Welcome Faculty

Proposals are sent to University Research Administration (URA) for comprehensive review and University endorsement prior to submission to the potential sponsor. URA is also the office to formally negotiate and accept awards for the University on behalf of individual principal investigators (see University policy on authorized signature). Susan Boone is Interim Director of URA. The list of URA staff gives contact information and also indicates their responsibilities by sponsor and/or unit.

For guidance in the proposal process, by division, please contact:

Funding from external sources (federal, state, municipal, foundations, corporations and foreign) to support scholarly inquiry has risen to levels unimagined by our founders (see University of Chicago Funding Profile for proposal and award data for recent years). It was only after World War II, and especially through support of the Manhattan Project, that external funding began to play a greater role in the growth and shape of university research, particularly in the sciences (see "Science The Endless Frontier," a report to President Roosevelt by Vannevar Bush, Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, July 1945).

The growth of funding has been accompanied by a proliferation of federal rules and regulations governing the use of these monies. Research administration is the responsibility of a number of University staff at various levels, but it begins with the principal investigator. The integrity of the research enterprise—carrying out the program of research, the protection of research subjects and attention to other compliance issues, and the proper expenditure and accounting of funds over the course of the project—depends on the reliability of investigators and administrators.

The University has institutional membership with several national organizations working to monitor and, when possible, propose initiatives to reduce the regulatory burden. We provide links to two, the Council on Governmental Regulations (COGR) and the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP), for your information.

In addition, we provide the following links to pertinent University policies and information sites and invite you to contact University Research Administration should you require more specific direction and assistance.
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