Temporary Changes to RAS Review Criteria, Effective May 8, 2023

The RAS Pre-Award team will team will follow these criteria, effective for proposals locked and routed as of May 8, 2023, until further notice. Major updates will be communicated broadly.

I. RAS Review and Approval Required (Indicated by “Dean/Designee Signatory” in GMAS)

Whether FAS is the responsible Tub or participates through Inter-Faculty Involvement (i.e., FAS faculty member or other researcher is not the lead Principal Investigator but may be assigned a part-of account for their portion of the project budget), RAS Pre-Award team must review and approve projects that contain the following:

For New and Competing Renewal Proposals

1. Indirect Cost rate of less than 15%

• Applicable to grant and contract proposals only; student and postdoctoral fellowship proposals are excluded.
• Additional related information and guidance can be found in the University IDC Policy, the FAS Policy on Assessments on Current Use Gifts and Sponsored Awards, the FAS-RAS IDC Page,  and the FAS-RAS shortfall calculator worksheet.

2. Quantifiable Cost Sharing commitments (either mandatory or voluntary)

• Cost share commitments must be quantified in the proposal and entered in the GMAS Cost Sharing form.
• Additional related information and guidance, can be found on the FAS Cost Sharing Approval and Signature Requirements webpage.

For Existing Projects

1. Addition of new cost sharing commitments or specific changes to existing cost sharing commitments.

• Please review Table 2 – Types of Changes Requiring a GMAS Cost Sharing Request at Award Stage within the FAS Cost Sharing Approval and Signature Requirements document.

Dean/Designee Signatory:

• Science & Social Science divisions: list Jimmy Matejek-Morris (jmatejek@fas.harvard.edu)
• Arts & Humanities division and Non-Divisional units: list Katherine Zuccala (kzuccala@fas.harvard.edu)

II. RAS Notification Required (send email RAS to inform, but no GMAS sign-off required)

RAS Pre-Award team must be notified via email in the event of the following:

• When exception to PI or Co-PI rights are needed, based on the FAS PI Eligibility Policy;
• When plans for Indirect Cost shortfall recovery are modified after proposal submission or during award lifecycle;
• When project involves international collaborations or activities from countries of concern (should also be identified in GMAS);
• When an NSF proposal requires the inclusion of a Safe & Inclusive Work Environment Plan; and
• When Provost review is required based on the University’s Provost Review Criteria.

RAS Notification Contacts:

• Science & Social Science divisions: email Jimmy Matejek-Morris (jmatejek@fas.harvard.edu)
• Arts & Humanities division and Non-Divisional units: email Katherine Zuccala (kzuccala@fas.harvard.edu)
• NSF Safe & Inclusive Working Environment Plan(s): email research@fas.harvard.edu
• Provost review: email research@fas.harvard.edu

III. RAS Review/Approval or Notification *Not* Required

Until further notice, new and competing renewal proposals meeting the below criteria will not require RAS Pre-Award team review, approval or notification unless they meet one or more of the criteria listed in sections I and/or II above:

• Total project costs of $2 million or more;
• Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellowships, even those that come with no Indirect Costs;
• Federal Equipment and Instrumentation Grants (e.g. DoD DURIP, NIH SIG, or HEI grants);
• Outgoing subawards/subcontracts included in Harvard’s proposed budget;
• Multiple Harvard tubs/orgs are included in submission;
• Institutional Training Grants (e.g., NIH T32s);
• Grant-making grants; or
• Incoming faculty grant transfers.

Until further notice, changes meeting the below criteria that are made during the life of an existing project will not require RAS Pre-Award team review, approval or notification unless they meet one or more of the criteria listed in sections I and/or II above,

• Budget revisions of 25% or more from the originally proposed budget;
• Supplemental funding requests;
• Continuation requests (e.g., non-competing progress reports);
• No-cost Extension requests;
• New account requests;
• Pre-Award cost requests that do not require sponsor prior approval;
• Change Tub/Org requests;
• At-Risk Account requests;
• Change PI requests;
• Outgoing PI transfers and early termination requests;
• Addition of new subawards; or
• Addition of new Interfaculty Involvement.

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Questions/Additional Contact information*:

• FAS Federal Lowest Economy Airfare Travel Reimbursement Exception Forms: email research@fas.harvard.edu
• IDC Recovery Exception Requests: email Jimmy Matejek-Morris (jmatejek@fas.harvard.edu)
• Science & Social Science Divisions: email Jimmy Matejek-Morris (jmatejek@fas.harvard.edu)
• Arts & Humanities division & non-divisional units: email Katherine Zuccala (kzuccala@fas.harvard.edu)
• NSF Safe & Inclusive Working Environment Plan(s): email research@fas.harvard.edu
• Provost review: email research@fas.harvard.edu

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For additional information about review criteria and the responsibilities of each signing party, please see Review Responsibilities