Federal Awards

In the federal lexicon, contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements are distinguished by three characteristics:

• the source of the idea for the project
• the degree of involvement of the sponsoring agency, and
• the corresponding level of flexibility in carrying out the project.

Contracts:

• originate from specific goals of a federal agency as described in a solicitation or request;
• fund well-defined specific efforts, generally affording the recipient less latitude than do grants and cooperative agreements; and
• use detailed award instruments which are subject to federal acquisition regulations.

Grants:

• fund investigator-initiated projects;
• support research, education, training, and facilities;
• provide more autonomy and greater flexibility than contracts;
• do not anticipate substantial involvement between the recipient and the sponsor; and
• typically use a short award document, often referencing standard terms and conditions.

Cooperative Agreements:

• fund projects conceived by an investigator, but often in response to specific research areas identified by the sponsor;
• assume the project would not be possible without collaboration between the recipient and the sponsor;
• anticipate sponsor involvement in and contribution to the technical aspects of the project;
• like grants, allow more flexibility than contracts; and
• have less detailed award documents than contracts.

Non-federal Awards
In addition to the federal models, Duke identifies other award mechanisms with distinct characteristics such as foundation grants, corporate agreements, fellowships, and gifts.

Foundation Grants:

• fund investigator-initiated projects;
• support research, education, training, facilities;
• provide more autonomy and greater flexibility than contracts;
• do not anticipate substantial involvement between the recipient and the sponsor; and
• typically use a short award document.

Corporate - or Sponsored Research - Agreements:

• fund basic research related to a corporate R&D focus while guaranteeing that the PI will retain direction of the project;
• may involve interaction and collaboration between corporate and Duke scientists;
• often require extensive negotiations between ORS and corporate representatives on issues such as publication rights and ownership of intellectual property, and;
• must be formulated in accordance with Duke policies such as the University/Industry Guidelines and Invention, Patents and Technology Transfer.

Fellowships:

• support advanced or continued education for scholars and researchers;
• provide a stipend as opposed to a salary; and
• do not require recipients to perform any functions or pursue any research goals for the sponsor.

Gifts:

• provide general support - without specific terms or conditions or reporting requirements - for the research or other activities of a particular individual, unit, or facility