Contracts and Award Acceptance

Externally funded awards are made to GW as an institution, not to faculty, university staff or students as individuals.

External funding may come in various forms, principally as sponsored agreements, gifts, or other business (“vendor”) sources of revenue from an outside party to the university. GW may receive a document indicating that a party is providing funds to the university, and the type of funding may be unclear, irrespective of the fact that a proposal may be on file. Refer to the university’s policy on Categorization of External Funding for clarification regarding the difference between sponsored projects, gifts and vendor agreements, https://compliance.gwu.edu/categorization-external-funding.

The Office of Sponsored Projects is the authorized organizational representative to review and accept sponsored project agreements on behalf of the university. Agreements or notices of award should be sent to the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) for review of the agreement documentation and negotiation of the terms and conditions by an OSP contracting officer as appropriate.

OSP Contracting Officers keep the Principal Investigators (PIs) and Pod Administrators apprised of the progress toward full execution of the agreement.