Project Management

Authorisations and responsibilities

The Principal investigator/Project Director (PI/PD) should inform Research Services about any changes affecting his status or authorization to participate in the project (e.g. retirement, maternity leave, etc.). The PI/PD remains fully responsible for an efficient and compliant project management and reporting throughout the project life cycle.

• Responsibilities and authorisations guidelines (RS)
• Institutional directives and policies homepage (RS)

Budget and financial aspects

Compliant financial management of the project is fundamental for any successful project execution. Any non-conform management (e.g. claim of non-eligible costs, non-conformity with internal UNIGE reimbursement rules and /or with NIH provisions etc.) may lead to a decision of  non-reimbursement by the NIH and auditors.

The PI/PD requests DIFIN to open a project specific account.

• UNIGE NIH Budget and financial management guidelines

 Administrative and contractual aspects

Compliance with all administration, intellectual property, data protection/management, ethics, research conduct, dual-use/military application and financial conflict of interest provisions should be ensured by the PI/PD and by all members of the PI/PD research team during the entire project life cycle.

• UNIGE NIH Administration and contractual/legal guidelines

Reports

NIH requests grantees to submit various reports during the project life cycle. In particular, NIH requests:

Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPR) to be submitted via the eRA Commons, and Invention Reports that have to be submitted via iEdison.

Financial Reports (i.e. Federal Financial Report (FFR) – Cash Transactions Report and Federal Financial Report  (FFR) – Expenditure Data Report) that are handled in collaboration with DIFIN.

Closeout reports that are usually due within 120 days after the end of the grant and normally include the Final FFR Expenditure data, the Final progress report, the Final Invention Statement and Certification and, when applicable, the Final population tracking data.

DIFIN initiate and manage the reports of financial nature.

Audits

Once a year, at UNIGE, an external auditing company carries out an audit of Federal Awards performed in accordance with U.S. Office of Management and Budget Circular A-133. The financial audit process is handled in collaboration with DFIN. A report is produced at the end of the audit.

NIH generally requests that financial and programmatic records, supporting documents etc. are retained for a period of 3 years from the date when the annual FFR is submitted.

N.B. UNIGE and NIH provisions may evolve. Therefore, the information provided here is not intended to be an exhaustive and legally binding regulation. Reference documents: NIH Central Resource for Grants and Funding Information; UNIGE rectorate directives and policies

If you  have questions, please contact Research Services.