Extramural Grants Submission Process for Pakistan
An electronic extramural grant submission process has been introduced for review by the various support offices of the University. The system allows online management of approval of the relevant officers.
Pre-submission Requirements
To apply for an external grant, follow these steps:
Login to the PeopleSoft Grants Module and create a proposal in the system. Notify ORGS through the system once the proposal has been created and all the required information has been entered. Refer to the 
User Manual or the 
list of authorized staff/persons in your department for further guidance.
After receiving the proposal online, ORGS will initiate a review process by notifying all the relevant administrative departments. The review and approval from all the departments will be recorded online on the Grants Management System. The stakeholders of the proposal (PI, Co-Is, Authorized/Designated Staff) will receive notifications for every action taken on their proposal. Please note that the administrative signatory representatives will require less time (in terms of working days) to process small grants without a collaborative or /multidisciplinary component as compared to larger grants with multiple tasks and participation of various disciplines. The process will be further facilitated, if queries from reviewing departments are promptly clarified.
The PI is required to complete section on collaborators entitled ‘Multicentre /Collaborative Grants’ in the Checklist in order to ensure that the relationship between AKU and the sub-recipient is clear and the selection of the sub-recipient can be justified. For all subcontracts/collaborative sub-awards (national/international) greater than US$5,000 in a grant, AKU will ensure that due diligence of new sub-recipients is undertaken. This would require the sub-recipient filling out the relevant form. There are three forms for this purpose. Form A is for reputable collaborators and only seeks the basic information e.g. reputable universities in the West. Form B is for new sub awardees and more detailed information is asked to enable internal AKU departments like Finance, Legal and others to review the organization. Form C has specially been prepared for government entities having their own characteristics. Relevant forms are to be provided along with supporting documents. The OSR, Finance and Legal will review the documents relevant to the scope of their risk review (e.g. Legal will review the constitution documents of the potential sub-recipient to confirm the legal status while Finance may opine on the financials). Entity head will finally decide (based on review and any internet search of news on these sub-recipients) if there are any reasons the organization should not be taken up as a sub-recipient (please also refer Annexure III of the policy for Submitting Extramural Grant Applications {Pre-award}).
Once approvals are obtained from all relevant administrative units and Department Head, the Entity Head and the Associate Vice Provost (Research), the grant proposal can be submitted to the funding agency.
Due Diligence Forms
- Form A = for reputable collaborators.
- Form B = for new sub-awardees.
- Form C = for Pakistan's government entities.
Post Submission Requirements
The official signing authority resides with the Associate Vice Provost (Research). Final approval of all grants (research, educational, developmental, clinical trials), letters of intent (LOIs), contracts, applications for performance of work (APWs) and agreements are endorsed by the Associate Vice Provost (Research) before submission to the funding agency. A signing official has institutional authority to legally bind the institution in matters of grants administration.
Please inform the Office of Research and Graduate Studies after the submission of the proposal to the funding agency so that the status of your proposal can be recorded accordingly.
Agreement/Acceptance
Once you receive an acceptance offer from the grant agency, immediately inform the ORGS, Finance and Legal departments. Finance and Legal will provide their input to ensure the aptness of each clause in the agreement. Such clauses may need to be negotiated with the funding agent for appropriate adjustment. Once all observations are satisfied, the agreement is then sent to the Office for the final signature of the Associate Vice Provost (Research).
Withdrawals and Denials
If you receive a notice that the proposal has been denied or you choose to withdraw the application, please copy the written notification to the Office of Research & Graduate Studies.
Final Reporting
The funding agency will require you to submit interim and/or final reports about the project. Please follow the agency’s stated guidelines for such reporting and send copies of all reports to the Office of Research & Graduate Studies.
