Principal Investigatorship (PI) Eligibility and Criteria for Exceptions (RPH 2.4)
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/DoR/rph/2-4.html
Eligibility to act as a principal investigator (PI) or co-principal investigator (Co-PI) on externally-funded projects is a privilege limited to members of the Academic Council and to the MCL faculty. This policy limitation is in place because principal investigators are responsible for determining the intellectual direction of the research and scholarship, and for the training of graduate students.
Exceptions: Obtaining PI Waivers
The designation of "PI" or "Co-PI" for any member of the Academic Staff, or other individual who is not a member of the University's Academic Council or MCL faculty, requires specific approval by the relevant department chair, school dean and, in some cases, the Dean of Research, by obtaining PI Waivers as described under Exceptions.
Can Instructors be PIs?
Those in "Instructor" positions are eligible to request a PI waiver under the Career Development Award only. Exception: Instructors with an active NIH K-Award can request a one time PI waiver for a research proposal.
Can Clinical Instructors, Clinical Assistant Professors, Clinical Associate Professors,Clinical Professors, and Clinical Educator Faculty be PIs?
-Clinical instructors are not eligible for PI waivers for sponsored projects.
-Clinical Assistant Professors, Clinical Associate Professors, and Clinical Professors are not eligible for PI waivers for sponsored projects.
-Clinician Educator Line faculty are not eligible for PI waivers for sponsored projects except for specific situations described below.
Who can be Associate Investigators?
Members of the Academic Staff-Teaching (AS-T, Lecturers and Sr. Lecturers) and Academic Staff-Research (AS-R, Research Associates and Sr. Research Scientists, Sr. Research Engineers, and Sr. Research Scholars) are eligible to act as "Associate Investigators" on sponsored projects.
Who can be Co-Investigators?
Senior members of the Academic Staff-Research also may be designated by their Academic Council or MCL faculty supervisors as "Co-Investigators" on those externally-funded projects in which the senior AS-R members carry substantial roles.
Top A. Exceptions Subject to the Approval of the Department Chair and School Dean
See the PI waiver Memo guideline checklists for each category:
1. EARLY PI-SHIP Faculty appointment must be
pending. Long form must be submitted and accepted by the School of
Medicine Dean's Office. Your RPM will confirm with Rebecca Robinson in Academic Affairs, regarding the appointment status. An award
cannot be accepted until the faculty appointment has been confirmed.
2. CONFERENCES/WORKSHOPS May
serve as PI on externally-sponsored projects whose sole purpose is
to fund short conferences, exhibits, workshops, or other public events of
a character appropriate to the University.
3. CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARD Awards
whose stated purpose is to advance the individual's scientific career. The
project must be carried out under the mentorship of an established faculty
investigator who is named in the proposal, and must be conducted within the
overall intellectual scope and laboratory space of the faculty advisor [School
of Medicine]. (Note: a photocopy of the eligiblity requirements
of the non-governmental sponsor's RFP must be attached to the PI Waiver Memo
to confirm that the funding opportunity is indeed a career development award.
)
4. PART OF LARGE INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECT Projects within the scope of a large interdisciplinary program defined as:
-is directed by a member of the Academic Council
-has an expected duration beyond the involvement of any individual faculty participant
-has more than one faculty member involved, and
_requires expertise in more than one discipline or technical area.
All of the following conditions must be met in order for the department
chair and school dean to approve PI exceptions in cases:
The proposed project must be a demonstrably important component of the success of the overall interdisciplinary program, as defined above
There is no member of the Academic Council associated with the large interdisciplinary project who is qualified to take responsibility for the scientific direction of the prospective research project
No incremental space will be required for the project
For each graduate student participating on the project, an Academic Council member has been identified to serve as research advisor to assure that the student's research program and the education derived from it are consistent with the degree for which the student is a candidate
Exceptions approved under this provision will be reported to the Dean of Research on an annual basis.
B. Rare Exceptions Subject to the Approval of the Department Chair, School
Dean, and University Dean of Research Office
All other situations not listed above. Please
see the Research Policy Handbook PI Wiaver Guidelines (RPH 2.4). Waivers requiring University approval
may be approved at the discretion of the Dean of Research in unusual and non-recurring
situations that meet a particular need or opportunity for the University. Waivers
under these situations, however, will rarely be granted.
See the Rare Exception PI waiver memo guidelines.
C. Clinician Educator Waiver to serve as Principal Investigator
See the PI waiver memo instructions for Clinical Educators
Criteria
- Must hold rank of Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Associate Professor, or Clinical Professor. (Clinical Instructors are not eligible.)
- Eligible to be PI only for studies that are industry sponsored clinical trials.
- Studies must be multi-center/multi-site. Stanford must be one of at least two sites, and the “Stanford” site is defined as and includes the VA/PAIRE, LPCH, SHC, and their affiliated institutions.
- The Clinician Educator may not be the overall multi-center trial director.
- No minimum time in rank is required.
- The waiver request from the Department Chair must state that the CE will have protected time available to conduct the prospective research study and that the Department Chair confirms the competency of the CE to serve as PI.
| PI Waiver Request Memo Guidelines for Clinician Educator |
| Send your PI Waiver Memo directly to your Clinical Trial Research Process Manager (RPM) in
the Research Management Group (RMG). Kathleen Thompson, the Director of RMG, and Debbie Leong-Childs, the Associate Director for Clinical Research Administration, will review and forward the memo to Dr. Harry Greenberg and Dr. David Stevenson for their approval.
1. Request for a PI Waiver on a specific industry-sponsored clinical trial must be written on departmental letterhead and signed by your Division Chief and your Department Chair. 3. Add signature lines to the document to allow Dr. David Stevenson and Dr. Harry Greenberg to provide their approval. Copies of the approved waiver letters will be maintained in RMG. |
| PI Waiver Request Memo Guidelines for Career Development, Conferences/Workshops, Early PI Ship, Interdisciplinary Project | ||||||
| Send your PI Waiver Memo directly to your Research Process Manager (RPM) in
the Research Management Group (RMG). Kathleen Thompson, the Director of RMG, will review and forward the memo to Dr. Harry Greenberg for his approval. Use these guidelines only for the following PI Waiver types:  PI Waiver Checklists for each category 
The PI Waiver memo* should include the following: 1. Request for a PI Waiver on a specific proposal must be written on departmental letterhead and signed by your Division Chief and your Department Chair. ) 2. Address the memo to Dr. Harry Greenberg, Senior Associate Dean of Research*. (Reminder: although the memo is addressed to Dr. Greenberg--do not deliver it directly to him. It must be delivered instead to your RPM first.) 3. Add a signature line to the document to allow Dr. Harry Greenberg to provide his approval. 4. Name of PI, degrees and appointment 5. The type of the waiver (Early PIship, Conference/workshop, Career Development Award, Part of a Large Interdisciplinary Project) 6. For PI waivers under career development, the waiver should indicate that the project will be conducted in existing laboratory space assigned to the department; that incremental space will not be required; and approval of this PI waiver does not promise the candidate a faculty position. 7. The specific request should address the exception criteria for each PI Waiver type 8. The name and type of proposal 9. The sponsor Discussion of the appropriateness of the waiver, focusing
on the points specified in the PI Eligibility policy statement 1. A biosketch 2. A photocopy of the eligibility requirements of the sponsor's
RFP must be attached to the PI Waiver Memo to confirm that
the funding opportunity is a career development award (note:
this is not needed for government awards) |
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