Award Administration Overview

The authority to negotiate and accept an award on behalf of the University has been delegated from the Regents to the Chancellor and the Chancellor has redelegated this authority to Sponsored Projects. If you receive an award, please route it to the Sponsored Projects Office in the Office of Research for approval.

Once a proposal is selected for funding, Sponsored Projects will review the resulting award document to assure that there are no terms that would either violate UC policies or hamper the researcher's ability to carry out the project. Potentially problematic terms include those that may affect academic freedom, equal access to education, or open publication, or may impose unreasonable or burdensome administrative requirements, such as unusually frequent or voluminous reporting requirements. If the award contains problematic terms, Sponsored Projects will try to negotiate with the sponsor to remove them, working with the principal investigator, the administrating department, and Extramural Funds Accounting.

Once the award terms are acceptable, Sponsored Projects confirms that all compliance issues are cleared (such as animal use or conflict of interest) and if so, will accept the award on behalf of the Regents.

There are many types of research-related agreements. If you are unsure which UCSB office has primary responsibility for an agreement, please see the Research-Related Agreements page for guidance. To assist in determining if an incoming agreement is a research agreement handled by Sponsored Projects or a service agreement handled by Procurement Services, please see Procurement Services' Form B: Research vs. Services Determination Sheet.