CERES: PI Certification on Proposals

Review and Certify a Funding Proposal (PI) 

Note: The attachments contain a job aid for this article.

When a funding proposal is complete and ready for department review, PIs should review their funding proposal and certify that it is complete and accurate. If PI certification is outstanding when the proposal moves to Department Review, the PI will receive a reminder email to complete the certification. The final step of Department approval cannot take place until the PI has certified their proposal.

To review a funding proposal

1. From your CERES inbox, click the name of the funding proposal you want to open. Alternatively, click the funding proposal ID link provided in the PI Certification Required email notification.
2. Review the tabs on the funding proposal workspace, including the:
   • Attachments tab
   • Financials tab to review the budget summary
   • Personnel Summary tab to review the project personnel and their levels of effort
   • Related Projects tab to ensure any IRB or IACUC protocols associated with the funding proposal are present

Note: Associating  If the IRB or IACUC protocol was previously approved, it requires an amendment to change the Funding Source.

3. Click Edit Funding Proposal to review detailed information included in the funding proposal SmartForm.

To certify a funding proposal

1. Once you complete your review of the funding proposal, certify that it is complete and accurate. On the funding proposal workspace, click Certify.
2. Read the attestations in the resulting Certify form.
3. Type any comments and add any pertinent attachments.
4. Click OK.

In the Proposal Information summary at the top of the funding proposal workspace, the Certified field updates to Yes after certification is completed.

Note: RAs can view a list of funding proposals in need of PI certification via the Need PI Certification tile on their In Process dashboard. If PI Certification is outstanding when the proposal is submitted for Department Review, the PI receives a reminder notification prompting them to complete the certification. 

To check certification status

1. From your CERES inbox or the Grants page, open the desired project.
2. On the Summary component of the funding proposal workspace, the Certified field will say Yes, if the proposal has been certified, or No, if the proposal is not certified. 

Note: The final step of the department approval cannot take place until the PI completes the Certify activity on the funding proposal. If PI Certification is outstanding when the proposal is submitted for Department Review, the PI receives a reminder notification prompting them to complete the certification.