The Investigators tab collects information for each investigator listed on an IAF. This article goes over the process of completing the investigators tab.

IAF Data Entry - Investigators tab

The “Investigators” tab collects information for each investigator listed on an IAF. This information can only be provided by the investigator and not a research administrator or delegate.

The information collected from this tab will be visible to the investigator’s Department Head, Research Dean, and AOR from the Disclosures tab and is not available to other investigators listed on the IAF.

All exposed questions on the tab must be answered for an investigator to approve. Once all the questions are answered, the investigator can click on the green “Approve” button in the action button list. Answered questions can only be altered by the investigator while an IAF is in a recalled state or if their approval is cleared. If the IAF originated as a proposal, the investigator can only change questions when the IAF is returned to the proposal stage (see Changing Investigator Tab Answers).

Question Areas

Personnel Credit

The investigator assignment of credit list is the responsibility of the primary PI on the IAF. The primary PI can edit assigned credit for listed investigators prior to approval by clicking on the green “Edit Credit” button. Assigned credit must total 100% for the IAF to be submitted. Once the primary PI has approved, investigator credit can only be changed by an AOR. The credit message for the primary PI is as follows:

"Credit should be allocated to all key personnel in accordance with their relative intellectual and technical contributions to the project. (Credit should not be understood as a direct reflection of budgeted amounts for each investigator.) Research Incentive Funds (RIF) are distributed to investigators’ home college in accordance with the assignment of credit, regardless of the administering unit.

Percentages must total 100%."

Off-Campus/ Off-Site Research

Off-Campus/ Off-Site Research question - The National Science Foundation (NSF) defines "off-campus or off-site research" as "data/information/samples being collected off-campus or off-site, such as fieldwork and research activities on vessels and aircraft." Will you be performing any off-campus or off-site research as part of this project? 

• This must be answered by the primary PI when the sponsor or prime sponsor is National Science Foundation (NSF)
• When this question is answered 'YES', additional direction is provided for the PI to complete the required Safety Plan.  
  • Effective January 30, 2023, NSF is requiring universities to prepare safety plans for any projects that include off-campus or off-site research activities. Please visit the Office of Sponsored Programs website for instructions on how to complete your safety plan. 
• When this question is answered 'NO', the investigator tab will not show additional messaging, instead, the primary PI will see an additional IAF Assurance Statement related to this question being answered no.  

Fabricated Equipment

Fabricated Equipment question - "Does this proposal require a one-of-a-kind Fabrication to be built or an upgrade to an existing fabricated item?" - must be answered by the primary PI.

This Fabrication question was added in response to an ONR audit finding indicating incorrect pricing on Federal Awards. Under the University’s Corrective Action Plan, Penn State needed to ensure that it was applying consistent principles when accounting for Fabricated items. (Colleges will be required to complete a Fabrication Expenditure Questionnaire (FEQ) at the award stage. The Applied Research Lab will be required to complete the FEQ at the proposal stage.)

Significant Financial Interest

Could the proposed research reasonably appear to:

• Affect the value of any “Significant Financial Interests” held by you, your spouse, or dependent child; AND/OR
• Have a financial impact on the company in which you, your spouse, or dependent child hold the "Significant Financial Interest?:  

For more information regarding what is a “Significant Financial Interest” please read the following Conflict of Interest Help for IAF Investigators Tab. If you need additional assistance understanding your responsibilities under RP06 or what is a “Significant Financial Interest,” please contact the COI Staff in the Office for Research Protections (for University Park and all other campuses except the College of Medicine) or the COI Staff (http://www.pennstatehershey.org/web/administration/home/contactus) at the Hershey College of Medicine (http://www.pennstatehershey.org/web/college/home). Required to approve IAF.

Your COINS Disclosure #: Auto populated from the COINS system (https://coins.psu.edu). An investigator must have an active COINS Disclosure number to successfully approve an IAF. Required to approve IAF.

Duplicate Submissions

Is this proposal currently pending with another sponsor?: If this proposal is substantially the same as a previously submitted proposal, please answer “Yes”. All sponsors must be informed of duplicative submissions. And, in the event one such submission is funded, all other duplicate proposals must be withdrawn. Answering “Yes” to this question requires the investigator to list the OSP# of the pending proposal and triggers an email to be sent to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) after approval. Required to approve IAF.

Intellectual Property

Background IP

Does the project require the use of any Penn State background intellectual property?: These questions will only appear when the sponsor or prime is industrial and the IAF is neither an unrestricted grant nor gift (as indicated on waivers tab). Answer “Yes” to the first question if the research involves the utilization of existing Penn State invention disclosures, patents, patent applications, or software. If you answer “Yes”, you will be asked to choose which type of IP and describe it. Answering “Yes” to this question triggers an email to be sent to the Office of Technology Management (OTM) after approval. The second question asks how you want to manage IP developed on the project. If ownership is assigned to the sponsor or licensed exclusively in exchange for a pre-negotiated royalty rate, the Penn State inventors may have an ongoing obligation to support patent prosecution and are unlikely to benefit financially from the commercialization of the intellectual property. In the event other Penn State personnel (post-docs, students, etc) are involved in the project and are not signatories to the IAF, the principal investigator and the research coordinator will secure the approval of the other project personnel via the “Corporate Sponsored Project – Project Participant Intellectual Property Agreement”. The research unit can scan and load the signed form into the IAF as an electronic attachment. This question will only appear when the sponsor type is industrial. Required to approve IAF.

1. Choose which type of intellectual property is involved: Required to approve IAF. Select one.
2. Describe the background IP: Required to approve IAF. 200 characters.

Intellectual Property Questions for IAF's created prior to 9/15/2021.

How do you want Penn State to manage the intellectual property (IP) created as a result of this company sponsored research project?: This question does not apply to the Hershey College of Medicine, and will only appear when the sponsor or prime is industrial and the IAF is neither an unrestricted grant nor gift (as indicated on waivers tab). Required to approve IAF.  This question will only appear for IAF's created prior to 9/15/2021.

Intellectual Property Questions for IAF's created on or after 9/15/2021:

Effective 02/28/2023:  An IAF with an Industry sponsor will default the answer to the Background IP question "How do you want Penn State to manage the intellectual property (IP) created as a result of this company sponsored research project?" when F&A reason selected on the Waivers tab is as follows: 

• Membership Agreement (10% total costs) – Option 1
• Membership Agreement (15% total costs) – Option 1
• Field Trial Grant (15% total costs) – Option 2

Defaulted answer cannot be changed.

Foreground IP

Industry sponsors usually expect to have access to intellectual property (IP) developed with their funding.  Please provide your preference for the IP access you would like the University to offer. In some cases, due to affiliations of Penn State project personnel, some of these options may not be available. The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) will work with the research sponsor to implement the appropriate IP access model. This question does not apply to the Hershey College of Medicine, and will only appear when the sponsor or prime is industrial and the IAF is neither an unrestricted grant nor gift (as indicated on waivers tab). Required to approve IAF. This question replaced the "How do you want Penn State to manage the IP..." question.  Effective on IAF's created on or after 9/15/2021. 

Gift Questionnaire

The Gift Questionnaire appears on the Investigators tab when the following criteria is met on the IAF:

• Type of F&A is either Partial or None
• Waiver reason is either "Gifts and charitable contributions" or "Unrestricted Grant (15% total costs)

These questions are required in order to comply with Penn State Policy RA04.

When "Yes" is selected for any of the three questions, an additional explanation for that question is required.

Answers to these questions for all investigators will appear under both the Disclosures tab, the IAF summary under the Disclosures section, and the IAF Summary PDF.  Answers are only displayed when all investigators have completed the questionnaire.  "Yes" responses will appear highlighted.

Primary PI Messaging - Fabricated Equipment

IAF Support Homepage