In a communication on August 11, 2021, Vice President Williams conveyed updates to important research policies at Duke. These policy changes are necessary to assure that Duke is meeting sponsor expectations in the conduct and administration of research. Additional guidance and details related to the implementation of the updated policies can be found below:

WHAT HAS CHANGED?

  • Five (5) business day internal deadline. Grant submissions with sponsor due dates on or after October 1, 2021, must be received in final form by the central pre-award offices—the Office of Research Administration (ORA) for Schools of Medicine/Nursing or the Office of Research Support (ORS) for Campus Schools—at least five (5) business days in advance of the sponsor deadline.
  • Full, final document submission. Final documents include all contents of the application as intended to be submitted to the sponsor. Only changes requested/required by ORA/ORS can be made to the application once received by the central pre-award offices for institutional review.
  • Access the five (5) day deadline and Intent to Submit Process frequently asked questions (requires Duke NetID and login).

WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT?

  • Investigators applying for external funding must use the “Intent to submit” process in myRESEARCHhome at least 15 business days in advance of the intended submission date. Those units that have not yet implemented Intent to Submit will be contacted in the coming months for orientation to the process.
  • Grant submissions that do not adhere to the internal deadline requirements may not be submitted. More information related to late submissions is in myRESEARCHpath.
  • Applications submitted for external funding without first receiving institutional clearance from the appropriate pre-award office will not be accepted at the time of award notification.
  • Researcher onboarding requirements have been expanded to include new research faculty hired after October 1, 2021, new Duke PIs, and those approved for PI status. Onboarding must be completed before a new award can be processed.
  • Those departments/units who are not yet engaged in the Research Quality Management Program should expect to be contacted by the Duke Office of Scientific Integrity.

WHAT COULD HOLD UP SUBMISSION?

Duke University, via ORA or ORS, is responsible for certifying compliance with sponsor requirements at the time that an application is submitted. To ensure that Duke can meet these requirements, Duke may hold a submission if:

  1. Final documents are not received
  2. Internal deadline is not met
  3. Proposal attestation is not completed
  4. Proposed Principal Investigator is not eligible to serve as PI
  5. There is an irreconcilable issue from the “Required Changes” list
  6. The application (w/ approved waiver) is received with less than two days for review

Additional information is available in myRESEARCHpath.

Please direct all questions to the myRESEARCHnavigators team by visiting the Research Help widget in myRESEARCHhome.