ÌÇÐÄlogoÈë¿Ú

Institutional Profile

Registrations & Identifiers

Compliance Assurances

Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Rates

Fringe Benefit Rates

Authorized Organizational Representatives (AOR)

The Office of Research and Innovation (ORI) serves as the institutional point of contact for proposal development, submission, sponsor communications, and award administration support.

Proposal-related correspondence and sponsor communications should be directed to:

Award Modifications

Requests involving award modifications should be coordinated through the Office of Research and Innovation. Examples include:

• No-cost extensions
• Principal Investigator (PI) changes
• Scope of work changes
• Sponsor prior approval requests
• Other award amendments or administrative actions

For assistance, contact osr@tamuk.edu as early as possible to ensure timely review and sponsor coordination.

Proposal Review and Institutional Approval Requirements

All external funding proposals that will be administered through ÌÇÐÄlogoÈë¿Ú must be reviewed and approved by the Office of Research and Innovation prior to submission.

ORI provides support throughout the proposal development process, including budget preparation, proposal review, sponsor compliance verification, institutional approvals, and submission guidance.

Many sponsors require proposal submission by an Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR). Even when a sponsor permits direct Principal Investigator submission, proposals that may result in an award to the university require institutional review and approval before submission.

Faculty are strongly encouraged to engage ORI as early as possible in the proposal development process to ensure compliance with sponsor requirements and avoid budget, compliance, or submission issues.

Collaborative and Subrecipient Proposals

Collaborative proposals involve two or more institutions working together on a unified project. When ÌÇÐÄlogoÈë¿Ú serves as the lead institution, subrecipient documentation must be obtained from each collaborating organization prior to proposal submission.

Required documentation may include:

• TAMUK Subrecipient Commitment Form (required for organizations not participating in the FDP Expanded Clearinghouse)
• Letter of Intent on institutional letterhead (for FDP Expanded Clearinghouse participants)
• Statement or Scope of Work
• Budget and Budget Justification
• Letter of Commitment signed by the collaborating institution's Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR)
• Any additional documents required by the funding opportunity announcement or sponsor guidelines

Principal Investigators should provide ORI with the appropriate subrecipient contact information as early as possible so required documents can be collected and reviewed prior to submission.

Contract and Grant Payment Remittance Information

Sponsor payments associated with externally funded projects should be directed to:

Gaining Access to Research.gov

Senior Personnel Documents

Project Summary

Project Description

Letter of Collaboration

Data Management Plan

• Data, samples, software, curriculum materials, and other project outputs to be generated.
• Standards for data and metadata formats and documentation.
• Policies governing data access, sharing, privacy, confidentiality, security, and intellectual property.
• Provisions for data reuse, redistribution, and derivative works.
• Plans for data archiving, preservation, and long-term accessibility.

Mentoring Plan for Postdocs and Graduate Students

NSF proposals that include support for postdoctoral researchers or graduate students must include a Mentoring Plan that does not exceed one page. The Mentoring Plan should describe the activities, resources, and professional development opportunities that will be provided to support the trainee's research, career, and workforce development.

Mentoring activities may include career counseling, training in research ethics and publication practices, professional skills development, teaching and mentoring experiences, and other activities relevant to the participant's academic and professional growth.

For proposal preparation requirements and additional guidance, refer to the .

Formatting Notes

NSF proposals must adhere to NSF formatting requirements to ensure compliance and successful submission.

• Do not include page numbers, as NSF systems automatically paginate proposal documents.
• Use an approved font: Arial, Courier New, or Palatino Linotype at 11-point or larger; Times New Roman at 11-point or larger; or Computer Modern at 11-point or larger.
• Maintain margins of at least one inch on all sides.

For complete formatting requirements, refer to the .

FY 25-26 Faculty Seminars and Workshops

Hosted by Research Development Services at Texas A&M University

Annually RDS hosts opportunities for the Texas A&M Research Community to increase their knowledge and skills in research proposal development to federal funding agencies. Academic Year 25-26 Professional Development opportunities are offered in in-person and virtual formats. Registration is required for BOTH types of events. Virtual events will supply Zoom links upon registration. These events are for all faculty. 

Career Workshop Seminar Series

Hosted by Research Development Services at Texas A&M University

These events are designed to help faculty prepare competitive proposals for the National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program!

Faculty Retooling Seminar & Workshop Resources

Hosted by Research Development Services at Texas A&M University

Are you looking for ways to increase your research funding, especially in light of new government changes? Are you looking for ways to update your research grantsmanship skills to align with current practices in your field? Are you looking to shift your research focus? DOR RDS offers many seminars, workshops, and resources to help you accomplish these goals!

Hanover Research Webinars

Purpose: The purpose of this guideline is to establish a consistent institutional process for identifying, classifying, and routing externally funded awards that are received outside the University's standard proposal submission process or when the nature of the funding is unclear.

Proper classification is essential to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations, donor intent, university policies, financial reporting requirements, and stewardship obligations.

These guidelines apply to all external funding received by ÌÇÐÄlogoÈë¿Ú, regardless of whether the funding is received before or after institutional review.

Administering Offices:

• Office of Alumni Services and Giving (OASG)
• Office of Financial Services (OFS)
• Office of Research and Innovation (ORI)
• Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA)

General Guidelines

Understanding the steps for classifying funds and the specific roles of each administrative office is essential for ensuring proper compliance and efficient processing of external funding.

Administrative leaders (or their designees) from the involved units must promptly communicate with one another when a new funding contact is identified or when funds/contracts/agreements are received. Timely collaboration ensures accurate classification and processing.

The initial step in classifying an award is to verify whether the program is externally funded. If the funding source is ambiguous, all related documentation should be routed to the Office of Research and Innovation (ORI) for review. When donor or sponsor terminology is unclear (e.g., using 'gift' and 'grant' interchangeably), ORI will assess the documentation and make the final determination.

Grants that are gifts can be distinguished by examining the nature and purpose of the award. When no documentation is available to determine the classification of funds, the ORI (with Departmental input) will contact the agency/vendor/donor to obtain the information necessary to determine classification.

In instances where there may be overlapping activity, ORI will review documentation for a determination or contact the agency/vendor/donor.

Award funds: Funds received will be forwarded to the OFS as soon as possible for holding or deposit.

OFS will notify the ORI or appropriate unit that funds have been received and are being held or deposited.

Sponsored Award funds will be administered by ORI.

Other Award funds will be administered by others as needed (OASG, Department, or OFS).

Donations: The Receiver will ensure that all available documentation is forwarded to OASG with the check as soon as possible. OASG will determine whether funds should be deposited through TAMUK University or routed to the TAMUK Foundation.

Donations will be Processed/ administered by OASG/OFSA.

Financial Aid: Receiver will ensure that all available documentation is forwarded with the check to OFS for holding or deposit. OFS will notify the OSFA that funds have been received and are being held or deposited.

Awards will be Processed/ administered by OFS/OSFA.

Correct classification of externally funded awards and donations is essential for compliance. The following guide, along with the included flowchart, can be used to determine the proper classification and routing of such funds.

Classifying an Award:

• Sponsor requires deliverables (e.g., final technical or narrative report, evaluation, technical assistance, training, equipment, detailed research results, and study data). This does not include minimal requirements generally related to required donor pledge payments and the University’s commitment to effectuate the donor’s intent (i.e., stewardship).
• The award is revocable for non-performance or if the agency lacks continuing funds.
• The sponsor is a federal, state, or local government agency.
• Changes to the award/agreement may require sponsor approval.
• Liability or indemnity requirements placed on the University.
• Possible audit stipulations required by sponsor.
• Identifying the applicable laws governing the award/agreement.
• Sponsor generally, although not always, requires return of unexpended funds.
• The award designates a sponsor employee (agent) as the project technical monitor, rather than designating a contact person to improve communication.
• Award contains intellectual property rights provisions (e.g., licenses, copyrights, royalties) and/or technology transfer.
• Award restricts or monitors publications or use of results.
• Award payments are contingent upon programmatic or fiscal reporting (e.g., specific milestones, invoices).
• Award includes “boilerplate” terms and conditions imposed by the project sponsor or negotiated with the sponsor by the University.
• Award requires protection of sponsor and confidential information.
• Award contains a scope of work and an itemized budget which may require sponsor approval to modify and/or that is subject to the provisions of federal cost accounting standards.
• The request for funding will be used to fulfill a matching or cost-sharing commitment on another sponsored project or to require a matching, cost-sharing, or other financial commitment from the University.
• The project is linked to other sponsored research projects or contracts being conducted by faculty/researchers.
• The project involves the use of human subjects, vertebrate animals, radioisotopes in humans, radioactive materials, recombinant DNA, human body substances, etiologic agents, or proprietary materials.
• Project involves foreign collaborators or is subject to Export Control policies.
• Award may include F&A cost rates as defined by DHHS or directed otherwise by Sponsor or University and administered by ORI.
• Typically requires a specific time period for conducting projects.

Classifying a Donation/Gift:

• Gift supports an unrestricted purpose or such activities as endowments (e.g., endowed chairs, professorships), capital projects (e.g., construction or renovation, equipment), or general support.
• The gift contains only minimal requirements, generally relating to required donor pledge payments and the University’s commitment to effectuate the donor’s intent (i.e., stewardship).
• Gift requires only minimal reporting to the donor in the form of a general statement of how funds were used. Such confirmation may not be a technical or a formal financial report of any detail. However, if publications result, copies may be shared. In addition, confirmation of proper utilization of funds would be allowed, such as in a “stewardship report” or “annual endowment report”. For example, if a company provided funds to help students build a solar-powered vehicle for a national student competition, the PI could report how the students did in the competition but would not be required to provide detailed technical information, including raw data.
• Gifts are generally irrevocable.
• Unrestricted grants are awards not identified by the sponsors as specifically being a gift or charitable contribution; however, these awards have no strings attached – no statement of work, no deliverables such as technical reports, no IP terms, etc.
• Typically, no time period is associated with the use of these funds.

Classifying a Student Financial Aid Award:

• Awards are in the forms of grants, education loans, work-study, and scholarships.
• Scholarships may include a financial-need component but rely on other criteria. They are often merit-based.
• Some private need-based awards are confusingly called scholarships and require FAFSA results.
• Other common types of grants include the Federal Pell Grant, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education, Institutional grants, private and employer grants, and state grants.

References: