Requirements and Administrative Procedures

As a federally funded institution, the University of Houston ( UH) will hold all research conducted at the University to the same high standards required for federally funded research, regardless of funding source.

It is the responsibility of the University of Houston’s Division of Research (DOR) to ensure that the research procedures described in all funded work awarded to   UH  investigators are compliant with all research oversight committee ¹  requirements   prior  to the release of grant/contract research funds.

All funded projects involving, or appearing to involve, research with animals, human subjects, or biohazardous/radioactive materials will be reviewed for congruency with approved committee protocols. All research procedures outlined in the grant/contract must be covered in the approved protocol(s) and all oversight committee approvals must be secured prior to the release of research funds. ²  prior to the release of research funds.

Congruency reviews are conducted by the DOR   Research Integrity and Oversight (RIO) Office.  If questions arise during the compliance review, the DOR Congruency Reviewer conducting the review will contact the Principal Investigator (PI) of the project for additional information and/or clarification, or to request that a protocol submission or revision be made to the appropriate oversight committee. The Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG) Research Administrator and the PI’s designated Administrator will be copied on this communication.

Examples of additional information that may be requested if not readily available to RIO include:

• Project science, including specific aims of the research
• Approved or submitted committee protocol number(s)
• Animal/Human Research Work scope
• For collaborations, a clarification of the work scope with respect to the University of Houston’s role in the project
• For collaborations/subrecipients, if the Animal/Human Subject Research is taking place at another University or entity, then the appropriate approval letter(s) will be requested
• Additional research project clarifications as necessary

Once the congruency review is completed and approved, then the PI, the Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG) Research Administrator and the PI’s Administrator will be notified.

Notes

• DOR typically does not receive notification that proposals submitted to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have received a potentially fundable impact/priority score. If such notification is received, a PI or administrator may directly request a grant compliance review at such time, to facilitate the process and ensure a quicker turnaround time.
• RIO is responsible for the funded research compliance review; OCG is responsible for the release of the research funds.
• While a direct Conflict of Interest review is not conducted during this process, all COI Certifications related to the award must be submitted and reviewed before the funds can be released.  
• Reviews of Institutional Biosafety Committee and Radiation Safety Committee approvals are facilitated through Environmental Health and Life Safety   (EHLS).

For questions or clarifications about this process or to request a grant compliance review, contact   grc@central.uh.edu.

¹  Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC/animal research), Institutional Review Board (IRB/human subjects research), Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC/biohazardous materials used in research), Radiation Safety Committee (RSC/radioactive materials used in research)