The web site for the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) has links to all forms, policies, personnel, tools and resources to support your research program. From the Home page you can find:

• Links to all OVPR units
• OVPR directory
• UGA research forms and policies
• How do I….? Answers to the questions researchers most frequently ask
• The latest research announcements
• UGA research training and development opportunities
• Latest UGA research news

The three pillars of the UGA mission are instruction, service, and research. Faculty effort (measured as EFT; 12 months is 1.0 EFT) is distributed among these three areas based on your discipline and particular emphasis.

When your research is funded by a sponsor, the research effort you expend on the sponsored project supported by UGA salary is considered cost sharing. In some cases, the sponsor may also provide additional (summer) salary, which constitutes additional research EFT. If you work on multiple research projects, you must be careful not to over-commit your total research EFT (i.e., total cannot exceed 1.0 EFT). You can propose well in excess of 1.0 EFT across multiple proposals, you just can't accept awards that requie your EFT to go above 1.0.

General expectations for research performance are outlined in the UGA Guidelines for Appointment, Promotion and Tenure. Each promotion tenure unit (PTU) maintains a discipline-specific set of guidelines that you should obtain from your unit head (normally Department Head or School/College Dean). Your unit head is available for a detailed discussion of these expectations, which should have also been mentioned in your letter of offer. Unit heads provide annual evaluations based on your input of your activities in the online Faculty Activity Repository (FAR). A pre-tenure review after your third year at UGA (described in the Guidelines) will provide a detailed assessment of your progress toward tenure.

When you joined UGA, you signed an agreement to abide by the UGA Intellectual Property Policy, which states that all intellectual property generated in the course of your research belongs to the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. (UGARF), unless specific sponsor agreements dictate otherwise. It is your duty to remind your research group members of the policy and their obligations under the policy. As you conduct research, you should carefully evaluate whether a particular research outcome or technology development has value as a commercialization opportunity. Find out more about how to protect your creations or inventions (intellectual properties) that result from scientific and creative activities.

UGA enters into binding agreements with the federal or state governments or with private foundations or corporations that fund research that require compliance with many different guidelines about how research is performed. As a UGA employee, you are bound by these agreements and are required to be in compliance. In particular, if your research involves human subjects, animals, or biosafety concerns, you should contact the following offices early in your research planning:

• Human Subjects Office
• Office of Animal Care and Use
• Office of Biosafety

If you are unsure whether these compliance areas apply, err on the safe side and contact them. In almost all cases, written approval from these offices is required before any research can commence. They can help you determine the relevance to your research project. In addition, research laboratories must operate under a set of safety guidelines that are administered by the Environmental Safety Division.

Depending on your area of research, you may have been provided startup funding to help you start your research program. Regardless of whether your received funding, or how much you received, it won't be enough to continue your research for long. UGA provides other internal funding opportunities (mostly supported through the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc., UGARF) that are designed to "seed" research projects that can be developed into long-term (typically sponsored) research programs.

If you are invited to present research findings at an international conference, you can compete for funding for airfare to attend, through the Foreign Travel Assistance program.

Federal agencies, private foundations, societies and corporate sponsors offer multiple programs for funding research, often specifically targeted at a particular goal. It can be overwhelming to try to keep up with all the opportunities, and then choose the one that has the best chance of funding your research. OVPR / Office for Sponsored Programs provides a starting point on the Find Funding web page.

Sometimes the best way to identify potential funding sources is to ask your colleagues doing research in related areas how they are funded. For this purpose, OVPR has provided databases for finding research expertise both on and off campus on our Find Expertise web page, with links to many funding opportunities databases and web sites.

It takes time and experience to construct a fundable proposal. Grantsmanship is not an exact science, but there are dos and don'ts that can help:

• Start early and think through your idea logically before writing; use public databases to see what else has been done in this area (e.g., the RePORTER database for NIH grants).
• Find one or more senior mentors who can review your proposals before submission. Input from review teams after unsuccessful submission should be viewed constructively.
• Federal agencies offer lots of help: the NIH Office of Extramural Research has a good set of resources.
• Occasionally, NIH offers training workshops and you should watch for these and talk with your unit head about support for attending.
• OVPR has developed the Research Fellows Program in which a limited number of new faculty meet on a regular basis for training and practice in proposal writing.
• Other units on campus offer training in their respective areas. For example, the Institute for Behavioral Research has an active program for guiding new faculty members through the grantsmanship process.

Allowable costs/F&A

The money used to pay for the tangible expenses associated with a given research project is referred to as direct costs. This includes personnel (wages and salaries), supplies, operating expenses, small equipment – anything that can be justified as necessary for this project. It is important to request support that is reasonable for conducting the research (neither too little nor too much).

University research could not be performed, however, without support for buildings, laboratories, utilities, libraries, and numerous administrative activities that support the investigator's working environment. These very real costs also apply to your project and are referred to as indirect costs, or F&A (facilities & administrative).

Universities ask their research sponsors to reimburse these costs as a percentage of direct costs. You must include in your budget a calculation of F&A. Some sponsors set limits on the percentage of F&A reimbursement allowed. The federal government closely controls definitions of the allowable direct costs of research and what can be supported by the university's F&A rate. There is detailed information regarding the OMB Cost Accounting Standards Board (CASB) policies on the OVPR web site. Understanding what costs are allowable, which costs are included in the F&A rate, and when you can appropriately charge such items as computers, cell phones, office supplies and books to grants is a major component of fiscal compliance in post-award financial administration.

Core facility fees

In some areas of research, it is not possible or reasonable for each project to request a particular piece of instrumentation or service, so universities often develop and support shared-use core research facilities (see Shared-use core research facilities). Universities generally do not have the resources to support everything that researchers need. Thus, most core facilities operate with some amount of cost recovery, charging fees for services or products from users. You should anticipate their use and consult with them ahead of time to include core facility fees and justification for them in your proposal.

The type of project you are proposing to conduct will drive all subsequent decisions made in the Office for Sponsored Programs (OSP). Project type will send your proposal down one of four different tracks. There are four basic proposal types: Research Projects, Instruction Projects, Public Service and Outreach Projects, and Cooperative Extension Projects. Each project type is associated with a particular legal organization, and two legal organizations will be in play. One is the University of Georgia, and the other is the University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGARF). All research projects are submitted through UGARF, and the other three project types are submitted through the University of Georgia. Your OSP Grants Officer understands these project type differentiations and will guide you accordingly. UGARF research proposals include what we term “general research proposals”, as well as those submitted by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ Agricultural Experiment Station.

Until recently, investigators created and submitted stacks of paper applications (multiple copies) to federal agencies or other sponsors. Electronic submission of applications is now (2009) becoming standard, but the landscape is still evolving. Federal sponsors are transitioning to using a single submission portal called grants.gov. At most universities, a campus office assists investigators with proposal preparation and submission; at UGA, this is the Office for Sponsored Programs (OSP) in OVPR.

Beginning fall 2009, UGA requires use of a web-based system called Cayuse 424 to prepare and submit grants.gov applications; OSP offers training in its use. Of course, there are still many foundations and some federal programs that do not yet use grants.gov, but often have their own submission systems. Once you identify a potential sponsor, your (OSP) grants officer can help identify the appropriate submission system.

Regardless of the sponsor, any application also generates a set of information needed for campus use, so a UGA-specific proposal transmittal form is required for all applications. These forms must be approved by campus administrators before proposal submission , so you should complete them early in your proposal development. There is a section of the transmittal form that deals with F&A return; we have posted a discussion and worksheet on our web site.

The PI, department administrator, department head, dean, Office for Sponsored Programs, Contracts and Grants, and compliance units all have different roles and responsibilities in managing externally sponsored grants and contracts at UGA. It is helpful to familiarize yourself with these roles so that things don’t fall through the cracks.

If you are pursuing laboratory-based research, part of your offer negotiations may have involved assignment and renovation of research space. If you find that renovation of your assigned space is required to perform your research, consult with your unit head regarding a request for renovation funding.

If you are involved in laboratory renovations, it is important to keep in mind what is provided by Physical Plant and what is the responsibility of the unit. Essentially, Physical Plant is responsible for fixed items, while the unit must supply movable things like office or laboratory furniture. Computer network installation is particularly important to consider; you should reach agreement with your unit head about how that will be paid.

Before you can conduct research in a laboratory, you should contact the Environmental Safety Division (ESD) to discuss the type of research that you will do. They provide a checklist (Procedure for Opening a Laboratory) that must be completed before you can begin working in the laboratory. ESD will also discuss with you UGA procedures for laboratory inspection, hazardous waste handling, chemical procurement and tracking, radiation safety, and provide you access to the Laboratory Safety Manual.

Biological safety policies and procedures, however, are handled by the OVPR Office of Biosafety as part of our research compliance function. In addition to its comprehensive Biosafety Manual, the Office of Biosafety has a Quick Reference Guide to Federal and State Regulations by Topic.

You will need to acquire small equipment, supplies, chemicals, etc., for your research laboratory. UGA operates Central Research Stores (CRS) that provides a relatively seamless way to procure most things. They operate the Campus Scientific Stores (CSS) in the Chemistry Building as a satellite facility. Also a number of biological sciences departments have established "freezer programs" (operated as satellites of CSS) with specific suppliers for rapid access to some standard reagents. You will use a UGA account number for startup funds or sponsored funds to pay for most transactions.

It is likely that you will not be able to provide in your own research laboratory/office all the capabilities required to carry out your research program. For example, in the sciences, central facilities to provide DNA sequencing services or a particular type of spectroscopic analysis (e.g., NMR, Mass Spectrometry) are much more efficiently operated as shared-use facilities. Although OVPR attempts to maintain a list of available core research facilities, this area changes rapidly and you should consult experienced colleagues in your research area about whether there are either shared-use facilities or other research laboratories that provide access to instrumentation or services you require. It is not uncommon for core research facilities to charge a fee for services that is used to recover the costs of maintaining the facility, so you should be prepared to pay for access. These costs should be built into the budgets of proposals you submit (see Core facility fees).

Assuming that graduate students will participate in your research projects, you will want to act as the Major Advisor for their degrees (MS, PhD). Granting of this privilege rests with the Graduate School at UGA. Application for Graduate Faculty status requires a vote by unit faculty and is then considered by the Graduate School. The process takes some time, so you should start as early as possible with your application.

A variety of federal regulatory issues and laws can coincide in the event of hiring or otherwise supporting internationals working or conducting research in labs. Research lab directors who utilize international researchers—be they students, faculty, or visiting scholars or researchers—should coordinate closely with the International Students, Scholars, & Immigration Services (ISSIS) unit within the Office of International Education (OIE). Most often, international students will be on F-1 or J-1 visas, research scholars will be on J-1 scholar visas, and employees will be on H1B visas, but other categories and circumstances also exist for bringing international researchers to UGA. For instance, a recent graduate may come to UGA as part of his or her Optional or Curricular Practical Training (OPT or CPT) that is tied to the F-1 or J-1 visa.

Lab directors must ensure that anyone conducting research in his or her lab is authorized to do so. All international faculty, staff, and students receiving paid compensation must have valid employment authorization documents (sometimes called an EAD card), and additionally, they must maintain their visa status. (Please visit the ISSIS website for more information on maintaining status while on OPT or as an H1B). Lab directors should also note that employment and research visas are tied to particular work and particular labs, meaning that foreign nationals cannot switch labs without notifying USCIS and receiving approval for this location change.

A few notable circumstances restrict the ability of an international to conduct research. These include:

• Failure to maintain visa status
• Lack of valid employment authorization documents
• Delay in approval of visa (occurs most often in relation to H1B employees)

In the event of a delay in approval of a work or research visa or EAD card, internationals are not allowed to continue to work on a “volunteer” or any other basis. Such practices violate labor laws, specifically the Fair Labor Standards Act, and can result in severe penalties to the institution, the lab director, and the foreign national.

Additionally, visitors on tourist or business visas or visitors legally in the U.S. as part of the Visa Waiver Program are not allowed to conduct research. In certain cases, business visitors may be allowed to observe lab practice, but under no circumstances should anyone in the U.S. on a tourist or business visa or as part of the visa waiver program participate in or conduct research in labs at UGA.

Recruitment of technicians, postdocs, or research scientists to help with your research projects is handled through the Equal Opportunity Office (EOO) and Human Resources (HR). Your unit's business manager (or personnel manager) will be able to help you with posting advertisements and other paperwork. There are a number of staff positions in the research classifications (maintained by HR), while OVPR maintains policies and procedures for hiring postdoctoral trainees, and research scientists are non tenure-track faculty positions.

As you create budgets for proposals to fund your research, it is important to keep in mind the true costs of research personnel. UGA has established fringe benefit rates for all levels of employees, and this is budgeted and charged as a direct cost. These funds pay for the institutional contribution to health insurance (including for graduate students), retirement benefits, and other charges. Don't forget that salary + fringe are considered direct costs against which F&A must be calculated (at the standard rate, if allowed by the sponsor).

Graduate students are hired into sponsored research projects as Research Assistants. The Graduate School defines the annual Assistantship rate for each degree level; note that by law graduate students cannot make more than 0.5 EFT of the annual rate, since they must remain students for at least half their effort (for which they pay tuition or receive a waiver). Even then, each degree program can set Research Assistant salaries to different amounts and normally exercise some control so students are treated consistently. Consult with your unit's business manager or Graduate Coordinator for the current (minimum) rate in your unit. Remember to add fringe benefits to pay for graduate health insurance.

OVPR administers postdoctoral research trainees at UGA. A policy clarifies the purpose of postdoctoral research appointments and sets compensation minima and time limits on these temporary appointments. Some federal agencies (notably, NIH: FY2009 rates) set their own salary guidelines for postdoctoral research trainees. Most trainees are called Postdoctoral Research Associates and are paid as UGA employees from a sponsored project account. If you plan to hire a postdoc, this is the classification to choose. Again, don't forget to add fringe benefits. Researchers who are paid through training grants or are awarded their own fellowship are classified as Postdoctoral Research Fellows (details are in the policy).

Most faculty who will be doing sponsored research receive an academic year (9-month; 0.75 EFT) salary, and not a 12-month contract; (you can check your situation in the Workload Information section of FAR). This allows faculty the option of requesting summer salary from other sources. You are allowed to add up to an additional 3 months (0.25 EFT) to your salary; sometimes portions of summer salary for the first one to two years are negotiated at hiring. Faculty frequently incorporate some summer salary into the budget of a research proposal to compensate themselves for their summer research effort on a project, in addition to effort they will be contributing during the academic calendar year (which is either covered by the award or cost shared by the institution). This paid summer salary is counted as faculty effort, so if you are requesting one month of summer salary on a project, by definition you are contributing 1/12^th or 0.0833 EFT, in addition to any cost sharing you have defined.

Effort reporting is increasingly important in this era of accountability. It is important that you match the level of effort you tell the sponsor you are spending on a project with your actual salary components. For example, suppose you tell the sponsor that you are spending three months per year (on average) on the project they are supporting, but you only ask for one month summer salary from the sponsor. Then when the award is made and a budget is established, you must report that two months of your academic year research EFT (paid for by your UGA salary) is cost-share. The University recommends that, if possible, you not cost share your academic year effort on sponsored projects and instead, ask the sponsor to reimburse UGA for this effort. UGA colleges have plans in place to share with PIs a significant portion of this salary savings.