Forms, Policies & Procedures

Outdoor C-14 Incubation Record and Checklist

The proper completion and submission of this worksheet is required by the Radiation Safety Committee for each incubation using radioactive materials on the dock outside the Marine Operations Building. Failure to do so may result in the issuance of a permit violation.

Outside Employment

1. SCOPE OF POLICY
   This policy addresses employment outside of the University and applies to all exempt and non-exempt employees.
2. POLICY
   The first duty and responsibility of University employees is to render to the University the most effective service possible. No outside service should be undertaken that might interfere with the discharge of this prime responsibility or bring the employee into conflict with the interests of the University.

   The University will assume no responsibility for outside services rendered by eligible employees, and it must be made clear to any person with whom the University employee works that the work has no official connection with the University. …

The complete policy and more can be found on the General Counsel’s web site.

Patent Policy

A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Generally, the term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. U.S. patent grants are effective only within the United States, U.S. territories, and U.S. possessions. Under certain circumstances, patent term extensions or adjustments may be available.

The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell, or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing the invention. Once a patent is issued, the patentee must enforce the patent without the aid of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Throughout the world the first party responsible for filing a patent application is the undisputed owner of the invention. The United States has a one-year time period to file a patent application. This period begins at the formal presentation of the invention. A formal presentation of an invention includes any publication, journal, conference presentation, poster session, newspaper article, Internet publication on a Web page, blog, listserve, etc. In most other countries, you are banned from obtaining patent protection once an invention has been publicly disclosed.

You must file in the United States within one year of the first disclosure of the invention — filing of a provisional application may protect international rights.

It takes an extended period of time to obtain a patent. The patent application can be kept secret while it is pending if you request it; otherwise, it is published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 18 months after filing.

Related Links

• United States Patent and Trademark Office
• USPTO guide to types of Patents
• University of Delaware Intellectual Property Policy
• USPTO: Laws, Regulations, Policies, Procedures, Guidance, and Training

The complete policy and more can be found on the UD Research Office’s web site.

Permit Supervisor Training Certification for Radiation Material Users

General form to record degree of training for personnel to be used for department records.

Permit Supervisor Training Certification for X-Ray Workers

Certification for worker qualifications to use x-ray machines for departmental records.

Personal Protective Equipment

1. SCOPE OF PURPOSE
   To establish personal protective equipment requirements for the University.
2. SCOPE AND APPLICATION
   This policy applies to all University personnel, contract personnel, and visitors in applicable University facilities and/or University operations. …

The complete policy and more can be found on the General Counsel’s web site.

PI Eligibility

Principal Investigators and Co-Principal Investigators have primary institutional responsibility for providing scientific/technical leadership and administrative and financial management of sponsored projects. As such, the University has designated the following personnel as eligible to serve as Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on sponsored projects*:

• All full-time faculty regardless of academic rank
• Visiting faculty/visiting scientists during the time they draw salary support for the performance of the sponsored project through the University
• Adjunct faculty during the time they draw salary support for the performance of the sponsored project through the University
• Full-time, academic non-administrative professionals in classified positions at or above Level 31E
• All full-time postdoctoral fellows* and researchers
• Under exceptional circumstances documented in writing, other qualified individuals may be designated as a PI. Such designation requires the approval of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Innovation, and must be endorsed by the chair of every unit and the dean of every college in which the research project is to be performed. If granted, this PI designation is limited to the proposed research project under consideration, i.e. it does not afford blanket status to serve as a PI on other proposals. To qualify for an exception, the following criteria must be met:
• Only individuals identified to the external sponsor as a PI or CPI in the submitted proposal need to have the PI eligibility approval form completed
• The proposed research must be a programmatic priority of the University
• There must demonstrably be no qualified member of the UD faculty who is capable of serving or available to serve as the PI
• The proposed PI must possess the academic and experiential qualifications that are prerequisite to service as a PI at UD, and his or her participation as the PI must be demonstrably necessary for the successful funding and execution of the research project
• The proposal PI must enter into a signed contract with the University assuring that (a) the work will be conducted in accordance with the high standards of quality expected of all PIs; (b) the PI will comply with all University policies relating to the conduct of research; and (c) the research project will be conducted consistent with all federal laws, rules, and regulations relating to the conduct of research
• Completion of the Research Office PI approval form and submission of a curriculum vitae (CV)

* Principal Investigator/Co-Principal Investigator status may be rescinded for cause.

*A PI approval form is required to permit postdoctoral fellows to serve this role

If an exception is made to make someone an eligible PI and that person isn’t a full-time University employee, the chair or dean must be a co-PI on all proposals for that person.

Retired Faculty Serving as Principal Investigators

Some faculty members wish to continue their research programs after retirement from the University, but do not qualify for status as principal investigators because they are no longer full-time UD employees. Retired faculty members may apply for PI status using the existing Research Office PI approval form.

If the request is approved, retired faculty members may serve initially as co-PIs on proposals with a full-time faculty member as PI (this would typically be the department chair or another senior faculty member). If the proposal is funded and the retired faculty member is hired to work on that grant, he or she may then serve as the PI during the life of the grant. At the time of hiring, the retired faculty member may be appointed to an appropriate professional staff position (such as, for example, senior research fellow), but under no conditions may be re-hired on the faculty (as, for example, a research professor).

Graduate Students as Principal Investigators

The Research Office acknowledges the importance of permitting graduate students to lead sponsored projects where appropriate. There are several sponsors who offer pre-doctoral grants whereby the work is conceived of and carried out entirely by a graduate student. In these cases, a faculty member is identified as a mentor and oversees the project nominally. (examples: NASA: Harriett G. Jenkins Predoctoral Fellowship Program (JPFP), NIH: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Predoctoral Fellowships (F31) to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research, NIH: Predoctoral Training at the Interface of the Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences, DOE: The National Methane Hydrates R&D Program – Graduate Fellowship Program).

To that end, the eligible PI approval form may be used at the time of proposal routing to permit the graduate student to have this role. Also, please have the department administrators ensure the graduate student’s supervisor code is associated with a chair and dean code. This will allow the proposal approval web form to be routed appropriately. The required completed form must be sent to the Research Office at least ten (10) working days before the deadline for submittal of the proposal to the funding agency.

There are still other sponsors for whom the need for submission and approval from an Authorized Representative of the University is not required. The student may submit these applications directly to the sponsor without coordination with the Research Office or a PI eligibility form (examples include: NSF Fellowship, Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowships for Achieving Excellence in College and University Teaching).

If there are questions concerning which type of funding the grad student is applying, contact the Research Office for guidance.

PI Eligibility Approval Form

Principal Investigators and Co-Principal Investigators have primary institutional responsibility for providing scientific/technical leadership and administrative and financial management of sponsored projects. The guidelines for Principal Investigator Eligibility require this form to be submitted as a request to serve as Principal Investigator (PI) on a project. The PI will be required to provide a CV and proper training and experience documentation.

Possession and Use of Firearms on University Property

1. SCOPE OF PURPOSE
   The University of Delaware is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all members of the campus community, and for its visitors, through the reasonable regulation of weapons, ammunition, explosives, and other dangerous instruments.
2. POLICY
   The University prohibits the possession, storage, or use of any guns, firearms, explosives, ammunition, and other weapons and dangerous instruments (herein collectively “Weapons”) on University property, including any land, building, or vehicle that the University owns, leases, rents, occupies, operates or controls, unless expressly authorized by the University of Delaware Police Department. …

The complete policy and more can be found on the General Counsel’s web site.

Preparing a Sequence Listing for the USPTO

These instructions are based on the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, 37 CFR Sections 1.821-1.825. The sequence rules require the use of standard symbols and a standard format for sequence data and submission of the data in computer readable form. The sequence listing must be in ASCII text. Instructions for formatting the sequence listing and a sample sequence listing are presented on the following pages. The USPTO has a software program, “PatentIn,” to help you prepare sequence listings in the proper format.You can download the software and obtain instructions for using the software from Patentin Software

Related Links

Patentin Software

Procedure for Requesting Letters of Support and Cost Share Commitments from the Research Office

Principal investigators (PIs) are encouraged to review UD’s Cost Sharing Policy. Cost share letters and or commitments require sufficient preparation and often a long lead time. PIs should start this conversation with their respective department chairs or college research office/deans as early as possible. All proposals that require cost share commitments and/or letters of support from UD leadership (president, provost, VP for research, scholarship and innovation) should follow the steps outlined herein.

Please route all requests for cost shares and letters of support requiring UD leadership support through the associate vice president for research development. Encourage the PI’s and research deans to engage with the Research Office (RO) as early as possible through the Research Development Office. Use email researchdev@udel.edu for communication to the RO.

The timeline, specified below, depends on the complexity of the cost shares/commitments and level of letters of support.

Cost Sharing and F&A Modifications:

1. Standard equipment match requests should follow the Equipment Cost Share policy and be communicated to the RO at least one week in advance of the submission date.
2. RO should be notified at least two weeks from the submission date for proposals with substantial match, such as non‐equipment match. Large/complex proposals, such as major research instrumentation grants or proposals involving more than one college, generally require very substantial university cost share commitments and therefore need even more lead time.
3. Unless F&A is limited by the sponsor, any reductions of F&A, including its use as cost share, need to be communicated to the RO at least two weeks in advance.

Letters of Support:

1. Letters of support that involve language for cost shares need to follow the cost share schedule noted above. See also #3 below.
2. Please plan at least five business days before proposal submission date for letters of support that need president or provost signature; three business days for letters of support that need VP for research, scholarship and innovation support.
3. The PI and/or respective research dean must provide a draft summary for such letters and key points that must be emphasized in the LOS, paying careful attention to the solicitation’s guidelines.

Proposal Development Assistance Request Form

The Research Development Office (RDO) serves as the support office to help faculty navigate today’s challenging research funding landscape and prepare competitive grant proposals. RDO provides support and management for large and/or multi-department proposals, where RDO serves as a point of contact for PI for all aspects of a grant application, including proposal project management, finding the right person(s) and UD units to leverage, grant writing and graphics, letters of support from UD leadership, equipment and other cost shares, and special exceptions – all leading to submitting a successful proposal. Use this form to request aid in the proposal preparation process.

Related Links

For additional information regarding our services please visit RDO’s Landing page.