1. Sponsored Projects

Sponsored Projects are externally-funded activities in which a formal written agreement, i.e., a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, is entered into by Stanford University and by the sponsor.

Characteristics of a sponsored project agreement include:

A. SOW (Statement of Work): Sponsored projects are typically awarded to Stanford in response to a detailed SOW and commitment to a specified project plan.

B. Detailed Financial Accountability: A sponsored project agreement includes detailed financial accountability, typically including:

- a line-item budget related to the project plan
- a requirement for the return of any unexpended funds at the end of the project period
- regular financial reporting and audits.

C. Disposition of Properties, i.e., Deliverables: Sponsored project agreements usually include terms and conditions for the disposition of tangible properties (e.g., equipment, records, specified technical reports, theses or dissertations) or tangible properties (e.g., rights in data, copyrights, and inventions). The presence of such terms and conditions in the agreement indicate that the activity is a sponsored project.

2. Types of Sponsored Project Award Agreements

The three most common sponsored project agreement mechanisms are grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. For a more extensive list of agreement types, please visit the ORA website's Agreement Types page.

Over 70% of Stanford's sponsored projects are supported by grants. These agreements can be viewed as assistance and are significantly less restrictive than contracts, which may be thought of as procurement actions. The intent of the sponsor dictates which type of agreement is used. All sponsored award agreements are legal documents with their own set of terms and conditions that stipulate obligations and responsibilities.

Which office handles my agreement or transaction?

Industrial Contracts Office (ICO) manages agreements solely funded by industry sponsors or for-profit entities.
Research Management Group - Clinical Trials (RMG-CT) manages Industry-sponsored clinical trial agreements.
Research Management Group (RMG) manages School of Medicine non-industry grants, cooperative agreements, and fellowship awards.
Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) manages all other non-industry sponsored research related agreements, including subaward agreements to lower-tier entities/subrecipients.

Visit Stanford's ORA "Who Does What" resource page for more detail.

Pre-Award School/Dept & OSR Research Administration Roles & Responsibilities

Post-Award School/Dept & OSR Research Administration Roles & Responsibilitie

3. Gifts

A gift is defined as any item of value given to the University by a donor who expects nothing significant of value in return, other than recognition and disposition of the gift in accordance with the donor's wishes.

Characteristics of a gift include:

A proposal/request may be submitted to the potential donor that includes a description of the proposed activities, with the understanding that the description of proposed activities is not intended as a commitment to a specific line of inquiry.
Gifts may be accompanied by an agreement that restricts the use of the funds to a particular purpose.
There is no formal fiscal accountability to the donor beyond periodic progress reports and summary reports of expenditures.
Stanford agrees to use restricted gifts as the donor specifies and does not accept gifts that it cannot use as the donor intends. If circumstances change such that a gift cannot be used as the donor specified, the donor must approve a change in the original restriction, or Stanford must receive court approval to waive the restriction (if the donor cannot be contacted). University approval for changes in the purpose of a gift fund can only be granted by the Provost.

Gifts provided by the tremendous generosity of our friends, alumni, parents, and students have contributed significantly to research at Stanford. Those gifts reflect their deep confidence in our faculty and students and the critical work they are doing to address the challenges of our time.

NOTE: Federal agencies cannot provide gifts!

Visit Research Policy Handbook (RPH) 13.1 "Gift vs. Sponsored Projects and Distinctions from Other Forms of Funding" for more information.

We also recommend completing the Gift Administration at Stanford Class: ORA-1128.