There is a Disposition of Grants form on SPA’s Forms website that will need to be completed.  It is important that this form be completed as soon as possible after notification that a PI or key personnel will be transferring departments or leaving NDSU or the project, as the responsibility for continuation, management and/or transfer/relinquishment of the award rests on NDSU as the named recipient.  NDSU also has the responsibility to work with a sponsor to obtain any necessary approvals for changes to an award necessitated by the departure of a PI and/or transfer of an award. 

Depending on the circumstances, the most common disposition results include:

• The award stays at NDSU and a replacement PI or key personnel is/are named
• The award is transferred to a new NDSU Department
• The award is transferred to a new institution

Often awards need to remain at NDSU due to sponsor limitations, or the timing of the PI leaving NDSU.  If, for instance, a PI leaves NDSU in the final 12 months of a project, it may be more practical to leave the award at NDSU and issue a subaward to the former PI at their new institution.  This eliminates the long delays that are often experienced when NDSU has to relinquish an award and the sponsor has to reissue it to a new institution.  It is often less burdensome on a sponsor to simply approve a replacement PI at NDSU and to approve a subaward to the new institution.  Also, it is possible to have a different outcome for multiple awards to the same PI.  That is, one award may be transferred in its entirety, one may be transferred but have a subaward back to NDSU, one may stay at NDSU under a replacement PI with a subaward to the former PI, and one may simply stay in full under a replacement PI.
 
Please contact SPA at ndsu.research@ndsu.edu with any questions, or to discuss specifics of award disposition.