Principal Investigators – Office of Research

Every funded research project must be led by a principal investigator.

A Principal Investigator (PI) is an individual who has primary responsibility for the design, proposal, execution, and management of a research or training or public service project and who will be involved in the project in a significant manner.

PIs are responsible for:

The scientific integrity and management of the project.
Developing proposals for extramural funding, for institutional endorsement and submission by OSP or Innovation & Business Engagement Hub.
Submitting human subjects studies for IRB review and approval.
Submitting scientific progress reports to sponsors.
Signing protocol-related forms to be submitted to the IACUC for consideration.
Certifying project expenditures and approving subrecipient invoices.
Ensuring compliance with institution and sponsor requirements.

Learn more about PI responsibilities.

Co-principal investigators (co-PIs)

For the purposes of proposals and awards, co-PI eligibility requirements are the same as PI eligibility.
For human subjects research studies within Cayuse Human Ethics, co-PIs do not need to be eligible to serve as a PI. Graduate students are often designated as co-PIs on Human Ethics studies for their research projects.
For IACUC protocols, the term “co-respondent” is used in place of “co-PI.” Co-respondents do not need to be eligible to serve as a PI, and are often graduate students, post-doctoral scholars, office or lab staff.

Eligibility to serve as a PI

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Academic titles

Academic senate members

Payroll Title	Type of Appointment	Project Type	PI Eligibility	Additional Details
UC Emeriti (from a Senate title)	All	All	Eligible
Research Professor (Recall Faculty, Recall Teaching)	All	All	Eligible	Future hires who need PI status before appointment begin date need an approved Exception to Policy
Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor. Non-acting. Non-visiting.	All	All	Eligible	Future hires who need PI status before appointment begin date need an approved Exception to Policy
Acting Professor, Acting Associate Professor	All	All	Eligible
Senior Lecturer with Security of Employment (“Teaching Professor”), Lecturer with Security of Employment (“Associate Teaching Professor”). Includes Acting.	All	All	Eligible	Future hires who need PI status before appointment begin date need an approved Exception to Policy
University Librarian	All	Projects that are closely aligned with the nature of their position	Eligible	Future hires who need PI status before appointment begin date need an approved Exception to Policy

Non-senate

Faculty

Payroll Title	Type of Appointment	Project Type	PI Eligibility	Additional Details
Acting Assistant Professor	All	All	Eligible
Visiting Professor, Visiting Associate Professor, Visiting Assistant Professor	All	All	Requires approved Exception to Policy
Adjunct Professor, Adjunct Associate Professor, Adjust Assistant Professor	≥50% with salaried appointment	All	Eligible	Future hires who need PI status before appointment begin date need an approved Exception to Policy
Adjunct Professor, Adjunct Associate Professor, Adjust Assistant Professor	<50% or WOS (without salary)	All	Requires approved Exception to Policy
Lecturer with Potential Security of Employment (“Assistant Teaching Professor”). Includes Acting.	All	All	Eligible	Future hires who need PI status before appointment begin date need an approved Exception to Policy
Lecturer/Continuing Lecturer (NOTE: this is separate from the Lecturer with Security of Employment series, above)	All	All	Not eligible
Recall Teaching Non Senate	All	All	Not eligible

Non-faculty

Payroll Title	Type of Appointment	Project Type	PI Eligibility	Additional Details
Astronomer	All	All	Eligible	Future hires who need PI status before appointment begin date need an approved Exception to Policy
Librarian, Associate Librarian, Assistant Librarian	All	Projects that are closely aligned with the nature of their position	Requires approved Exception to Policy
Professional Researcher: Researcher, Associate Researcher, Assistant Researcher	≥50% with salaried appointment	All	Eligible	Future hires who need PI status before appointment begin date need an approved Exception to Policy
Professional Researcher: Researcher, Associate Researcher, Assistant Researcher	<50% appointment or WOS (without salary)	All	Requires approved Exception to Policy
Visiting Professional Researcher: Visiting Researcher, Visiting Associate Researcher, Visiting Assistant Researcher	All	All	Requires approved Exception to Policy
Project Scientist, Associate Project Scientist, Assistant Project Scientist. Includes Visiting.	All	All	Requires approved Exception to Policy	Dean must certify that applicant is capable of independent research.
Postdoctoral Scholar	All	All	Requires approved Exception to Policy	Requests may be considered, but exceptions are rarely granted, and only with demonstration of a strong justification. Proposal-specific approval only. Dean must certify that applicant is capable of independent research.
Research Associate, Research Fellow, Visiting Scholar	All	All	Not eligible
Specialist, Associate Specialist, Assistant Specialist, Junior Specialist	All	All	Not eligible
Academic Coordinator	All	Projects that are closely aligned with the nature of their position	Requires approved Exception to Policy
Recall Non-faculty Academic	All	All	Requires approved Exception to Policy
Graduate student	All	Fellowship/Dissertation Research Grants/Field Research Grants/All other projects	Not eligible
Undergraduate student	All	All	Not eligible

Staff titles

Payroll Title	Type of Appointment	Project Type	PI Eligibility
Program director	All	Projects that are closely aligned with the nature of their position/training or training-related projects	Requires approved PI Exception to Policy

For more information see UCOP Contracts and Grants Manual 1-530; Principal Investigator Eligibility

PI Exception to Policy (ETP)

By exception to policy (ETP), the Vice Chancellor for Research (or designee) may approve other appointees to serve as PI in special circumstances.

Learn more about requesting a PI Exception to Policy (ETP).