Subcontracts and Subawards Information

Sub-contract agreements are established when an investigator receives funding from a sponsor and requires the participation of other institutions to realize research target goals. Sub-contract agreements describe the terms and conditions governing the research relationship between the prime contractor and secondary entities. In most cases, the terms and conditions that are developed between the Sponsor and the prime institution flow down to the secondary institution via the sub-contract agreement. The prime institution may also impose additional time-dependent or deliverable conditions to permit compliance with Sponsor requirements (i.e., receipt of financial and/or technical reports, status in relation to target enrollments).

A Subcontract or subaward is included in a grant when a significant portion of the work being proposed involves another institution or collaborator that cannot be paid directly as senior personnel.   Whereas, a consultant might give advice or an opinion about a project, an active collaborator provides essential services or components for a project. Whereas a consultant would not his/her home institution’s facilities to work with you, a subcontractor would need a lab or other specialized space to complete his/her work; or he/she may need to hire a graduate student or post-doc for the project.   If a subcontract is proposed, please bear in mind that permission must be obtained from the collaborating institution’s authorizing official prior to submitting the proposal.   In order to assist everyone involved in making this process easier, we have included a checklist of requirements that ORSP needs to ensure your proposal is complete:

• Name, address, contact information (email, phone) of the collaborating PI at his or her home institution.
• The contact information of the collaborating PI’s grants office or ORSP counterpart.
•  A budget and scope of work approved by the collaborator’s institution.
• A letter of agreement or signed consortium agreement statement.

Conversely, if you are going to be involved in a grant at another institution and will be using Queens College facilities, please contact ORSP as soon as possible. It is very likely that the institution submitting the primary proposal will want the same things from us that we would like from them. 

If the proposal is awarded, an actual legal agreement is made between the institutions.  No work should commence until these agreements are signed by the respective parties.