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RESEARCH COMPLIANCE

PI needs medical leave; How does that affect her newly awarded grant?

Reader Question: An assistant professor in our department was recently awarded her first grant. The bad news: Her pregnancy is high-risk, and she will require a great deal of bed rest at home. Do granting agencies have policies to cover such contingencies and extend the duration of the grant and/or the amount of funds drawable? Or is she just out of luck?

Expert Comments: It would depend. She would have to work with the PO. There are lots of options: for example, a co-PI could handle the research while the person is out.

The PI could also request a short-term absence through her PO. The latter would keep track in a file so they know the progress of the research, noting that it has slowed. The PO also would know what to expect of the PI.

As long as someone is there handling the research while she's out, that's fine. But if it's very long-term, a PI could transfer the project to another PI, assuming that's appropriate as far as the research being done and the solicitations. (Some solicitations can have only one PI.)

Long-term absence can affect a PI's ability to produce reports, so over time this potentially could hamper the receipt of additional funding and the ability to make any changes on the award. But even a PI who is absent usually can submit a report that says their research has slowed, thus averting such problems.

Are there certain time limits on when PIs have to spend the grant money? The longest time limit, when there are appropriation lapses, is six years from time of award. Within that period it's basically left to the judgment of the PO to grant extensions as necessary.

Expert comments by Jamie French, grant specialist in the Division of Grants and Agreements, National Science Foundation.

Note: The following is from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide:

• Short-Term Absence of PI/PD or co-PI/co-PD. “If the PI/PD or co-PI/co-PD will be absent from the project for short periods of up to three months, he/she shall notify appropriate officials of the grantee organization. The grantee shall then notify the NSF Program Officer of arrangements for conduct of the project during the PI/PD’s or co-PI/co-PD’s temporary absence.”
• Long-Term Absence of PI/PD or co-PI/co-PD. “(i) In the event the PI/PD or co-PI/co-PD will be away from the project for a period greater than three months (e.g. sabbatical leave) but intends to return, arrangements for oversight of the project shall be sent electronically to NSF for approval. This information must be provided at least 30 days before departure or as soon as practicable after the prospective absence is known. The NSF Program Officer will provide written approval to the grantee if the arrangements are satisfactory, but no formal amendment to the grant will be made.”

Additional Expert Comments: No, she would not be out of luck. The funding agencies all have policies for life events. Rarely would they yank the money away, and especially not in this circumstance.

We had a similar case last year. One the professors had cancer, and she was the principal investigator on the program. She went to her program officer (PO), and he arranged to put a hold on the funds. The exact procedure on how to handle this might differ slightly among agencies, but whatever the granting agency is in this case, she will be able to continue her research at a later date.

Expert Comments Coming Next Week: Michael Mueller, director of the Office of Proposal Development, Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate and Professional Education at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey; and by Jamie French, grant specialist in the Division of Grants and Agreements, National Science Foundation.

This eAlert is brought to you as an informational training tool by the Principal Investigators Association, which is an independent organization. Neither the eAlert nor its contents have any connection with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or the National Science Foundation (NSF), nor are they endorsed by these agencies. All views expressed are those personally held by the author and are not official government policies or opinions.