Award actions that may require prior approval from the sponsor are described in Tufts policy on Prior Approval on Sponsored Awards. LRAs assist the PIs in determination of whether or not sponsor prior approval is required and collaborates with  Central Pre-Award for advice and guidance with complex or atypical determinations.

All prior approval requests must be routed to the OVPR Pre-Award office. As appropriate, Pre-Award engages Post-Award office, as well as CFR (for non-federal awards) to prepare a formal request and interacts with the sponsor on behalf of the PI and the University to seek approval.

It is recommended that the PI communicates with the program officer at the sponsor agency on matters related to scientific direction before initiation of a formal request. Please note that in most sponsor agencies (federal and non-federal alike) program officers are not authorized to issue prior approvals. OVPR Pre-Award office will obtain formal prior approvals from the funding agency Grants Management Specialist or equivalent.

If a request from the sponsor is received by any of the University offices, the LRA assigned to the PI’s department must be informed as soon as possible. The LRA will serve as a point of contact with Central Administration and facilitate the PI engagement with appropriate research support offices to address the sponsor request. If the LRA is unknown, please contact Lead Research Administrator for the school/center.