Principal Investigator's Responsibilities

Duquesne University is the official recipient of all contracts and grants and is therefore legally accountable to the sponsor. The principal investigator or project director is responsible for the proper fiscal management and conduct of the project, and complying with all terms, conditions, legal requirements, and University policies.
For the employment of Research personnel (post doctoral fellows or laboratory technicians) funded by research grants, a contractual agreement signed by the respective dean is required.

PI's must request approval for any University cost-sharing prior to submitting any requests for funding. The PI must initiate all required approvals for budgetary and programmatic changes that may be necessary during the project. The PI is also responsible for the preparation and submission of technical reports and any other required deliverables.

In addition, the PI must ensure that all project members are familiar with and abide by the intellectual property and publication clauses of the grant or contract. Inventions and copyrightable material produced under sponsored projects must be governed by the specific terms of the award received from the sponsor and must be handled in accordance with University policy.

If the project expenses exceed budget, or if an unauthorized expenditure is disallowed by the auditors, the University must ask the appropriate academic unit to cover this cost.