Award Management

Upon award set-up, the allocated post-award administrator manages the award in accordance with the sponsors’ terms and conditions and KAUST policies and procedures working closely with the Principal Investigator and Business/Center manager.

To ensure proper stewardship of awards, post-award approval is required for the following:

Personnel Allocation

Personnel should be appointed on grants as budgeted. Post-award reviews personnel appointments on research projects against the awarded budget and forwards these requests to HR. In case of moving funds between personnel classes, re-budgeting is required if actual personnel requirements differ from the awarded budget and is addressed according to the sponsor’s terms and conditions.

Budget Monitoring

Expenses on grants must be allocated in accordance with the awarded budget. Cases of expense-posting rejections may occur when non-budgeted costs are allocated to the grant. Only project specific eligible costs can be charged to grants adhering to the terms & conditions of the award and KAUST policies. OSR post-award monitors under and over spends. Expenses over-charged to the grant are moved to – and recovered against - faculty baseline funds. Any remaining balance on the grant is moved to the university’s central fund.

Invoice and Payments Monitoring

Invoices to sponsors are initiated by post-award when due. Post-award team liaise with the finance department on payments from the sponsors and in cases of outstanding invoices.

Sub-awardee invoices

Invoices from sub-awardees are released upon the successful and timely submission of technical and financial reports by the sub-awardees and a confirmation from the KAUST Principal Investigator regarding satisfactory completion of the project deliverables.

Reconciliations

Post-award carries out reconciliation of each grant per project period. If there are any concerns regarding spending on the award, post-award works closely with Principal Investigator and Business/Center manager to address these concerns.

Re-budgeting

Post-award team reviews and approves re-budgeting requests submitted by the Principal Investigator, in accordance with sponsor’s terms and conditions.

Financial Statement Reports (FSRs)

Preparation of final financial reports is a shared responsibility of post-award and the Business/Center manager. Financial reports are reviewed and certified by the Principal Investigator before submission to the sponsor.

No Cost Extensions (NCE)

Request for 'No Cost Extension' is initiated by Principal Investigator (via Business/Center Manager) is passed to post-award team. A 'No Cost Extension' should be requested at least 60 days prior to the project end date or as per sponsor’s requirements. The Principal Investigator should provide a scientific and financial justification for the extension.

Carry Forwards

Carry forward of balances between project years/periods is not automatic or guaranteed; and is subject to sponsor’s guidelines and OSR Research Services approval.

Change of Principal Investigator

Any time there is a change in the leadership of a project; the sponsor has to be officially notified. The departing Principal Investigator must provide
- A letter which includes the reason for this change, signed by both the departing and new Principal Investigator,
- the CV of the new Principal Investigator
The above documents must be submitted to Research Services for institutional review and signature. Post-Award will liaise with the sponsor regarding obtaining approval.

Auditing

Audits may be carried out by external and internal auditors at any time. Records must be kept for up to 10 years after the project culminates.