Before a proposal may be forwarded to a sponsor, it must receive administrative approval. The appropriate academic and research administration personnel will review the proposal for its compliance with various university, state and federal guidelines.

In order to expedite the administrative review process, the Proposal Clearance Form (PCF) must be completed and signed to ensure that the proposal is properly routed, documented, reviewed and approved. The Proposal Clearance Form is an internal (MSU) document and does not necessarily need to be sent to the sponsor. One copy of the proposal, with a final budget, budget justification and the completed PCF must be submitted and approved, prior to submission to the sponsor. It is a good idea to plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time in order to obtain the required signatures. Signatures for the Department Head or Dean by the secretary is no longer accepted. It is the responsibility of the principal investigator to provide the specified number of copies of the proposal to the sponsor in a timely fashion.

PIs must determine if the proposal needs prior approval by one of the University's four Institutional Review Committees (IRC): (also called IRB)

 

Human Subjects Committee Mark Quinn, Chair 994-4411
Biosafety Committee Clifford Bond, Chair 994-4130
Animal Care and Use Committee Warren Frost, Chair 994-6803
Radiation Sources Committee Clifford Bond, Chair 994-4130

When in doubt, contact the committee chairperson; submit appropriate portions of the grant application and special forms as specified by the IRC chairperson for review. Allow one (1) to two (2) weeks for review. Information is available at http://www.montana.edu/wwwvr/regulations/review-committees.html

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