Sponsored Programs
Sponsored Program Services (SPS) is responsible for fiscal negotiations, fiscal control, and fiscal reporting for all sponsored programs for Purdue University and the Purdue Research Foundation (PRF). Sponsored research funds are granted to the University through PRF. Your departmental Business Office acts as a liaison between the department and SPS for all sponsored research activities.

Proposal Process
Generally, 10 working days are necessary for routing a proposal through the proper University channels. As soon as you are aware that you will be processing a proposal, please contact the appropriate account manager in the Business Office and supply any guidelines, announcements, or correspondence you might have. Your account manager will assist you with preparation of budget documentation for your proposal. A standard internal budget form that will be prepared by the Business Office according to your instructions must accompany all proposals. There are many important rules associated with the budgeting of sponsored projects. You should contact your account manager well in advance of your first proposal submission so that he/she may acquaint you with these rules and regulations. If you are showing cost sharing or if the sponsor requires it, please discuss with the department head well in advance. Once the technical and budget information is complete, please bring a completed Transmittal Checksheet, http://www.adpc.purdue.edu/cgi-bin/serve_pdf?pdf_file=/home/www/bssps/HTML/PDFfiles/TCSheet.pdf a copy of internal work papers, and the entire proposal to the Business Office for a final review. Be sure to make all necessary copies for Business Office, Sponsored Programs, and Sponsor. The Account Manager will review and forward for Department Head signature and Dean’s office signature. The proposal packet is then delivered to Sponsored Programs Services (SPS) for their review and signature. SPS will provide authorization for compliance with University regulations. It is recommended that at least one week be given before the due date for review and signatures. Please keep the Business Office informed about any information and problems concerning the proposal. An account will be established by SPS once the funding has been awarded. At that time, you will receive a Notice of Award, which will establish the account number and budget for the project. The Business Office will assist you with monthly projections for your accounts as necessary.

Many proposals are now being submitted to the agency electronically. NSF Fastlane is the primary example. Please contact the Business Office for more information.

For additional information concerning proposal processing, all new faculty members may attend a half-day workshop conducted by SPS each fall. This workshop covers such topics as identification of funding opportunities, proposal preparation/submission/negotiation and award management. A mailer will be sent to you regarding this workshop.

Equipment
Any equipment purchased on sponsored program funds must provide benefit to the project; therefore all equipment must be received before the project expires. The purchase of equipment on sponsored projects must be included in the budget or appropriate sponsor approval obtained prior to purchase. Please see the website on prior approval at http://www.purdue.edu/sps/accountmgmt/priorapproval/index.html the equipment you wish to purchase was not a line item in your approved budget.

Fabricated Equipment
Because Facilities and Administrative cost (F&A) is not charged against equipment purchases, it is important to accurately budget anticipated equipment purchases and to realize the budget ramifications if this equipment is actually fabricated. If you are fabricating this equipment yourself, the individual items will be classified as supplies and will be charged the appropriate F&A. In many situations, it may be less costly to purchase the entire piece of equipment (with no F&A charged) rather than buy individual pieces to fabricate (and be charged F&A).

Subcontracts
If a subcontract is needed for part of the work of a project, F&A charged to the sponsored program account for the first $25,000 of each subcontract. A statement of work and budget are required from all subcontractors.

Your Role as Principal Investigator
Please review your responsibilities as a principal investigator for your sponsored projects subject to the Cost Accounting Standards imposed by the Office of Management and Budget. Information is available at http://www.purdue.edu/costing/BPM/CAS_Guidelines/costindx.htm.

Types of Sponsored Support
There are three types of support recognized by the University:

Contract Support
The sponsor classifies funding as contract support if there is an expectation of economic benefit.
Government Agencies: Charged full F&A
Non-government agencies: Awards less than or equal to$10,000 are charged no F&A. Full F&A is charged to all awards over $10,000.

Voluntary Support Administered by SPS
Funding from industry is classified as voluntary support if it is to be used to support a specific person or area, no proposal was written, and there is no expectation of economic benefit. The funding cannot be flow-down from the government. If a check is received directly, please bring to the Business Office to be deposited. Voluntary Support funding is charged no F&A, unless received from a non-profit entity with an established rate.

Voluntary Support Administered by the Department
These funds are given as unrestricted to the department and are administered by the department. There is no F&A associated with these funds.

Important note: If a gift or a loan of equipment is received, please notify the Business Office for proper acknowledgment of the donor. Any documents pertaining to the equipment (agreement, tax forms, etc.) should be routed to the Business Office. Please do not sign any of these documents yourself.

AIMS
You may access financial information for all of your sponsored program accounts by using the web-based AIMS application. Go to the web address: http://www.purdue.edu/aims/. You may obtain your passwords from your account manager or by referencing your copy of the Notice of Award. Your password is the award number. Please be advised that AIMS goes down for 3-4 days at the beginning of each month for data refresh. In order to be notified when the system is unavailable and to find out important changes, etc. to the system, you should subscribe to the AIMS listserver. Directions for subscribing can be found on the AIMS website by clicking on the server news link.

Please remember that AIMS is only designed for sponsored research accounts. Should you need available balance or other information on any of your other accounts, please contact your account manager.

Faculty and Administration Costa (F&A)
The University has established the following research, instruction, and other sponsored programs F&A cost rates. These F&A rates are applicable to all governmental support and non-governmental support over $10,000.  For current rates, see http://www.purdue.edu/sps/accountmgmt/f&ahome.html