Effective April 1, 2013, all personnel named in a proposal must satisfactorily complete Conflict of Interest (COI) training using the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program.  The training typically takes about 30 minutes to complete; certification is valid for four years.

Prior to submitting a request for funding from an extramural source, the Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-PIs must:

•  Review UMaine’s revised Policies and Procedures for Financial Disclosures and Conflicts of Interest in Extramurally Sponsored Activities (PDF)
• Complete the COI training (Instructions for establishing a CITI account and completing COI training (PDF))
• Update their PARS User Profile with the COI training date of successful completion (Note: The PARS user profile can be accessed from the PARS homepage titled ‘User Activities Menu’)
• Complete the Financial Disclosure Statement/Investigator Certification in PARS (Note: This certification is project specific and can be found on the “Project Information” screen)
• Submit a Significant Financial Interest Disclosure Form (PDF) to ORSP, if applicable.

More information can be found at: http://umaine.edu/orsp/compliance/conflict-of-interest/

The April 2013 Foundation Tracker Bulletin (PDF) is now available.

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs Funding Opportunities Calendar has been retired in favor of PIVOT (formerly Community of Science), a comprehensive funding resource available to the UMaine community courtesy of Fogler Library. Pivot pinpoints funding opportunities based on an investigator’s unique profile, with searches that are:

• Accurate: Updated daily to add new information drawn from sources linked to profiles in publications from vetted sources and web content associated with a scholar’s profile, and to drop out expired opportunities.
• Automated: Users can receive alerts whenever new matching opportunities are posted that match their saved searches.
• Focused: Search just one database for funding in any discipline and country, rather than multiple sources or scattershot across the internet.

The Limited Competitions Registry (Registry), which replaces the Funding Opportunities Calendar, is a database of active RFP’s for limited competitions (RFP’s for which the University may submit only a certain number of proposals).  Investigators wishing to be considered for a limited competition must sign up through PARS via the Registry. Please consult UMaine’s policy on limited competitions (Word) for more details.

“The National Science Foundation (NSF) is currently planning to implement a significant change in the way investigators report on their NSF-funded projects. Beginning on March 18, 2013, PIs will be required to submit their annual, final and interim project reports in Research.gov, NSF’s modernization of FastLane… In order to prepare for the migration to Research.gov, they are requesting that PIs stop submitting new project reports through FastLane on February 1, 2013.  Any reports that are prepared in FastLane prior to the February 1st, but are not submitted, may need to be re-entered into Research.gov.” For more information regarding the transition, please review NSF’s Dear Colleague Letter ‘Implementing All Project Reporting in Research.gov‘.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has issued a new ‘Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG)‘, effective for proposals submitted on or after January 14, 2013.

Please pay special attention to:

• Summary of Significant Changes in the Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) and
• Summary of  Significant Changes in the Award & Administration Guide (AAG)

Feel free to contact ORSP Pre-Award staff with any questions.