General Requirements for Transfers

1. If the entire project, with a new PI, stays at Duke and Duke continues to receive funding directly from the sponsor the following procedure is required:

• A new Duke PI must be identified and approved, in writing, by the sponsor.

2. If the entire award, relinquished by Duke, is transferred to the PI's new institution the following procedures are required:

• Funds available for transfer - the unobligated balance - must be identified.
• ORS, representing Duke, must formally relinquish, in writing, the project. (NSF and NIH have forms for this process.)
• The project will be closed at Duke in accordance with Duke and sponsor policies.
• Upon receipt of a proposal from the investigator at his or her new institution, the sponsor will re-issue the award to the new institution.

3. If a project stays at Duke and Duke continues to receive funding directly from the sponsor but a portion of the work is transferred to the PI's new institution using a subcontract, the following procedures are required:

• The sponsor must approve a new Duke PI.
• The Duke budget must be revised to include a subcontract and F&A cost issues must be negotiated by ORS.
• Using the figure provided by Duke, a subcontract proposal must be prepared by the departing PI's new institution and submitted to Duke.
• The subcontract and new budget must be approved by the sponsor.
• When approval is secured, ORS will issue the subcontract.

4. If the project is transferred to the PI's new institution and the new institution will receive funding directly from the sponsor but with a subcontract back to Duke, the following procedures are required:

• Funds available for transfer - the unobligated balance - must be identified.
• ORS, representing Duke, must formally relinquish the project. (NSF and NIH have forms for this process.)
• Duke must identify an appropriate PI and submit a subcontract proposal to the departing PI's new institution, based on figures provided by the new institution.
• Any F&A cost issues must be negotiated by ORS.
• The sponsor will re-issue the award to the new institution which will then issue a subcontract to Duke.

Identifying Funds Available for Transfer
The PI and the department must work closely with the OSP to calculate the dollar amount that is unspent and available to be transferred. If Duke relinquishes too much money, because, for example, an outstanding commitment wasn't made known, it is very difficult to get that money back. Likewise, if Duke underestimates the funds to be relinquished, there is no mechanism for moving excess funds at a later date.

F&A Cost Issues
When a budget is revised to include a new subcontract, the cost of the subcontract should be included in the indirect cost calculations. However, the institution preparing the new subcontract proposal could also reasonably expect to include F&A costs in its calculations. This creates a burden on the original budget. Any reduction of direct costs to cover the F&A cost could affect the outcome of the project and would probably not be allowed by the sponsor. ORS will negotiate a fair distribution of F&A cost recoveries with its counterpart at the PI's new institution. In practice, this usually means that each university will accept a lower rate for the project.

Equipment Transfers
Title to equipment never rests with an individual faculty member. Award documents will state whether title is vested in the sponsor or the university. If title vests with the University, written permission must be secured from the appropriate dean and the Provost before the equipment can be released.

If the sponsor or another government entity owns the equipment, written permission must be secured from the agency before the equipment can be sent to the PI's new institution.