Principal Investigators, PI Eligibility, and Mentors

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On this page:

What is a PI?
Who is PI Eligible?
PI Selection in UFIRST
Mentored Proposals
Proposals to support independent research or transition to independent research
Proposals open to a range of applicants
Multiple Principal Investigator (MPI) Projects
Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Agreements
Use UFIRST to request a waiver of PI Eligibility for non-eligible positions

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What is a PI?

The Principal Investigator (PI) is “the individual designated by the applicant organization to have the appropriate level of authority and responsibility to direct the program or project” being proposed for external funding. The PI is responsible for preparation, conduct, and administration of the sponsored project.

Proposals should list a PI who is both appropriate to lead the project per the funding opportunity and has the necessary UF PI eligibility to comply with sponsor regulations and institutional policy.

Who is PI Eligible?

It is University Policy that individual who have signed the Intellectual Property Agreement Section of the UF HR Four-in-One form are eligible to be a PI on sponsored projects, including all PIs on a multiple PI project.

Emeritus Appointees

Emeritus titles of positions referenced above are not automatically PI eligible. Should the unit decide that they wish an Emeritus appointee to lead a project, the appointee must have an active job in PeopleSoft HR (generally courtesy faculty) and be reviewed for PI eligibility on each proposal via the waiver process below.

New Faculty Hires

All new hires are loaded into UFIRST effective on the date of hire as entered into myUFL.  Units are strongly recommended to have a UF job entry created as soon as possible for any faculty member who has accepted a faculty position at UF. Should individuals that will have a PI eligible position desire to submit proposals prior to their hire date, a courtesy appointment must be created. While on a courtesy appointment, a waiver of PI eligibility must be requested through UFIRST on each proposal record until the PI eligible position becomes active. For these hires, only step 2 of the waiver process is required.

PI Selection in UFIRST

All UF personnel with active jobs are selectable in the UFIRST PI field. If the person selected as PI is not PI eligible, an error will appear when users select the Validate function in the UFIRST proposal smartform.

There are select circumstances in which it may be appropriate to list a non-PI eligible person as PI on a proposal.

Mentored Proposals

When a funding opportunity is for a mentored fellowship, training grant, dissertation award, or similar program, and indicates the Mentee must be listed as PI on the application, then the Mentee should be listed as Principal Investigator/Project Director/Fellow on page 1.0 question 1.0 in the UFIRST proposal smartform. If the Mentee is not in a PI-eligible position, a Mentor/Responsible Faculty Member must also be listed on question 1.0. When listed on question 1.0, the Mentor should not be re-entered on the Key Personnel page of the UFIRST proposal smartform. The Mentor/Responsible Faculty Member will retain responsibility for overseeing the project. They will complete the PI Certification activity and will be the PI on the myUFL award and project once awarded. When the appropriate applicant for the mentored funding opportunity is in a PI-eligible position, the Mentee should be listed as Principal Investigator/Program Director/Fellow on page 1.0. The Mentor should be listed only on the Key Personnel page and not on page 1.0.

PI eligibility should not be requested for the Mentee. A proposal for a PI-eligible person should not be submitted with a Mentor/Responsible Faculty Member also listed on p.1.0.

Example funding opportunity language: 

• Student Travel Grant: “Travel grants are offered to support the attendance of graduate students or advanced undergraduate students at the APS Global Physics Summit. All students who are members of the Division of Gravitational Physics and who are giving talks or presenting posters at the meeting are eligible for grants.”
• K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award: “K99/R00 awards support exceptional postdoctoral researchers in completing the final years of their postdoctoral research and transitioning to a role as an independent scientist. K99 applicants must be in mentored, non-independent research positions with no more than four years of research experience after Ph.D. conferral at the time of application.”

These examples are for illustrative purposes and are not intended to be all-inclusive. Each funding opportunity should be closely reviewed.

Characteristics of mentored proposals:

• Opportunity is open to students, post-docs, or other non-faculty positions. Note: use of the word “fellow” in the funding opportunity may refer to many different scenarios and should not be used alone as an indicator of mentored or independent work.
• The applicant (Mentee) is the primary beneficiary of the award. If the Mentee leaves the lab or University, the funds do not remain with the Mentor/Responsible Faculty Member for general furtherance of their program.
• The Mentor/Responsible Faculty Member provides oversight and advice to the Mentee. They are not responsible for project design or implementation.

When a Mentee does not have an active UF job:

If the applicant/Mentee does not have an active UF job appointment and will not unless the application is funded, the unit may enter the Mentor/Responsible Faculty Member as the PI. Appropriate documentation and clarification must be included with proposal when routed to DSP through UFIRST.

For NIH NRSA Fellowships which require an additional assurance from the Fellow prior to submission, the assurance must be collected from the Fellow via email rather than by UFIRST ad hoc review.

When the sponsor provides specific instructions on how to list project personnel:

If a sponsor provides specific instructions on who to list as PI and Mentor on a mentored proposal, the UFIRST proposal smartform should follow these instructions. All funding opportunities should be closely scrutinized to ensure personnel are accurately entered in UFIRST and the proposal documents.

Example funding opportunity language: 

• NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium Dissertation and Thesis Improvement Fellowship: “Students are eligible for this fellowship. A student must have advanced to candidacy for a Ph.D. degree before the submission deadline. The student is expected to be the principal author of the application, with minimal assistance from the faculty advisor. The student’s dissertation advisor must be the PI.”
  • Faculty advisor is listed as PI in UFIRST. Student is listed as other key personnel.
• NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant: “The proposal must be submitted through regular organizational channels by the dissertation advisor(s) on behalf of the graduate student. The PI is the faculty member serving as the doctoral student’s dissertation advisor and the co-PI is the doctoral student. If appropriate, an additional faculty member may be listed as another co-PI. The doctoral student must be the author of the proposal. At the time of the submission window, doctoral students are expected to be at the appropriate stage of their academic career to enable submission of a finalized dissertation proposal.”
  • Faculty advisor is listed as PI in UFIRST. Student is listed as co-PI.

These examples are for illustrative purposes and are not intended to be all-inclusive. Each funding opportunity should be closely reviewed.

Proposals to support independent research or the transition to independent research

When a funding opportunity is for independent research, including for early-career investigators, the applicant should generally be listed as the PI in the UFIRST proposal smartform. A Mentor/Responsible Faculty Member should not be listed on page 1.0 of the UFIRST proposal smartform. The applicant will be responsible for the project, complete the PI Certification activity, and will be the PI on the myUFL award/project once awarded.

If the applicant is suitable for the funding opportunity but is not PI eligible, use UFIRST to request a waiver of PI eligibility per the instructions below. Advisors/mentors/coaches, etc., may be entered on the Key Personnel page of the UFIRST proposal smartform if appropriate.

Example funding opportunity language: 

• Fellow/Young Investigator Research Grant: “The purpose of this opportunity is to enable young investigators (MDs, DOs, MD-PhDs or PhDs) to conduct pilot projects that address a specific hypothesis and generate preliminary data in preparation for major grant applications to corporations, foundations and governmental agencies. This grant is open to University-based or government medical facility-based investigators at the resident, fellow, instructor or Assistant Professor levels with academic appointments in their first five years of their practice or initial faculty appointment.”
• National Call for Early Career Research Projects: “The successful candidate is an early career researcher with 5 years or less research experience seeking to establish themselves apart from their supervisor/program and become independent. The grant is intended as a seeding or bridging grant, to help investigators initiate a project to become independent.”
• NIH Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Development Award (K08): “NIAAA supports faculty level early-stage investigator and new investigator development. All applications must include a strong and credible plan for the applicant’s transition to research independence, outlining milestones and providing evidence of significant institutional commitment to the development of the K01 applicants as an independent researcher at the sponsoring institution. At the time of award, candidates must have secured a full-time faculty or faculty equivalent appointment in an appropriate research-intensive environment.”

These examples are for illustrative purposes and are not intended to be all-inclusive. Each funding opportunity should be closely reviewed.

Characteristics of independent research or transition to independent research proposals:

• Opportunity supports independent research or pilot projects.
• Opportunity supports career development under the guidance of an experienced faculty mentor or mentors, but faculty mentor is not responsible for the conduct of the project.
• Opportunity is open to a variety of early-career applicants.

Proposals open to a range of applicants

Some mentored funding opportunities are open to a range of applicants. Review the funding opportunity AND the intended applicant to determine the correct UFIRST entry.

Example funding opportunity language: 

• Bedside Medicine Fellows Program: “Eligible candidates include junior faculty (within 5 years of their residency or fellowship training) or fellows in an accredited academic program. Applicants must have an MD, DO, MBBS, or equivalent. Candidates should identify a mentor at their local institution but will also receive direct mentorship from the Society of Bedside Medicine.”
  • If the Mentee is a PI-eligible junior faculty member, list the junior faculty member as PI and the Mentor on the Key Personnel page of the UFIRST proposal smartform.
  • If the Mentee is a non-PI eligible fellow, list the fellow as the PI and the Mentor as the Mentor/Responsible Faculty Member on page 1.0 of the UFIRST proposal smartform.
• NIH Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01): “NCI uses the K01 program to support early career-stage researchers. The eligible candidates include postdoctoral scholars and non -tenured junior faculty (e.g., Assistant Professor or equivalent). The application will not be considered for funding if the PI has already been promoted to Associate Professor or equivalent at the time of award.”
  • If the Mentee is a PI-eligible junior faculty member, list the junior faculty member as PI on page 1.0 and the Mentor on the Key Personnel page of the UFIRST proposal smartform.
  • If the Mentee is a non-PI eligible postdoc, list the postdoc as the PI on page 1.0 and the Mentor as the Mentor/Responsible Faculty Member on the same page of the UFIRST proposal smartform.

These examples are for illustrative purposes and are not intended to be all-inclusive. Each funding opportunity should be closely reviewed.

Multiple Principal Investigator Projects

When a sponsor allows for multiple Program Director/Principal Investigators (PD/PI) to lead and coordinate all efforts on an independent research project, the following practices will be followed.

Responsibility of Multiple PIs: The decision to utilize the multiple PI option is the responsibility of the investigators and should be determined based on the scientific goals of the project. Each multiple PI (MPI) will have equal responsibility for leading and directing the project; each is equally accountable for the proper conduct of the program including fiscal oversight and submission of all required reports.

At Proposal Stage: For all UF applications that propose a multiple PI project, the following criteria must be met prior to submission:

• All proposed UF PIs must have PI Eligibility status.
• For all proposals where there are multiple PIs, the investigators must identify one UF PI as the Contact PI. The Contact PI will be responsible for relaying communications between all of the PIs, UF Officials and the sponsor, where appropriate.
• The Submitting Department on the UFIRST proposal should generally be the Home Department of the Contact PI.
• All multiple PIs will be required to complete the PI Certification activity in UFIRST.
• Supplemental proposals should be routed with the Contact PI listed as the Principal Investigator in UFIRST.

Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Agreements

Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) agreements are contracts between UF and a federal agency that allow a UF employee to go on assignment to a federal agency and provide research, administrative, or other services for a limited period of time. The assignee remains a UF employee and continues to be paid by UF payroll for the duration of the assignment. IPAs are not used as an award mechanism in support of a federally funded sponsored project.

UFIRST setup if the assignee is PI eligible:

• In the proposal and award smartforms the assignee is entered as the Principal Investigator.
• The PI will be the Project Manager and their effort commitment will be entered into the award commitment page.
• No effort commitment is required of the immediate supervisor identified in the IPA Agreement.

UFIRST setup if the assignee is not PI eligible:

• In the proposal and award smartforms the assignee is entered as the Principal Investigator, with the assignee’s supervisor, who is PI eligible, entered as the Mentor/Responsible Faculty Member.
• The Mentor/Responsible Faculty Member will be the Project Manager.
• The assignee’s effort commitment will be entered into the award commitment page.
• No effort commitment is required of the immediate supervisor identified in the IPA document.

Use UFIRST to Request a Waiver of PI Eligibility for Non-Eligible Positions

1. Request review from Chair/Director and Associate Dean
   1. Use the “Request Ad Hoc Review” activity on the appropriate UFIRST proposal. Select the Chair/Director as the ad hoc reviewer and select “Request PI Eligibility” as the type of review.
   2. Use the “Request Ad Hoc Review” activity on the appropriate UFIRST proposal. Select the Associate Dean as the ad hoc reviewer and select “Request PI Eligibility” as the type of review.
   3. Alternatively, obtain an email approval from the Chair/Director and Associate Dean.
2. Request review from DSP’s Director, Stephanie Gray
   1. Once the Chair/Director and Associate Dean ad hoc reviews are approved or email approval is obtained, use the “Request Ad Hoc Review” activity on the appropriate UFIRST proposal to request review from Stephanie Gray. Select Stephanie Gray as the ad hoc reviewer and select “Request PI Eligibility” as the type of review. If email approval has been obtained from the Chair/Director and Associate Dean, attach a copy to the request.
      1. For new faculty hires, this approval can be in the form of a signed job offer letter. If the individual seeking eligibility is not within an academic unit, approval from the cabinet member over the unit must be attached.
   2. The request should be specific to the project and contain information about the qualifications and capabilities of the individual that would allow the person to perform the duties of a PI.
   3. The request should indicate the named individual with PI eligibility that will act as Co-PI on the project and assume the PI role in case the requested PI cannot fulfill the responsibilities.

Last updated 8/28/25