Grant Glossary

Allowable costs - Every funding agency has specific guidelines for how grant moneys can and cannot be used. To determine allowable costs, check with the agency and check the specific funding opportunity. General guidelines for NIH are here.

Animal Research Division - The office at the University of Washington responsible for overseeing the treatment and handling of vertebrate animals in research. Please see their web site for more information:

Award Number - Number assigned by the funding agency. For NIH grants, this is normally cited in the subject line of e-mail. For

Benefit rates - A percentage that is used to project the cost of health insurance, retirement and other benefits that must be paid in addition to the salary. The percentage is used to guess the costs. The expenditures will be based on actual costs and not the projected percentage.

Budget Justification - A written explanation of costs associated with the budget. Check the Funding Opportunity to determine how much justification is required. For NIH Modular budgets, only personnel and subcontracts (consortia) need to be justified. Other NIH budgets and HRSA budgets require dollar amounts and explanations for each item. Any large expenditures should be broken down if possible.

Budget Number - A six-digit number (often in the form of ##-####) that is assigned by Grant and Contract Accounting. The number may be used to pay for services on campus, is referenced when making requests for outside purchasing, or attached to pro-card purchasing services. All purchases or services that reference the budget number will be charged to the grant.

Co-Primary Investigator- Most sponsors only recognize one primary investigator regardless of the title given by the applicant. NIH has announced a pilot program for applicants to submit a grant with two principal investigators. This is only allowed for specific funding opportunities. More information can be found in the announcement: http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/multi_pi/

Data Safety - Human subjects may require a systematized plan for keeping confidential data safe. The requirements depend on the subjects, the data collected, and other research features. Information from NIH and the University of Washington can be found at the bottom of the main grant information page.

Direct costs - Salaries, services, supplies or other costs that can be attributed to a specific grant or contract.

Donated Time - Tenured Faculty are paid 100% during the academic year (9/16-6/15). If any of this time is used specifically for a grant or contract it is called "donated time." This must be tracked by the FEC system and reported to the sponsors. The School of Nursing does not allowed donated time unless it is specifically requested by the sponsor. See Cost sharing.

Fellowship (F) award - Awards that are made for the purpose of supporting pre- and post-doctoral research. Awards can either be institutional for for individual scholars.

F&A (Facilities and Administration) costs - See indirect costs. Term used by NIH.

GC-1 - When a grant is ready for internal review, budget, administrative and other business information is entered into this web form. The information is forwarded electronically to all departmental and school reviewers. When the informtion is transmitted to the reviewers, the GC-1 is said to "route."

GC-1 Addendum - A word document that is forwarded separately from the rest of the GC-1. The addendum contains all cost-sharing information from salaries, recovered indirect costs, and direct matching.

Gift - Any money given to the UW that is not subject to funding restrictions, reporting or other deliverables. See descriptions in GIM 34.

Grant or Contract - Money given to UW that is subject to funding restrictions, given to fund a specific project, and is subject to reporting or other deliverables.

HRSA - Human Resources and Services Administration.

Human Subjects - Any research that requires interaction with data gathered from humans by questioner, physical exam, sample taking, or any other method must be approved by the Human Subjects board (also called the IRB.) The board reviews research processes, data handling, and other protocols to ensure that the subjects are treated properly.

Human Subjects Assurance Number - Federal oversight reviews the protections and approval process put in place for Human Subjects at the University of Washington. The number (FWA00006878) verifies that they have approved the policies that the University has in place.

Indirect cost waiver - See indirect cost rates. If the rate creates a hardship or the Sponsor requires a rate and has no official documents to request the rate, this form must be filled out. The rate requested must be justified.

Indirect costs - Costs that cannot be attributed to the grant but which support the grant. (i.e. building maintenance, accounting, office supplies, etc.) See GIM 13 for the correct rate.

Just-in-Time - Applications for human subjects approval must be submitted to the Internal Review Board before a grant can be approved. Some sponsors have waived this requirement, but require approval before research commences. This is called Just-in-Time. Sponsors who allow this are listed here.

K (Career Development) award - Grant to support the career of a researcher who is new in a field. The awards include salary support, benefits, and research support. The K Kiosk provides an overview of these grants.

Matching Funds - A sponsor or funding opportunity may require that the university pay a certain amount, or a certain percentage of the costs of the project. The matched amount can be made up of faculty cost-sharing or it can be a direct contribution from the school, department and/or provost office. If allowed, unrecovered indirect costs may be considered cost sharing.

NIH - National Institutes of Health

NRSA award - A National Research Service Award funded by the Ruth Kirschstein program. Awards to fund pre-and post-graduate research. Most commonly refers to individual grants awarded to pre-doctoral students for their dissertation research. (F31)

Off Campus - This describes any project that is housed in a building or area that is not owned by the University of Washington. This means that the project will have to pay rent, utilities and will not have access to department office supplies. Costs that would normally be indirect are allowed, but the project will be assessed a lower indirect cost rate.

Overhead costs - See indirect Cost rates.

Primary Investigator - The employee who is ultimately responsible for grant activities and for reporting to the sponsor.

Progress Report - This report consists of two parts: 1) The science or project activities are described by the PI and the report is approved by the Office for Sponsored Programs. 2) The financial report of moneys spent is prepared by Grant and Contract Accounting and submitted to the sponsor. Instructions are online for NIH snap and e-snap reports.

Research (R) Award - This refers to grants that support basic and applied research programs that are focused on fulfilling the aims of a specific project.

RIFP - Research and Intramural Funding Program. This program is funded by the School of Nursing and some of the research centers. Small grants are funded primarily for pilot or exploratory programs that would not be funded by external sponsors.

SAGE - System to Administer Grants Electronically. Online system that allows grant writers to create an online GC-1

Split Indirect Cost rate - If a grant is held both on and off-campus, than the indirect costs may need to be split for different costs. For instructions on how to do this, see GIM 13, Attachment B. This does not refer to grants where the indirect cost rate changes from one year to the next.

Subcontract - If money must be paid to an institution for a service that is not normally sold (such as part of a doctor's salary, or to buy materials for their portion of a grant program) than a subcontract agreement must be set up. The subcontracting institution submits a request for funds to the UW and UW includes the request for funds when they write the grant.

Training (T) award - Awards made to for institutions to support doctoral and post-doctoral research work.

If any terms or information is missing, please e-mail Jennifer Snow with suggestions. Please use "Grant Glossary" in your subject heading.