Principal Investigator Status

Principal Investigator Eligibility and Standing

Introduction:

Stewardship of knowledge is a privilege and obligation of all institution's of higher education who have in part or in whole a mission to explore the unknown, transfer new knowledge and seek truth regardless of consequence. NC State University recognizes that at its central core there exists the faculty around whom students flock to seek truth and intellect, the public upholds as purveyors of human competence and sponsors flock to enable the expansion of human capacity through exploration and thus the creation and ultimately the transfer of new knowledge. Because of this unparalleled responsibility, the Board of Trustees has established principles for the appointment of faculty and others to positions of responsibility for overseeing programs of exploration and these appointments are represented as Principal Investigator and co-Investigator, the eligibility criteria for which is expressed below. The policy statements below compliment and in certain respects supplement the basic principle that in order to responsibly allow the submission of proposals and managment of resulting programs by eligible members of the institution's core, academic leadership must only permit and approve proposals from those who are (1) capable of stewarding public resources, (2) legitimately dedicated to advancing knowledge and intellect and (3) who are worthy to stand the test of perpetual evaluation of their historical record of success in managing projects. Before anyone can serve as a Principal Investigator or co-Investigator on any given sponsored project, their academic leadership must approve their proposal via PINS (defined below) making the representations and certifications found by clicking [here].

Policy Statement:

The Board of Trustees, consistent with most institutions of higher education from around the country, has established a Policy that states, in part...

"4.4 All tenure-track faculty members may submit proposals for support of research and scholarly projects. All proposals must be approved by a faculty member's unit or department head and Dean before submission to the Vice Chancellor for Research for final campus approval. Non-tenure-track faculty members and employees with termed appointments may submit proposals with prior approval of their Dean and the Vice Chancellor for Research."

Furthermore, a Principal Investigator is...

The individual (or in the case of some NIH projects, the individuals) designated by [NC State University], and approved by [the sponsor], who will be responsible for the scientific or technical direction of the [entire] project.

Co-Principal Investigators or Co-Project Directors (co-PI/co-PD) are individuals designated by NC State University, and approved by our sponsors, who have substantively complimentary responsibility for the scientific or technical direction of all or a portion of a project.

An individual can only be a Principal Investigator or a Co-Principal Investigator pursuant to the guidance articulated in the policy of the Board of Trustees defined above or as authorized under an approved exception as described below.

Principal Investigatorship/Co-Principal Investigatorship carries enormous responsibilities. Some, but not all, of these responsibilities are articulated in the Faculty Toolbox by clicking [here].

Interpretative Policy Expansion - Rules applied by Research Administration

This web page endeavors to clarify in what circumstances exceptions will be granted and to clarify the logic behind such exceptions and the underlying policy. All exceptions should be addressed to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Administration via e-mail.

Certain Exceptions are considered as follows:

Postdoctoral Associates on a paid appointment or similarly situated paid employees are considered to be trainees or apprentices and are not eligible for an exception unless the program to which the institution is applying specifically requires that such an individual serve as the Principal Investigator such as Postdoctoral fellowship programs.
Students, including those on assistantship are not eligible for an exception unless the program to which the institution is applying specifically requires that the student serve as the Principal Investigator such as on certain graduate student fellowship applications.
Visiting Scholars who are concurrently paid employees of the institution and have an established scholarly career meritorious of consideration by an academic department for appointment at the Visiting Associate Professor rank or above may be considered for Principal Investigator status.
Adjunct faculty on termed appointment with an established career meritorious of consideration by an academic department for appointment at the Adjunct Associate Professor rank or above may be considered for Principal Investigator status provided there is a co-Investigator from the tenured or tenure-track faculty rank of the institution.
Certain NCARS and NCCES employees can serve as co-Investigator including Research Assistant Professor, Research Associate Professor, Extension Assistant Professor and Extension Associate Professor. NCARS and NCCES Researcher and Senior Researcher can also serve as sole PI on grants and contracts. This eligibility does not imply tenure.
SPA employees are generally ineligible for Principal Investigator status.
Certain other scenarios will naturally occur. All requests are entertained by the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Administration on a case-by-case basis.

Investigator Eligibility Revocation:

Academic administrators may also request the restriction of Principal Investigator or co-Investigator status by outlining the reasons for such restriction, in writing, to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Administration. The Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Administration will meet with the Academic Department Head, Dean, and other responsible authorities as well as the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies to make and execute a decision to restrict Principal Investigator and/or co-Investigator status of otherwise eligible employees. Reasons for restriction include, but are not limited to: (1) Findings of misconduct; (2) History of failure to meet deliverables or reports on current or past sponsored projects in a timely and orderly fashion; (3) Unmanageable impairment of objectivity; (4) Current investigation into possible misconduct; (5) Fiduciary improprieties; (6) Actions by third parties warranting such actions; etc.

Reference Materials:

NC State BOT Policy (referenced above)

Special Faculty Rank PRR (Adjunct, Visiting, etc.)

UNC CH Administrative Policy as a Comparison

University of Texas Administrative Policy as a Comparison

Duke Administrative Policy as a Comparison

Ohio State Administrative Policy as a Comparison

NSF Definition