Institutional Signatures Process

Grants, Contracts and Agreements

Table of Contents

Preamble 

Western’s Manual of Administrative Policies and Procedures (MAPP) 7.8 Signing Authorities for Research Documents designates the Office of the Vice-President (Research) (VPR) as Western’s institutional signatory with the authority to sign and endorse grant applications (including reapplications), contracts, agreements and related documents on behalf of the university arising from – or related to – scholarly, research, creative and research-oriented activities. The VPR exercises this signing authority through the oversight of Western Research – Office of Research Services.

Western Research must review all research-related applications, agreements and contracts prior to recommending them for institutional signature and submission. This includes the following circumstances:

  • Research-eligible faculty participating in both internal and external funding opportunities;
  • Research-eligible faculty participating as a co-principal investigator or co-applicant in a submission led by another organization or institution;
  • Research-eligible faculty overseeing an opportunity for another University member such as trainee, student, post-doctoral scholar or staff;
  • Any funding opportunity requiring an institutional letter of support;
  • Any applications than can be submitted directly to the sponsor electronically (by the applicant);
  • Any funding opportunities where the sponsor does not require an institutional signature; and 
  • Agreements and contracts as outlined in Research Contracts & Partnerships.

Bypassing Western’s internal approval processes may lead to an application being withdrawn or a research grant/contract being refused, based on risk to the University and/or commitments being made without appropriate oversight and/or authority.

The following procedural information is provided to help you prepare grant applications, contracts and agreements. (For the purposes of this document, applications will refer to all funding applications/draft agreements and awards will refer to all funded grants and agreements.)

Funding Opportunities

Notify your faculty research office and rolahelp@uwo.ca with a funding opportunity link. Please provide the URL or downloaded guidelines for any upcoming opportunities you do not already see listed on the ROLA Funding Opportunities page. Western Research will establish the opportunity in Western’s grants management system, ROLA (Research On-line Administration – Western’s corporate research administration database), so a ROLA proposal can be submitted.

Note: Your faculty research office can provide guidance on their specific supports for your submission. Please ensure you reach out to them with your application for review in line with their internal faculty deadline.

ROLA Proposals

All applications and research funding opportunities regardless of signature requirements must1 be accompanied by a corresponding ROLA proposal. The ROLA proposal captures internal Western approvals (i.e., “electronic signatures”) at the department, faculty and institutional levels. A ROLA proposal confirms – among other details – your eligibility to conduct independent research, your administering unit information, budget and overhead allocation, matching/partner contributions and certification requirements (see Human Subjects, Animal Safety and Biohazards, below) at the time of application submission.

You will be able to log into the ROLA system at any time to view your historic record of application submissions.

Note: Your faculty may need additional information and/or have requirements that must accompany the submission of the ROLA proposal and application. Please contact your faculty research office for details.

If your application for funding is successful, the ROLA Proposal will form the electronic foundation for the creation of your research account in Western Financials, enabling you to spend your awarded funding by issuing a speed code. Before a speed code is assigned to your project, the ROLA system will also prompt you to provide information regarding applicable certification approvals related to your funded project.

Please see the Funded Research Management page for more information.

Institutional Signatures

External sponsor requirements regarding institutional ink and/or electronic signatures on applications (including resubmissions) vary widely. Regardless of the signatory listed on a sponsor form or outlined in sponsor guidelines, per MAPP 7.8, Western Research (WR) must always be the signatory on any research application/ award as it is the entity authorized to provide legal and binding signatures. Principle investigators, faculty and department personnel (including senior leaders) do not have this authority for the University. Western Research will determine if alternate/additional signature requirements are needed.

Upon completion of the institutional review and after the corresponding ROLA Proposal has been approved by your Department and the Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) of your Faculty, an institutional signature will be provided to accompany your application submission.

Application Review

Prior to providing institutional signatures on documents (in signature blocks, on commitment letters, etc.) – and prior to an application being submitted to a sponsor - all research applications must be reviewed by the relevant Western Research unit. To allow sufficient time for the review, applications must be received by Western Research on the following timelines at a minimum:

  1. Grant applications (via Research Grant Management & Services): In general, completed (i.e., no missing sections or placeholder language) draft applications must be received by  researchoffice@uwo.ca no fewer than five business days prior to the sponsor deadline or anticipated submission date (for rolling deadlines). This is the minimum required timeline to accommodate review and approvals by your department chair and/or faculty research officer, faculty ADR and Western Research.

  2. Large volume deadlines to specific Tri-Agency opportunities such as CIHR Project Grant, SSHRC Insight Grant/Insight Development Grant, NSERC Discovery Grant/Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) and New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) Exploration will have their own internal deadlines communicated. Complete draft applications must be received a minimum of 10 business days before the external deadline. Submissions will be made through the respective Tri-Agency portal to the Office of Research Services – Grant Management & Services team. Incomplete applications, newly received two business days before the external deadline, will not be forwarded to the Sponsor.2
  3. Applications involving partner contributions and/or with matching requirements must be received by researchoffice@uwo.ca a minimum of three weeks before the anticipated submission date. This is important to ensure that sufficient time is available to verify contributions and secure signatures on required letters of support. This includes programs such as NSERC Alliance funding opportunities and SSHRC Connection Grant.

  4. Applications to U.S. Federal Funding Agencies (e.g., NIH, Department of Defense, CDMRP, etc.) have significantly longer timelines due to the complexity, coordination and due diligence required for a successful submission. A minimum of four weeks is recommended to ensure your application receives sufficient support to navigate the submission process. Please see Western’s resource pages on NIH funding.

  5. Grant applications (via Institutional Research Programs): Please note the specific internal submission deadlines and requirements as communicated for institutional programs including, but not limited to, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence, Early Researcher Awards, and Canada Research Chairs opportunities.

  6. Contracts and Partnership agreements (via Research Contracts & Partnership Agreements): Research contracts, partnership agreements and grant agreements are to be provided to researchcontracts@uwo.ca for review and negotiation of terms and conditions in advance of institutional signatures. Review and negotiation may be required to effectively implement important terms and conditions such as intellectual property rights, confidentiality, publication terms and liability.

Notwithstanding the above, the length of time needed to support your application by providing a comprehensive review, answer questions, support technical submission issues and endorse a research application for institutional signature will depend on:

  • The complexity of the funding opportunity and the submission portal;
  • The requirements from the sponsor;
  • The level of risk to the university; and
  • The volume of application activity at a given time.

Late or incomplete applications run the risk of not being submitted by the Sponsor’s deadline and greatly decreases the amount of support our office can provide to your project. Your application will be queued against other applications who submitted earlier.

Under consultation with the Vice-President, Research and/or Associate Vice-President, Research and/or the Executive Director – Western Research and your Associate Dean Research, we reserve the right to: 

  • Not submit an application to a sponsor; or
  • Withdraw a submitted application from a competition if it is deemed to pose significant financial, reputational and/or operational risk to the institution.

Allowing sufficient time before the submission deadline and providing a structurally complete application for feedback will ensure Western Research can best assist you in the submission process to identify any additional resources, potential issues, risks and/or omissions to ensure your application has the highest chance of success. Consultations on knowledge mobilization plans, EDID, research security, Indigenous research, research data management plans and other areas of specialized supports are possible with enough runway before the deadline. Western Research is here to support you in submitting the best possible version of your application.

Human Subjects, Use of Animals and Biohazards

All research proposals involving humans, animal use and/or biohazardous materials must be approved by the appropriate Western certification review committee. Applicants must indicate on their application, and in the ROLA proposal, if any of these elements will be involved with the funded activity of the research project.

Support for development of certification protocols/approvals is provided through Western’s Oversight and Compliance units and should be initiated as soon as possible before any projects can commence.

Note: It is highly recommended applicants contact the relevant oversight and compliance unit(s) for a brief consultation prior to application submission to ensure appropriate ethical and public health components are taken into account.

For information and support on the certification approval process, please visit the relevant website below. Appropriate forms and guidelines can be obtained from:

Please plan accordingly as obtaining new protocol approvals or renewing current protocol approvals may take some time. Funding cannot be released3 to a successful researcher on a successful award until the required protocols/documents have been approved.

1. All applications, letters/notices of intent, agreements require a ROLA proposal (very few exceptions). Contact rolahelp@uwo.ca with any questions. return

2. Deadline extensions for extenuating personal or medical emergencies can be requested through the funding agency following the agency’s process. return

3. In cases where a certification is not required at the start of the funded research project, a researcher may enter into a Release of Funds Agreement with the university to gain access to funds for a prescribed period. return