Subawards

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Subawards

What is a subaward?

A grant subaward is a portion of a larger grant that is passed down from the primary recipient (the grantee) to a secondary recipient (the subrecipient) to carry out a specific part of a sponsored program. It is an agreement between the two parties, outlining the scope of work, budget, and other terms and conditions. Subawards are used when a portion of the project’s work requires collaboration with or delegation to another organization, rather than simply purchasing goods or services.

When considering subawards, the PI must determine if the relationship they are establishing is a subaward, a fee for service (vendor), or a consultant. It is important to make this distinction at the proposal stage to ensure appropriate accounting for costs and compliance requirements.

A PI may either be in a situation where 1) Mercer is the primary recipient of the award and subawards needs to be established with other institutions or 2) Mercer will serve as the subrecipient to another institution who is the primary recipient. Details for how to address each of these situations is included below.

Subawards differ from procurement actions used to acquire goods or services from vendors.

	Subaward	Vendor
Scope of work	Completes work promised and analyzes results found. Has has responsibility for programmatic decision making.	Performs services only such as lab testing, report printing, etc. that are part of regular business operations and are available to many different purchasers or customers. Little to no no analysis or discretionary judgment over the project.
F&A Rate	Mercer’s negotiated F&A rate apply only to the first $50,000 of the subaward regardless of the time it takes to reach the $50,000 figure	Mercer’s negotiated F&A rate apply to entire amount and these fees are considered ‘other direct costs’ on the budget
Personnel	Specific investigator is clearly identified	Person conducting work is not necessarily identified
Technology Transfer	Potential for patentable or copyrightable technology to be created through project; entity has right to protect technology	No potential for patentable or copyrightable technology to be created through project
Publications	Publication of results expected; investigator to author, or be co-author	Unlikely to be a co-author
Cost Sharing	May provide cost sharing or matching funds	Fixed price with no cost sharing or matching funds involved

Consultants are experts outside of Mercer hired to provide professional advice or to perform a service on a project for a fee. Consultants are typically paid for their time at a fixed daily or hourly rate. Use of consultants in a sponsored program is largely treated as a procurement action and are treated similarly to vendors.

Mercer faculty or other institutional staff should not be listed as paid consultants on a Mercer project. Uniform Guidance limits Intra-institutional consulting for an institution’s own employees. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/part-200/section-200.430#p-200.430(i)(3)

However, in unusual cases where consultation 1) is across departmental lines or involves a separate or remote operation, and 2) the work performed by Mercer employees is in addition to their regular responsibilities, charges for work representing additional compensation above their Mercer institutional base pay are allowable provided that such consulting arrangements are 1) approved internally by Mercer through the pre-award process and 2) expressly authorized in the Federal award or approved in writing by the Federal agency.

Each subaward will prepare their own budget using their institution’s F&A rate to determine indirect costs.

The total costs for each subaward (including their F&A costs) is listed in the Primary awardee’s budget to capture the total costs of the entire proposal (primary + subawards).

When Mercer is the prime recipient:

In order to account for Mercer’s administrative costs of working with a subaward, Mercer proposals may charge their negotiated F&A rate on the first $50,000 of each subaward.

When preparing the primary proposal budget, PIs should ensure that this amount for each subaward is added to the Modified Total Direct Costs used to calculate the amount of F&A to charge.

When Mercer is the subawardee:

Mercer’s negotiated F&A rate should be applied to the Modified Total Direct Costs of the subaward, unless limited by the sponsor.

As the primary recipient, Mercer will serve as the pass-through entity for subawards to a Mercer PI’s proposal.

In addition to the requirements outlined for a Mercer PI proposal, the following documents should be provided to ORSP for each subaward. These documents should be submitted with the primary proposal at least 10 days prior to the sponsor’s due date.

Subrecipient Checklist and Information Form – This form provides needed contact information for the institution receiving the subaward and serves as a checklist to ensure all documents needed for a subaward are collected as a part of the proposal. PIs should complete the top portion of the first page, identify other documents needed for the proposal not already listed on the form, and add the due date of these forms to ORSP at the bottom of the first page. All forms and documents should all be submitted to ORSP at least 10 days prior to the sponsor’s submission deadline.
Scope of Work – The who, what, when, why, and how the subaward project will be performed. It should typically include a statement of the problem or issue to be investigated and the methods that will be used by the subawardee to conduct the investigation. Also called a statement of work. Milestones and proposed deliverables should be defined to establish mutual expectations before the project begins.
Budget – May be provided in Excel format or using the R&R Budget form.
Budget Justification – A summary document that provides details for the subaward budget. Sample budget justification.
R&R Senior Key Personnel Profile with Biographical Sketches – This form provides information about the specific investigators in the subaward. Biographical sketches and a list of current and pending support can be attached for each key personnel.
Facilities and Resources Document – A summary document that describes the facilitates, major equipment, and resources available to the subawardee that will facilitate the completion of the scope of work.
Subaward Risk Analysis Questionnaire – A brief questionnaire that is used by ORSP to determine the risk associated with the subaward, which is used to determine the extent of monitoring required as a part of the proposed project.
Institutional Consortium Letter – This is a form letter edited and signed by the signing official of the subawardee’s institution.
Indirect Cost Rate agreement – This is a copy of the F&A (indirect) cost rate negotiated by the subawardee’s institution and the federal government. It should be available to the subawardee through their institution’s sponsored programs office.
Most Recent Single Audit Report – This report is used as a part of the subaward risk assessment. It should be available to the subawardee through their institution’s sponsored programs office. Additionally, most institutions are required to make these available through the Federal Audit Clearinghouse (fac.gov).
Compliance forms – The use of animal or human subjects or hazardous chemicals may require additional forms and approval the Office of Research Compliance or the Environmental Health and Safety Office.
Other Forms required by Funding Opportunity Announcement

Preparing a subaward for another institution is largely treated as a stand-alone proposal at Mercer, with a couple of exceptions. The Mercer PI should still prepare their subaward to include all documents required for a proposal (Proposal Preparation). Additionally, the Mercer PI, in consultation with the primary award PI, should identify documents required by the primary institution that will require review, approval, completion, or submission by the ORSP. The specific requirements may vary by institution and type of proposal. Examples of such documents can be seen above (Mercer will be Primary Recipient of an Award).

It is important keep in mind all timelines when working as a subawardee on a proposal. Documents provided to the primary’s institution must be approved through Mercer’s ORSP before submission to the other institution. Mercer PIs are strongly encouraged to work with the primary’s PI to determine when the subaward documents need to be provided. Mercer PIs should then have all Mercer documents to ORSP at least 10 business days prior to the other institutes deadline.