Application for Proposal Routing and Approval (APRA)

As the first step in the proposal process, Principal Investigators must complete and submit the Proposal Routing Form (PRF) through APRA. This application will not only be used to notify the Office of Research Administration (ORA) of the proposal submission, but also route to the appropriate signatories for their required approvals prior to ORA’s proposal review and submission. The application replaces the former Proposal Intake Form and Proposal Routing Form generated in PeopleSoft, combining them into one, easy-to-use package. Please find the APRA dashboard link below, as well as numerous APRA user resources.

APRA Dashboard

Principal Investigator (PI) Eligibility

To be eligible to serve as a principal investigator, an individual must hold one of the following titles: professor, associate professor, assistant professor, or research professor. Although it is not common, other designated full-time, benefited professional positions may be granted a Department ID resulting in blanket PI Status at the discretion of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation.

Full-time benefited individuals holding titles other than professor, associate professor, assistant professor, and research professor must obtain approval from the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation or his/her designee to submit research, public service, or training proposals as a PI to an extramural sponsor. A Request for PI Status Form (docx) must be completed and emailed to ORA by the proposed PI at least 10 business days prior to submission along with a draft budget. ORA will route the request form to the appropriate signatories through DocuSign. The Request for PI Status Approval Form must by fully executed prior to proposal submission.

Please note: the Request for PI Status Approval Form is project specific and does not grant blanket PI status. A new form must be completed and approved for each proposal.

Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) 

Principal investigators are required to submit a Financial Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form for each proposal submission for sponsored research. All personnel responsible for the design, conduct, and/or reporting (DCR) of the project must be included on the FCOI Form generated by the PI. Additional forms may be required by the Office of Research Integrity, depending on the nature of the research and collaborations.

NASA

NASA is prohibited from funding any type of grant or cooperative agreement that involves bilateral participation, collaboration or coordination with China or any Chinese-owned company at prime and/or subrecipient levels. A NASA Certification Form must be completed and signed by the UMass Lowell PI prior to the submission of any NASA proposals.