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Contract and Grant Administration

Review of Award Terms and Conditions

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After OSP receives an award, we review the award terms and conditions. Typically, an award will include a project period, a statement of work to be performed, and a budget that details the manner in which the funds are expected to be disbursed. It may also include complex legal and financial terms and conditions that must be acceptable to MSU.  Negotiation of award terms can take as little as a few days to as much as a few months depending upon the complexity.

Problematic Award Terms

To reduce the administrative burden for departments, the Office of Sponsored Programs will negotiate award terms that are found to be inconsistent with MSU policies. Some terms and conditions that are included in sponsored research awards might impose a great administrative burden on the faculty, or might disqualify the project as research.

Some of the most common terms that may be problematic and require negotiation and/or removal fall in the following categories:

  • Confidential Information
  • Governing Law   
  • Indemnification and/or Hold Harmless
  • Intellectual Property (Copyrights, Inventions and Patents)
  • Participation Restrictions – Non-U.S. Citizens
  • Publication Restrictions

OSP Signature Authority

After terms are successfully negotiated an authorized signatory will execute the agreement.  MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon has delegated signature authority consistent with the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees of Michigan State University which is documented in a memo dated March 19, 2015. Several individuals within OSP have signature authority and they will ensure proper and timely execution.  Please note that faulty DO NOT have signature authority to execute award agreements.

Required Regulatory Compliance

Each award requires review for various Regulatory Requirements. These requirements were defined at the time the eTransmittal was completed for your proposal. If you indicated the research involved any compliance or cost share issues, additional steps may need to be taken before an award can be set up completely.

  • Animal Use
  • Conflict of Interest (COI)
  • Cost Share
  • DNA
  • Export Controls (ECORRW)
  • Human Subjects (IRB)

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