Budget and manage effort commitments

Effort (either direct-charged or cost-shared) must reflect actual time spent on a project, whether internally or externally funded.  As soon as project work is commenced, effort must be allocated to that project, either by charging to an established WBSE (if the award has already been received) or by setting up a code in advance (if the award is not yet received). 

Any time effort of project personnel is being adjusted during the course of the project, consult the sponsor guidelines and the terms & conditions of the award to determine if sponsor prior approval is necessary. 

Per Uniform Guidance § 200.308, some examples of prior approval requirements include: 

1. A 25% or greater reduction of time devoted to the project by the approved project director (PD) or principal investigator (PI) or other named Key Personnel
2. Any change (addition or removal) in a Key Person specified in the application or the Federal award
3. Disengagement of PD/PI for 3 months or more (this includes leaves of absence, sabbatical, flexible work arrangements (FWA), or any outside appointment that reduces the investigator’s total available time at Duke to conduct research) 
4. Reducing the investigator’s Duke Appointment % thereby reducing the total available time at Duke to conduct research 

When requesting sponsor prior approval:

1. Address the scientific impact of any effort reduction or disengagement on the project; and
2. (for SOM/SON only) Submit the request to the Office of Research Administration (ORA) using the Submit a Request feature (MNMC Admin Action) in the top right menu bar in myRESEARCHhome.

Faculty investigators have a maximum of 12.00 calendar months for all activities associated with their role at Duke (including research); however, effort on research may not exceed 11.4 calendar months annually (or 10.80 calendar months if the investigator has a significant academic administrative role). 

Individuals are expected to commit (and charge – either direct or cost-shared) some level of effort (>0 calendar months) on sponsored projects (both externally and internally funded) on which they are listed as a principal investigator (PI) or key personnel with the exception of equipment and instrumentation grants, doctoral dissertation grants, student supplement grants, and institutional/individual training grants (for faculty mentors).   

It is important to Duke Appointment and any outside activities/appointments into consideration when determining whether effort commitments are adequate and able to be met, especially if the sponsor requires a certain minimum effort level commitment (e.g., NIH K award mechanism). 

Sponsor minimum effort requirements

Certain externally-sponsored awards have terms and conditions that require the investigator to maintain a minimum effort level (for example, NIH Research Career Development “K” awards). The minimum effort must be calculated based on the total professional activities (12 calendar months), not just the Duke available time.

• For NIH K Awards, minimum effort requirements described in the Funding Opportunity Announcement, Grants Policy Statement, and/or Notice of Award must be followed or prior approval obtained for reducing the committed effort.
• Generally, the committed effort must be at least 9 calendar months for 12 month appointments.
  • In addition, the investigator must have .6 calendar months protected academic time, so 9.6 total calendar months at Duke is need to comply.
  • For 9 month appointments, this is 6.75 calendar months of minimum effort.

School of Medicine (SOM) minimum effort requirements

For the School of Medicine, a minimum of 0.12 calendar months effort for the PI must be reflected at the time of budget submission and sustained throughout the awarded project. Actual effort expended by the PI must be charged directly to the study as incurred, and ideally updated on a monthly basis. For industry sponsored clinical research studies, Duke will allow PI effort to be aggregated for clinical research studies on the Other Support page as long as the budgeted and actual effort is less than 0.6 calendar months on each study. 

• When determining whether the investigator has the appropriate level of committed effort available, please remember to evaluate their Duke Appointment other outside commitments in ensuring that the sponsor’s requirement is met. 
• When the department anticipates that a shift in appointment % is necessary if the project is awarded, the department must secure approval from the SOM Dean's Office to use an anticipated or pro-rated IBS via the Anticipated and Out-of-Cycle IBS/Duke Appointment % Changes Form.
• Approval via the Anticipated and Out-of-Cycle IBS/Duke Appointment % Changes Form must be obtained prior to using an anticipated or pro-rated IBS in a new application.

School of Medicine faculty members should have no more than 11.6 calendar months of Duke University effort from sponsored projects, which also includes effort in support of Duke University Health System.  Any faculty member with an academic administrative role who is also actively applying for grants may not have more than 11 calendar months of Duke University effort funded from sponsored projects, including effort in support of Duke University Health System.

Commitment overlap occurs when an individual's time commitment exceeds 12 person months. While Other Support or Current & Pending is only requested for Key Personnel (excluding consultants), no individuals may have commitments in excess of established institutional thresholds [link to minimum / maximum effort thresholds].  Any commitment overlap must be disclosed and resolved in conjunction with ORA/ORS, the PI, and Sponsor officials. 

The overlap statement helps Sponsor staff identify and resolve potential overlap (scientific, budgetary, or commitment) of support. Identifying and eliminating overlap ensures: 

• Sufficient and appropriate effort committed to project; 
• No duplication of funding for scientific aims, specific budgetary items, or an individual's level of effort; 
• Only funds necessary to the conduct of the approved project are included in the award 

Overlap Statement Examples 

When role on the project to be reduced is Sponsor Key (on project # U01-AR052186, in this example): 

If the proposal under consideration is funded, Dr. Teach will request Sponsor approval to reduce his effort from 1.8 to 0.6 calendar months on U01-AR052186. 

When role on the project to be reduced is a Key Person (on project # R01-NR010777, in this example): 

If the proposal under consideration is funded, Dr. Teach will reduce his effort from 2.4 to 1.2 calendar months on R01-NR010777. 

When roles on projects expire before new effort on proposal under consideration will begin: 

There will not be commitment overlap since R01-AG020162 and R01-CA076016 will both end August 31, 2023 and the pending project would not begin until December 1, 2023. 

When investigators are on leaves of absence, sabbatical or reduced effort due to a flexible work arrangement (FWA), the department/unit grant manager must ensure that:

• the dean/chair/director and ORA/ORS are informed in advance so that appropriate institutional approvals are secured; and
• all sponsor communication (including prior approval) is coordinated with ORA/ORS

Access the SOM 7.17.2021 memo on sponsored effort during leave or flexible work arrangements for additional information.

Please remember that rebudgets on key personnel salary support does impact the effort management on each key person's effort commitment. When a rebudget is necessary, it is important to review the key person's effort when it is increased or decreased to ensure it will remain compliant with the rebudgeted project and his / her overall effort distribution. 

During a No Cost Extension (NCE) please remember that a sponsored research project maintains all the terms and conditions agreed to in the initial awarded performance period. As a result, all effort commitments for key personnel identified on the project will remain at the floor commitments originally approved by the Sponsor. If effort commitments for key personnel will need to be decreased significantly during the NCE to a lower commitment, Sponsor prior approval may be necessary before this change may occur. Refer to project's award terms and conditions for prior approval compliance. NIH awards under Uniform Guidance no longer require Sponsor prior approval for Sponsor Key effort commitment reductions of > 25% or more during NCE. 

Effective July 1, 2022, Duke University School of Medicine and School of Nursing are implementing a Faculty Appointment Model which represents a faculty member’s efforts in support of Duke University as a percent of 12 calendar months. 

Duke University School of Medicine and School of Nursing Faculty will have 100% appointments unless they also have additional professional effort that includes: outside clinical obligations (PDC), VA Appointments, formally approved Flexible Work arrangements, direct-paid DKU Appointments, direct-paid NUS Appointments, or other reduced schedules.

Access guidance and resources about the Duke Appointment Model.

Non-medical faculty members on nine-month appointments may receive summer supplements through the Duke payroll system up to a maximum of three-ninths (3/9ths) of their base salary rate for the immediately preceding academic year. Summer supplements may come from a variety of sources (including University and non-federal) and may be paid over the span of the four months designated as outside of the academic year (as summer supplements are calculated for the fiscal year, rather than the calendar year the payments will be for: July, August, May and June).

However, if faculty receive summer supplements as a result of effort expended on federally-sponsored projects, the supplements must be booked and paid under the following conditions:

1. For any one month, faculty may charge no more than 75% of their effort to federal grants and contracts, including federal flow-through dollars. The distribution of pay should reflect the effort expended.
2. Over the four months, faculty may receive no more than two and a half ninths (2.5 effort months) from federal sources, including federal flow-through projects. Faculty may receive the remaining one-half ninth from institutional or non-federal funds.

Access the guidance over for nine month appointments and summer supplements for exceptions, implications, and additional information.