Facilitating Research and Scholarship
The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) supports and advances the College’s mission by providing leadership and expertise in grant administration and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations.
Response to COVID-19: Research Resources
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Research at Merrimack College - 24 March 2020
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Responding to Frequent Questions on Flexibilities Related to NIH Funding and COVID-19 - 26 March 2020
- Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Information for NIH Applicants and Recipients
- NOT-OD-20-083: General Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – Proposal Submission and Award Management Related to COVID-19
- NIH Extramural Response to Natural Disasters and Other Emergencies
- NIH Late Application Policy
- NIH Guidance on Travel and Meetings
National Science Foundation
- NSF FAQs for COVID-19 updated 26 March 2020
- NSF FAQs for Coronavirus (COVID-19) updated 25 March 2020
- NSF News on COVID-19
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
- OMB Memorandum M-20-17; to the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies dated 19 March 2020
- OMB Memorandum M-20-11; Administrative Relief for Recipients and Applicants of Federal Financial Assistance Directly Impacted by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) dated 9 March 2020
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
About Us
OSP administers all federal, state, for-profit, nonprofit, and private foundations for faculty-led proposal submissions and awards involving research, education, community service, or other sponsor activities.
Services include:
Funding opportunities
- Assists faculty and staff in searching for funding opportunities, i.e. request for proposals, request for letters of intent, white papers, etc., that can support their research or extramural projects.
- Provides guidance on funding opportunity requirements.
Research compliance
- Ensures that the College is complying with all applicable regulations and policies regarding financial conflict of interest (FCOI), responsible conduct of research (RCR), and research misconduct.
- Ensures protocols and approvals for regulatory compliance are kept current throughout the life of the project.
Proposal Development and Submission (Pre-Award)
- OSP provides “best practice” guidance and proposal development support to faculty and staff.
- Provides proposal and budget development for submission.
- Provides guidance and interpretation of the funding opportunity, solicitation, and sponsor requirements.
- Ensures all submissions have institutional approval prior to submission.
- Submits proposals, Letters of Intent, pre-proposals, and white papers on behalf of the College.
Grant Administration (Post-Award)
- Provides a comprehensive review of grant award, contracts, cooperative agreements, and Material Transfer Agreement terms and conditions.
- Works with the Office of General Counsel to negotiate and acceptance of contractual terms and conditions, including subaward agreements.
- OSP serves as the point of contact to the sponsor for all grant administration activities, i.e. budget modifications, change of PI, No-Cost Extensions, prior approvals, etc.
- Ensures that all reporting requirements are completed in a timely manner.
- Initiates all close-out activities in accordance with the grant requirements.
Training and Education
- Provides current information regarding any changes to policies, practices, and regulations.
- Provides training opportunities to the research community regarding proposal and budget development, research compliance, and sponsor policies and regulations.
Customer Service
- Provides faculty and staff with the expertise and support needed during the entire grant lifecycle, beginning with funding opportunities through grant closeout.
- OSP collaborates with faculty, staff, departments, the provost’s office, development, fiscal affairs, offices of the executive vice president, and the general counsel.
Research at Merrimack Magazine
Read Insights and Innovations: Summer/Fall 2021
Additional Resources
- NSF Dear Colleagues Letter, 13 December 2019; PAPPG for 2020 and use of SciENcv for Biosketch and Current & Pending Support sections
- NIH Notice , 10 July 2019; Use of ORCID iDs for grant applications and publications.
Please visit Merrimack’s COVID-19 updates for more info about campus policies.
Contact the Office of Sponsored Programs at research@merrimack.edu.