will need. Visit this page for more information.

If the Provider of the data wishes JHU to use their template, yes please provide ORA with the agreement.  If JHU is the Provider of the data, ORA will select the appropriate template.

Yes, ORA has developed and maintains a library of agreements templates that can be adapted to most situations. It is the strong preference of ORA that these template agreements be utilized whenever possible, in order to minimize negotiation and expedite the review and signature process, reach out to your department assigned ORA representative early in the process. Some of our existing agreement templates can also be found on the Award Management: Forms and Templates page.

Please consult the Check the Status of My Agreement page for ORA team-specific guidance on agreement status checks.

The Statement of Work (SOW) is an integral part of the research project and should define the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the project.

The SOW governs and provides direction for the conduct of the research and should address all key aspects of the project. Milestones and proposed deliverables should be defined in the SOW and should become part of the contract terms to establish mutual expectations of the parties before the project begins. Such milestones and deliverables should clearly state each party’s expectations. Assumptions and qualifications about the milestones and deliverables should be stated.

THE SOW SHOULD IDENTIFY OR DESCRIBE:

• the PI(s);
• project staffing;
• project objectives;
• the research plan;
• required standards or specifications for conduct of the research;
• locations where the research will be conducted;
• deliverables and milestones (defined in a sufficient level of detail such that one can determine if they are met);
• the period of performance;
• any special resources required; and
• timing and frequency of meetings and reports.

There are a variety of factors that can affect the amount of time it takes to get agreements finalized and signed. These may include, but not be limited to, whether the sponsor has engaged contractually with the University previously; the nature of the sponsor (i.e., university, non-profit corporation, for-profit corporation, foundation, government agency); whether an ORA model agreement is being utilized; whether ORA has all information needed to understand the context of the project; the specific terms and conditions at issue; whether additional review is needed by an office other than ORA(i.e. The Office of General Counsel, the JH Technology Ventures office, the Office of Risk Management, the Institutional Review Board, etc); and whether there is delay on the part of the sponsor. If you would like to check the status on a pending agreement, please consult the Check the Status of My Agreement page for more information.

Yes.   The post-doc’s effort is an in-kind resource that needs to be disclosed on your Other Support. Please consult our Current and Pending Support page for more details.

In-kind support, including the provision of high-value resources (materials, data, etc.) that are uniquely available to the researcher, must be disclosed on your Other Support disclosure submitted with your RPPR or at the Just in Time phase for applications. Please consult our Current and Pending Support page for more details.

No.  SOM faculty may only engage in private consulting to outside organizations in their personal capacity in which case disclosure of the outside activity in eDisclose is required.  ORA will not review these agreements   Faculty may perform services in their institutional capacity in which case ORA would review and negotiate the agreement.  Institutional agreements may appropriate when: (1) the faculty member will be disclosing confidential information that is proprietary to JHU, (2) the company will receive rights to JHU intellectual property or inventions, (3) the faculty member will use any JHU and JHHS facilities, resources or funds in conducting the outside activity, or (4) the faculty member plans to publish the results of the outside activity. Such institutional agreements to provide services must be routed to, reviewed, and signed by an institutional official in ORA. SOM faculty are not authorized signatories for institutional agreements.

Yes.  A significant element of a project conducted outside the United States is considered a foreign component and will require prior approval from the NIH unless the collaboration was originally proposed and considered by the NIH at the time of the award. Please consult our Foreign Engagement page for more details.

Yes, all funded agreements should be submitted through Fibi.

No. The Principal Investigator is the University’s Project Director for that contract, but the actual parties to that contract would be the corporate partner and the University. This is true for all sponsor types, not just corporate partners.

ORA facilitates the submission of sponsored project proposals on behalf of the JHU School of Medicine by reviewing for compliance with University, sponsor and federal policies and regulations, approves and signs proposals prior to submission, negotiates and executes agreements, provides coordinated advice and guidance regarding applicable rules and regulations, and assists faculty, staff, and students in proper stewardship of the University’s sponsored projects.

ORA will work to negotiate your agreement or award as expeditiously as possible.  However, delays can occur.  Potential reasons for delay can include incomplete Fibi submission to ORA, delays on the sponsor’s side, inability to reach agreement on terms, pending compliance reviews (IRB, IACUC, Data Trust, etc).  ORA will work to communicate any delays as soon as we are aware and provide an update status on where your agreement stands.

It depends.  ORA maintains and makes available a comprehensive library of standard model agreements for contracting with research collaborators and can create custom agreements as needed. Determining the appropriate type of agreement will depend upon several factors, including the nature of the activity being conducted (i.e. research, services, etc.), project funding, and nature of any proprietary information, data or materials being exchanged. When School of Medicine faculty and staff discuss potential projects with research partners, we strongly recommend engaging ORA as early as possible in that process to determine the appropriate type of agreement.  Examples of agreement types can be found here.

Contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements are the three most commonly used instruments through which the University accepts sponsored funding. The purpose of a grant is to provide assistance; there is generally little involvement by the sponsor, and the award instrument refers to general terms and conditions. Cooperative agreements also provide assistance, but with substantial sponsor involvement, typically described in a set of specific terms. The basic purpose of a contract is to procure tangible good and services through an acquisition. The involvement by the sponsor may be extensive and the award instrument will contain detailed specifications, clauses, regulations, and expected results and deliverables.

Once the DUA is fully executed, ORA will notify you and the data can be transferred. Data should not be sent outside JHU without a fully executed DUA.

ORA will contact you within a few days of your DUA request submission to provide a status update. Time to execution of the DUA depends on ORA receiving a complete record (including any institutional approvals required), responsiveness of the other party, etc. ORA will work diligently to provide status updates throughout the process. You can also check the status of your agreement in MyRap or contact the ORA Contracts team member or Contract Specialist assigned to your department. ORA contact and department assignment information can be found here.

Once your Fibi record is submitted to ORA (or CRC, as appropriate) with all of the required information, a MyRap record will be created and your contract will be assigned to a contract negotiator on the Contracts Team.

ORA assigns contracts to negotiators by Department, according to the Department Assignments list found here.

If your contract is for commercially sponsored clinical research, your contract will reviewed and negotiated by the Clinical Research Contracting (CRC) office under the Office of Clinical Trials (OCT) and will be assigned to a negotiator on that team. CRC Contracts Specialists are assigned here.

If you have post-award finance questions outside of invoicing and payments, please contact the Research Finance Operations office at: [email protected].

For invoicing and payment questions, please reach out to Sponsored Projects Shared Services.

No.  ORA will negotiate and sign your agreement and workflow to Sponsored Projects Shared Services (SPSS) for post award accounting services.  For more information about invoicing and payments, please visit the SPSS website here.

If you have post-award finance questions outside of invoicing and payments, please contact the Research Finance Operations office at: [email protected].