Reporting Requirements on Sponsored Projects
The end product or deliverable of almost every research project is, at a minimum, the final technical report. In addition, the sponsor may have other reporting requirements (such as monthly, quarterly, or annual reporting of technical progress, patent reports, fiscal reports, etc.) throughout the course of the project. Fiscal reporting is completed by the Research Foundation's Fiscal Services unit.
It is the principal investigator's responsibility to ensure that required technical progress reports are submitted to the sponsor on time. Often, such reports are required before sponsors will release continuation funding. Sponsors have a wide range of formats in which they require technical reports to be submitted. For example, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) require a non-competing continuation proposal that includes a progress report each year. The proposal must be submitted through the Research Foundation and signed by an institutional official. The National Science Foundation (NSF), on the other hand, requires that the principal investigator submit progress reports directly through their electronic system, with no role for the Research Foundation in the process.
Final technical reports are usually submitted by the principal investigator directly to the sponsor. However, a copy of the transmittal letter and the cover page of the report should be sent to the Fiscal Services unit at the Research Foundation. With these items on file, the Research Foundation will be better prepared to respond to sponsor inquiries.