Allocable Costs: allowable costs that directly benefit the grant or contract to which they are charged.
Allocate: assign an item of cost or a group of items of cost to one or more cost objects.
Allowable Costs: categories of costs that are allowable as a charge on a grant or contract as determined by the terms and conditions of the award and/or appropriate cost principles. Certain types of costs, such as the cost of alcoholic beverages are not allowable and may not be charged to a contract or grant.
Amendment: a change in the terms and conditions of a grant or contract mutually agreed upon by the sponsor and the recipient organization; may also be referred to as a modification.
Audit: a formal examination of an organization or individual’s accounts or financial situation. An audit may also include examination of compliance with applicable award terms, laws, regulations and policies.
Authorized Organization Representative (AOR): an AOR is a member of your organization authorized to submit applications in Grants.gov and other federal platforms submission on behalf of the organization. An applicant user with the AOR role is authorized to submit any applications on behalf of the organization and has privileges that allow the user to modify organization-level settings in Grants.gov and other federal submission platforms.
Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP): the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Automated Clearing House Payment System which is used to draw funds for various federal programs.
Award: the provision of funds by a sponsor, based on an approved proposal and budget, to an organizational entity or individual to carry out an activity or project.
Budget: a list of anticipated project costs that represent the principal investigator’s best estimate of the funds needed to support the work described in a grant or contract proposal.
Budget Adjustment: act of amending the budget by moving funds from one category or line item to another; most budget adjustments require sponsor approval.
Budget Narrative: explains in a clear and concise manner the costs in each category, and which budget items will be covered by the sponsor and which ones will be covered by matching funds (e.g., cost-share or in-kind).
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: the number assigned to a federal program in the CFDA.
Closeout: the act of completing all internal procedures and sponsor requirements to terminate or complete a research project. Most awards have strict deadlines for completion of closeout activities. Failure to complete within the deadline can result in non-payment of the final amount due or may affect the ability to obtain another award from the sponsor.
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): official legal print publication containing the codificaiton of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government.
Co-Investigator (Co-PI):the individual that makes significant contributions, but does not have overall responsibility and authority for the project.
Conflict of Interest (COI): a conflict of interest is a situation in which an employee has the opportunity to influence a university decision that could lead to financial or other personal advantage, or that involves other conflicting official obligations. A conflict of interest can also occur when the conduct of research or other sponsored activities is or has the potential to be influenced by the outside financial interests of an investigator.
Consortium Agreement: a group of collaborative investigators/institutions; the arrangement can be formalized with specified terms and conditions.
Consultant: an individual hired to give professional advice or services for a fee, but not as a university employee. Consultants do not perform a portion of the programmatic work of an award. University personnel may not serve as paid consultants on grants or contracts awarded to Pitt State.
Continuation Grant: An extension or renewal of existing program funding for one or more additional budget period(s) that would otherwise expire. Continuation grants are typically available to existing recipients of discretionary, multi-year projects; however, new applicants may be considered. Receipt of a continuation grant is usually based on availability of funds, project performance, and compliance with progress and financial reporting requirements. Applications for continuation may compete with other continuation requests submitted to the awarding agency.
Contract: a binding agreement for providing a product or service in exchange for funding provided; the award instrument.
Contributions and Donations: the value of donated services and property; these are not chargeable, but can be used for cost-sharing and matching requirements.
Cooperative Agreement: an award similar to a grant, but in which the sponsor’s staff may be actively involved in proposal preparation, and anticipates having substantial involvement in research activities once the award has been made.
Cost-Reimbursement Contract/Grant: a contract/grant for which the sponsor pays for the full costs incurred in the conduct of the work up to an agreed-upon amount.
Cost-Sharing or Matching: general terms that can describe virtually any type of arrangement in which more than one party supports research, equipment acquisition, demonstration projects, programs and institutions. Example: A university receives a grant for a project estimated to have a total cost of $100,000. The sponsor agrees to pay 75% ($75,000) and the university agrees to pay 25% ($25,000). The $25,000 is the cost-sharing component. If the recipient fails to meet the cost-sharing amount, a proportionate amount of the sponsor share may be disallowed.
Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number: the decommissioned nine-digit number established and assigned by Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. (D&B) to uniquily identify entities. This number is no longer used. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has directed federal agencies/systems to transition to the UEI (SAM) no later than April 4, 2022.
Direct Costs: costs that can be specifically identified with a particular project, program or activity.
Disallowable Costs: expenditures for a sponsored project for which the sponsor will not pay.
Equipment: the federal definition of equipment is tangible, nonexpendable personal property (including exempt property) charged directly to the award having useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5000 or more per unit.
Extension or No-Cost Extension: an additional period of time authorized by the sponsor for the university to complete work on an approved grant or contract without the addition of funds. An extension allows previously allocated funds to be spent during the extension period. The university may authorize an extension without sponsor prior approval for a one-time period of up to 12 months if the award terms allow for Expanded Authorities. The sponsor must be notified if the university chooses to exercise this option.
Facilities and Administrative (F & A) Costs or Indirect Costs: costs incurred that aren’t readily identifiable or specific to any particular sponsored project, but are necessary to the operation of the organization. Examples include: project administration, building administration, and depreciation expenses.
Federal Awarding Agency: the federal agency that provides a federal award directly to a non-federal entity.
Federal Share: the portion of the total project costs that are paid by federal funds.
Indirect Costs or Facilities and Administrative (F & A) Costs: costs incurred that aren’t readily identifiable or specific to any particular sponsored project, but are necessary to the operation of the organization. Examples include: project administration, building administration, and depreciation expenses.
Key Personnel: those individuals who are essential to carrying out the work of a project, typically those responsible for the design, conduct and reporting of the research.
Letter of Intent/Interest (LOI): an opportunity to introduce your proposed project to a sponsor and to elicit feedback that hopefully leads to an invitation to submit a full proposal.
Mandatory Form: the forms that are required for the application. Please note that a mandatory form must be completed before the applicant is able to submit the application package.
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)/Memorandum of Agreement (MOA): a formal agreement written between two or more parties that outlines plans to cooperatively work together on an agreed upon project or meet an agreed upon objective.
Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC): the base to which indirect costs rates are applied.
No-Cost Extension or Extension: an additional period of time authorized by the sponsor for the university to complete work on an approved grant or contract without the addition of funds. An extension allows previously allocated funds to be spent during the extension period. The university may authorize an extension without sponsor prior approval for a one-time period of up to 12 months if the award terms allow for Expanded Authorities. The sponsor must be notified if the university chooses to exercise this option.
Non-Federal Entities: a state, local government, Indian tribe, institution of higher education (IHE), or nonprofit organization that carries out a federal award as a recipient or subrecipient.
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO): a publicly available document by which an agency makes known its intentions to sponsor a project, usually as a result of competition for funds. Notice of funding opportunities may be known as funding opportunity announcements, program announcements, solicitations, or other names depending on the agency and type of program (e.g., Request for Application (RFA), Request for Proposal (RFP).
OMB/Uniform Guidance: Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (commonly called "Uniform Guidance"); government-wide framework for grants management and provides an authoritative set of rules and requirements for federal awards.
Optional Forms: the forms that can be used to provide additional support for an application, but are not required to complete the application package.
Pass-Through Entity: the legal entity receiving an award directly from the awarding agency and passing funding on to a subrecipient.
Pass-Through Funding: funds issued by a federal agency to a state agency or institution that are then transferred to other state agencies, units of local government, or other eligible groups per the award eligibiity terms. The state agency or institution is referred to as the "prime recipient" of the pass-through funds. The secondary recipients are referred to as "subrecipients." The prime recipient issues the subawards as competitive or noncompetitive as dictated by the prime award terms and authorizing legislation.
Prime Award: a grant, contract or cooperative agreement received directly from the awarding agency.
Principal Investigator (PI)/Principal Director (PD): the individual responsible for the preparation, conduct, and administration of a research grant, cooperative agreement, training or public service project, contract, or other sponsored project.
Project Cost: total allowable costs incurred under an award including all required cost-sharing.
Project Period: the period established in the award document during which awarding agency sponsorship begins and ends.
Rebudget: the act of amending the budget by moving funds from one category or line item to another. Some funding agencies require prior approval before rebudgeting (also called budget adjustment) can occur.
Research and Development (R&D): all research activities, both basic and applied, and all development activities that are performed by non-federal entities. The term research also includes activities involving the training of individuals in research techniques where such activities utilize the same facilities as other research and development activities and where such activities are not included in the instruction function. "Research" is defined as a systematic study directed toward fuller scientific knowledge or understanding of the subjects studied. "Development" is the systematic use of knowledge and understanding gained from research directed toward the production of useful materials, devices, system, or methods, including design and development of prototypes and processes.
Sponsor: an individual, agency or organization that provides financial and other resources and support to a project.
Sponsored Program: an activity that is sponsored, or funded, by an external organization, such as a federal, state, or private organization or agency. The characteristics of a sponsored program include: specific scope of work or set of specific aims.
Statement/Scope of Work: the section of a subaward that contains a concise narrative summary of the work to be undertaken by the subrecipient.
Subcontract, Subaward, Subgrant or Subagreement: a document written under the authority of, and consistent with the terms and conditions of an award (a grant, contract or cooperative agreement), that transfers a portion of the research or substantive effort of the prime award to another institution or organization.
System for Award Management (SAM): SAM validates applicant information and electronically shares the secure and encrypted data with the federal agencies' finance offices to facilitate paperless payments through Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). SAM stores PSU's organizational information, allowing Grants.gov and other submission platforms to verify PSU's identity and to pre-fill organizational information on grant applications.
Termination: the ending of an award, in whole or in part, at any time prior to the planned end of period of performance.
Third-Party In-Kind Contributions: the value of non-cash contributions (i.e., property or services) that a.) benefit a project or program; and b.) are contributed by a non-federal third party, without charge, to a non-federal entity.
Unallowable Costs: any cost which, under the provisions of any pertinent law, regulation, or sponsored agreement, cannot be included in prices, cost reimbursements, or settlements under a sponsored agreement to which it is allocable.
Uniform Guidance/OMB: Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (commonly called "Uniform Guidance"); government-wide framework for grants management and provides an authoritative set of rules and requirements for federal awards.
Unique Entity Identifier (SAM) or UEI: a non-federal entity is required to have a UEI in order to apply for, receive, and report to a federal award.
Vendor: an organization that provides goods and services. Vendors typically provide similar goods and services to many different purchases and the goods or services provided are used by the prime recipient in the prime recipient’s accomplishment of project goals rather than supporting project goals directly. Vendors are not subject to the administrative flow-down requirements of the awarding agency.