A grant is always awarded to the PI’s INSTITUTION. Therefore, before a grant can be transferred to a new institution the grant must be:

1. Relinquished from the Current Institution
2. Applied for from the New Institution

If You Have Faculty Leaving Vanderbilt: NIH Award

You must complete a Relinquishing Statement. This form is located at URL: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/phs3734.pdf

Note that the Relinquishing Statement requests an estimated unexpended balance, as well as a list of equipment costing $5,000 or more which will be transferring to the new Institution with the grant.

NIH can not award a grant to a new Institution until the original Institution has relinquished it. Therefore, it is important to complete the Relinquishing Statement as soon as possible and before the PI has left.

Once you have completed the Relinquishing Statement, it must be approved and signed by:

1. The Department of Finance
2. The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP)

Once OSP has approved and signed the statement you must send it to the Grants Management Specialist at NIH.

Be sure to phone the specialist and verify the address before mailing the Relinquishing Statement.

You will need:

1. Name of contact person at PI’s former Institution.
2. Estimated dollars to be transferred for current budget year. NOTE: try to get an estimate as early as possible so that you may begin figuring the budget.
3. A copy of the Relinquishing Statement submitted by the former Institution - with the estimated dollar amount to be transferred. NOTE: If the final amount on the FSR differs from the relinquishing statement, the award letter will be adjusted accordingly.
4. A copy of the most recent Notice of Grant Award for the grant. This will indicate the total dollars allocated for succeeding years of the current project period - as well as the name of the current Grants Management Specialist. NIH assigns Specialist by Institution. Be sure to phone the current Specialist to ask who handles grants for Vanderbilt at that Institute.

A Transfer Application is completed on the NIH 398 forms. The Administrative portion is identical to a New or Competing Application: Complete the Face Page, Budget pages, Budget Justification, Resource and Checklist page. The Scientific portion should be a brief progress report, explaining the move to the new institution and detailing what was accomplished at the old institution before the move.

Completing the budget for the current budget period

You will need to talk with the NIH Grants Management Specialist to determine how they want the direct costs and facilities and administrative costs allocated. SOME Institutes request that you back Vanderbilt’s indirect costs out of the TOTAL DOLLARS transferred. The remainder is the direct costs available for the current budget period. OTHER Institutes request that you allocate the direct dollars available ONLY, adding Vanderbilt’s F & A (i.e. Indirect Costs) to that amount. It is important to check with the NIH Institute BEFORE you submit your transfer application.

Once you have determined the total direct costs available for the first budget period, you must allocate that amount WITHIN THE MONTHS REMAINING IN THE CURRENT BUDGET PERIOD. Be SURE to enter these months in the “FROM” and “THROUGH” date boxes in the upper right hand corner of the page.

For succeeding years of the grant, budget the DIRECT costs originally awarded, adding Vanderbilt’s F&A to that.

IF THE ORIGINAL APPLICATION WAS A MODULAR APPLICATION, use the Modular Budget page. Put the remaining direct dollar amount in the “Initial Budget Period” EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT AN EVEN MODULE. Complete the remainder of the form with the direct dollars awarded in the original NOGA.

NSF Grant Transfer

If a PI plans to leave an organization during the course of a grant, you must submit to NSF a PI Transfer Request.

NSF permits the PI to transfer the grant to a new organization, if both the new and the original research organization agree. Therefore, the successful submission of a PI Transfer Request involves both the new and the original organizations.

The PI and/or the SPO of the original organization prepares the request, but the SPO of the original organization does not submit the PI Transfer Request directly to NSF. Instead:

• The SPO of the original organization indicates agreement with the transfer by forwarding the PI Transfer Request to the SPO of the new organization.
• The SPO of the new organization then indicates agreement with the PI Transfer Request, by submitting the request to NSF.
• The main roles and responsibilities for the PI Transfer Request break down like this:
• The PI may:
  • Prepare a PI Transfer Request
  • Forward the PI Transfer Request to the SPO of the original organization
  • Edit the organization’s budget in collaboration with the new SPO
• The SPO of the original organization may:
  • Prepare a PI Transfer Request
  • Edit a PI Transfer Request
  • Return a PI Transfer Request to the PI
  • Submit a PI Transfer Request to the SPO of the new organization
• The SPO of the new organization may:
  • Edit the request as needed and edit the budget in collaboration with the PI
  • Return the PI Transfer Request to the SPO of the original organization
  • Submit the request to NSF

Each PI Transfer Request must contain the following:

• Grant Transfer Request
  • A form that includes the total estimated disbursements to date and any anticipated costs yet to be incurred against the original grant
• Progress Summary
  • A brief description of the progress to date on the project in the original organization
• Description of Work to be Accomplished
  • A description of the work that will be carried out on the project in the new organization
• Budget (Including Justification)
  • A budget showing the allocation of the remaining award funds for use in the new organization and a justification of how the funds will be expended

These forms are completed through the PI Transfer Request application.