PI Eligibility and Waiver Process

Overview

The Research Policy Handbook (section 2.1) specifies the eligibility to serve as Principal Investigator (PI) on a sponsored project. This page includes the criteria for obtaining PI waivers for those without PI eligibility, the various types of PI waiver exceptions and the procedures and checklists for preparing PI waiver memo requests.  All PI waivers in the School of Medicine require review by your RMG institutional official.  Waivers for Clinical Trials and certain Clinical Research projects should be submitted to your Clinical Trials Research Process Manager (CT RPM).  Waivers for Grants, Contracts, and Data Use Agreements should be submitted to your Grants and Contracts Research Process Manager (RPM)

For information regarding PI Waivers for Stanford internal funding opportunities, please review the information here: Internal Pilot or Seed Grant Waiver.

PI waivers are not needed for Fellowships, but are needed for mentored career development grants.

How to determine PI eligibility

Eligibility to act as a PI or co-principal investigator (Co-PI) on externally funded projects is a privilege limited to members of the Academic Council and to the University Medical Line faculty. This policy limitation is in place because PIs are responsible for determining the intellectual direction of the research and scholarship, and for the training of graduate students.

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 University Medical Line 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 PI Waiver Exception Types. 

How to identify PI waiver exception options

Researchers who are not members of the Academic Council or the University Medical Line faculty may be approved to serve as PIs on a class of projects generically referred to as Career Development Awards, whose stated purpose is to advance the individual's scientific career. Such petitions may be approved if the project is to be carried out under the mentorship of an established faculty investigator, who is named in the proposal, and if the project can be conducted within the overall intellectual scope and laboratory space of the faculty mentor. Typically, in these cases the awards cover only the individual's salary and incidental expenses, but not incremental staff or students. More 

Exception requests are subject to the following:

  1. Written approval of the faculty supervisor (who must be a member of the University Tenure Line, Medical Center Line, or Nontenure Line Research professoriate), the relevant department chair, center or institute director (if no departmental resources are to be used), and the School of Medicine Dean's Office.
  2. A guarantee of space and resources for the duration of the grant by the faculty mentor or department chair.
  3. The understanding that the grant may not, under any circumstances, support a graduate student.

 

If the grant proposes funding to appoint a postdoctoral scholar, the PI would be responsible for the day-to-day research supervision of the work of the postdoctoral scholar. However, the overall career mentoring of the postdoctoral scholar would be the responsibility of an Academic Council or University Medical Line faculty member.

There are 7 PI waiver exception categories listed below.

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How to identify PI Waiver options by position type

  Type of Position

PI Waiver Exception Types*

 

Eligible for a PI waiver?

Expanded Career Development PI Waiver Program

Career Development

Clinician Educator

Conferences and
Workshops

Early PI ship

Inter-disciplinary Project

Shared Facility or Service Center

Faculty: UTL, UML, NTLR appointments

Yes

 

 

 

 

X

 

 

Academic or Research Staff:
Research Associates, Scientists, and Scholars

Yes

 

X

 

X

 

X

X

Clinician Educators (CE):  Assistant, Associate, and Full Professors

Yes

 

X

X

X

 

X

 

Instructors:
MD, MD/PhD, and PhD degrees 

Yes

X

X

 

X

 

 

X

 

Clinical Instructors (CE)

Yes

 

X

 

X

 

 

 

Clinical / Medical Fellows*

Yes

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

Residents*

Yes   X    

 

 

 

Postdoctoral Fellows
With MD, MD/PhD and PhD degrees  

Yes

X

X

 

X

 

X

 

*with an approved GME Resident / Clinical Fellow Form

How to request a PI waiver

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 University Medical Line 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 PI Waiver Exception Types. Waivers must be obtained before submitting a proposal for a sponsored project or entering into an agreement.

  1. Consult the PI eligibility policy to determine applicable waiver category.
  2. Obtain the applicable PI waiver letter template from the Resources section on this webpage.
  3. Submit the PI waiver signed by your Department Chair with the required attachments to your RPM or CT RPM at least 5 - 7 business days prior to the sponsor deadline.  It is recommended that the PI waiver request is submitted at least two weeks prior to the sponsor deadline.
  4. The RPM or CT RPM reviews the request, submits the request to the School of Medicine Associate Dean for Research for final review and approval, and then notifies the requestor of the outcome.

Policy