Senior/Key Personnel
The PD/PI and other individuals who contribute to the scientific development or execution of a project in a substantive, measurable way, whether or not they receive salaries or compensation under the grant. Typically these individuals have doctoral or other professional degrees, although individuals at the masters or baccalaureate level may be considered senior/key personnel if their involvement meets this definition. Consultants and those with a postdoctoral role also may be considered senior/key personnel if they meet this definition. Senior/key personnel must devote measurable effort to the project whether or not salaries or compensation are requested. "Zero percent" effort or "as needed" are not acceptable levels of involvement for those designated as Senior/Key Personnel.
Consultants provide advice or services and may participate significantly in the research. They often help fill in smaller gaps by, for example, supplying software, providing technical assistance or training, or setting up equipment.
List consultants as senior/key personnel only if they will contribute substantively and measurably to the scientific development or execution of a project.
Collaborators always plays an active role in the research, and the position is sometimes defined interchangeably with co-investigator.
As a loose guideline, think of a collaborator as a scientist whose distinct expertise complements your own, while a co-investigator shares your area of expertise and therefore contributes in guiding the scientific direction of the overall project. One provides unique expertise, the other umbrella expertise.
Still, many areas of science have their own expectations for each of these roles. So long as the role of each contributor is explained well in your Personnel Justification and the Letters of Support, your choice between the titles of "co-investigator" and "collaborator" won't be a point of contention for reviewers.
Other significant contributors (OSCs) commit to contribute to the scientific development or execution of the project but are not committing any specified measurable effort (person months or percent effort) to the project.
As examples, your mentor on a career award or an as-needed consultant would be considered an OSC.
OSCs are typically listed in your application with "effort of zero person months" or "as needed."
OSCs are not considered senior/key personnel, but you must include biosketches for OSC.
Effort is your time spent on a sponsored project, regardless of whether the sponsor funds your salary.
When you are listed as PI or key personnel on a grant proposal, you are obligated to commit a certain amount of effort to the sponsor.
Here are some suggestions for allocating your effort and the effort of your co-investigators.
Percent Effort | What to Expect |
|---|---|
1%-4% | Advisory role. Show up to a meeting occasionally |
5%-10% | Serve on a committee or workgroup. Publish papers. Show up to a meeting quarterly |
11%-15% | Assist or co-lead an aim of the grant. Provide support, such as analytical/statistical or project lead. Attend a meeting monthly |
16% or higher | MPI or investigator with a large responsibility to the award. Attends meeting at the same frequency as the PI. |
Principal Investigator Effort
Your grant score could be affected if you propose less effort than deemed necessary by the reviewers so it is very important to request effort sufficient to meet the needs of the proposed study. The above table is a guide and some areas require more effort.
How To: | How do you calculate person months? Per NIH, “Conversion of percentage of effort to person months is straight-forward. To calculate person months, multiply the percentage of your effort associated with the project times the number of months of your appointment. For example:
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Resources: | https://intranet.med.wisc.edu/research/proposals-and-agreements/effort-on-proposals/ |
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