Award Negotiation and Acceptance
Awards are typically received by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. However, sponsors may sometimes notify the Principal Investigator directly that an award has been funded. All awards require the signature of an authorized University official. If an award notice is received directly by a PI or his/her department, the award should be forwarded immediately to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs for review and processing.
Only the Authorized Official or designee can endorse an award/agreement on behalf of Mercer.
Before an award can be accepted, the ORSP completes a review of the terms and conditions of the award. The ORSP is responsible for conducting all negotiations with sponsors to obtain mutually acceptable terms and conditions that will allow Mercer to accept the award.
Examples of terms and conditions that are checked and may require negotiation include:
- Provisions that are not consistent with University policies or procedures
- Provisions that are inconsistent with government regulations
- Changes in budget of the award from the proposal
- Provisions that prohibit publication of the results of the project
- Provisions that address copyright ownership
- Provisions that do not allow the University to own the data from the project
- Provisions that deal with confidentiality
- Awards that include non-standard patent and/or licensing terms