Only Faculty and Scientists who are permanent staff of the Institute can be Principal Investigator (PI) (including faculty of College of Nursing). Permanent staff other than Faculty and Scientist (i.e. Biochemist, Physiotherapist, Nursing Officer, Dietician, Clinical Psychologist and Paramedical staff) can be Co-investigator only (not PI).
(Reference: Approval of Dean’s Research Committee (DRC) in its meeting held on 18th September, 2020 and Director, AIIMS).

Budget is an important component of the project because Research Section will only allow expenditure from budget heads sanctioned by funding agency. Expenditure on any item not included in budget head will not be allowed. The budget should be prepared under broad sub-head as under as per requirement of the project:

1. Staff – designations, numbers, period of employment and salary
2. Contingency for recurring expenses
3. Travel
4. Supply & Material / consumables
5. Equipment (Non-recurring)
6. Overhead charges (Administrative Charges)
7. Any other provision as required in the project- Conferences, training, workshops

Note: The PI should clearly mention all items required for the project in the proposed budget.

It is mandatory to have at least one Co-investigator from the same department as that of Project Investigator. (Reference: Approval of Dean’s Research Committee (DRC) in its meeting held on 18th September, 2020 and Director, AIIMS).

The PI should ensure that the nomenclature of the project staff along with their eligibility criteria and salaries are as per the revised RRs (provided in Annexure-I). Some funding agencies sanction posts for research projects which do not exist in funding agency guidelines; for the same to be considered, details thereof (eligibility, age limits and salary etc.) have to be sought from the concerned funding agencies.

The Research Section does not have any separate budget allocation from the institute for its expenditure.  Each project (other than those from UN organizations and Ministry of Health & F.W.) should have a provision of Administrative Charges (details provided below) in the project. All expenses of the Research Section including payment of salaries to the staff of the research Section are met out of this grant.

The current revised overhead charges are as under w.e.f. November, 2019:
(Circulated vide Memo No.5-56/A.Charges/2009/Res.Sec. dated 11 November, 2019)

1. Administrative/Overhead charges to be budgeted while submitting application for project funding.
   • While applying for a project to any Government Funding Agency (ICMR, DHR, DST, DBT, CSIR, DRDO, Ministries etc.), the PI should budget for overheads @ 5% of the total grant amount proposed in the project proposal (Manpower + consumable + Travel + Contingency + Machinery & Equipment etc.).
   • While applying for a project to any Non – Government / International /  Clinical Trial/ Industry Sponsored study, the PI should budget for overhead @ 10% of the total grant amount proposed in the project proposal (Manpower + consumable + Travel + Contingency + Machinery & Equipment etc.).
2. Deduction of administrative/overhead charges by Research Section after project is sanctioned.

• • For Government funding agencies, the Research Section will deduct the overhead budget amount as per actuals sanctioned by the funding agency. Hence, once the project is sanctioned, PI is required to submit a sanction letter from funding agency indicating budget heads to both Administrative Officer and Accounts Officer of Research Section separately.
  • For Project of Non-Government Organizationincluding NGOs, CSR, etc.,
    For International funding agencies (Government as well as Private)
    For Clinical Trials/Pharmaceutical Companies sponsored/ industry sponsored projects
    10% overhead or actuals will be charged
  • For Multi-institutional projects
    Administrative charges will be deducted only on AIIMS budget.
    Table. Name of national funding agency and their website link

For any research project whether intramural or extra mural to be initiated at AIIMS, the following clearances (one or, more) as appropriate, are required. At the time of submitting project proposal to funding agency, a simultaneous move for the obtaining ethical clearances, as appropriate (depending on the needs of the research proposal – human, animals, biosafety etc. ) must also be initiated to ensure that the clearances are obtained in time. It is mandatory to get these clearances before the initiation of the project.  Various committees functioning at AIIMS are as follows:

• Institutional Ethics committee
• Institutional Animal Ethics committee
• Biosafety committee
• Institutional committee for Stem Cell Research
• Serious Adverse Events committee

All research projects undertaken by the faculty or, scientists must be registered with Research Section and codified. No faculty member or, scientist of AIIMS can claim themselves to be principal investigator or co-investigator of a project either at AIIMS or at any other external Institution if the project has not been registered in the Research Section, AIIMS. In case any faculty member/scientist is associated with any collaborative research project outside AIIMS, permission for the same would have to be sought before the initiation of the project.

Once the project is sanctioned by the funding agency, operative approval must be obtained from the competent authority at AIIMS (Dean Research followed by the Director).
The faculty/scientist should send a letter addressed to Dean (Research) requesting registration of the project and grant of operative approval/project code number. This request must be accompanied by a copy of the project proposal, sanction order of the funding agency and ethical clearance certificate(s) / any other clearances. The date of start of the project and duration of the project must be mentioned too. It must be noted that operative approval is not granted without ethical clearance certificate from the ethical committee. If the applicant feels that ethical clearance is not required for a research project, then waiver must be sought from ethics committee and submitted. Once the approval is given by Dean (Research) followed by Director, AIIMS, a “Project Code Number” is allotted to the applicant to initiate the project, which is to be cited in all subsequent correspondences related to that project. The applicant should not start the work on the project or, employ staff without obtaining the operative approval of the competent authority.

The projects sanctioned by the funding agency are for a fixed duration. Further extension of the project beyond the approved duration, requires written approval of the funding agency. For administrative purposes, it is advisable that PI submits the request for extension to the funding agency 2 to 3 months before the approved duration ends.

If an investigator wants to downgrade or upgrade a post or convert it to an equivalent or lower pay scale post, the justification for the same needs should be sent to the concerned funding agency and their approval to downgrade or upgrade the existing post should be sought and forwarded to Research Section for necessary action along with necessary financial approvals (extra grant for salary). The downgraded or upgraded post will be treated as fresh contract appointment as per procedures of the Research Section.

Outsourcing of services i.e. hiring external professionals or, consultants for secretarial work, survey etc. are allowed under a project, subject to their provision existing in the project and approved by the funding agency.

After registration of a project at research section or, after getting operative approval if a PI proposes to include a new co-investigator in the ongoing project, permission for the same would have to be obtained from the funding agency and shared with Research Section.

Superannuated faculty member would not be eligible to remain as Principal Investigator. If a faculty member is to superannuate before the date of completion of his/her project, they should inform Research Section and ask one of the co-investigators from the same department to become the PI. Having at least one co-investigator from the same department as the PI has now been made mandatory for all extramural funded projects. The administrative and financial powers of the project will rest with the new PI. However, superannuated faculty member can continue to be associated with the ongoing project as a co-investigator for the remaining duration of the project, even if they join another institution. It must be emphasized that the superannuated faculty member cannot claim office/lab space for the said project at AIIMS.
Some projects may only have co-investigators from other departments in the Institute. (Though this is discouraged unless absolutely unavoidable one co-investigator at least should be from same department). In such a case if the PI retires or resigns before the completion of the project, he/she must clearly indicate in the proposal as to which project co-investigator will become new PI and which department he/she belongs. The acceptance of the new PI should be simultaneously attached. Also the status of handover of existing laboratory in department, machinery & equipment, students, research staff etc. should be clearly specified by the superannuated PI along with acceptance from his/her HOD. If there are PhD students, acceptance of Dean (Academic) for transfer of students should also be attached. If the superannuating PI proposes a new PI, a faculty or, scientist who was not associated with the project earlier since its inception, permission for the same would have to be obtained from the funding agency and shared with research section ( as is done for addition of a new co-investigator in an ongoing study).

He/she can continue as PI / Co-investigator of their ongoing project/s. No approval of funding agency will be required.
(Reference: Approval of Dean’s Research Committee (DRC) in its meeting held on 18th September, 2020 and Director, AIIMS).

Projects are awarded taking into consideration the research capabilities of the applicant faculty member and the resources & infrastructure available at the parent institutions. At the time of grant approval, an undertaking/MoU is signed with the funding agency wherein one of the important clauses relates to the parent institutions guaranteeing the availability of the infrastructure & facilities for conduct of research. For operative/ administrative and financial aspect of the project also the parent institute provides a guarantee/undertaking.
In view of the above, it is essential that the signatory PI is permanent faculty of the parent institute during the tenancy of the research project.
Considering these points, the following were approved in 1st meeting of Central Institute Body (CIB) held on 16th July, 2018 vide Item No.CIB-1/9 (Minutes dated 4th September, 2018)

• The projects can be transferred to new AIIMS with due approval of the funding agencies. This will provide instant boost to research capacity building in new AIIMS. The funds available with AIIIMS New Delhi may be transferred to new AIIMS as per rules.
• However, if the funding agency directs to continue the project at AIIMS, New Delhi, they can hand over the project to a faculty member at AIIMS New Delhi who is a co-investigator of the project. The co-investigator will now act as PI for all administrative & financial purposes and the previous PI can continue as co-investigator in the project. Due concurrence of the co-investigator as well as the funding agency for this arrangement should be obtained. This will also boost inter-AIIMS research collaboration.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) is a nonbinding agreement between two or more parties outlining the terms and details of an understanding, including each parties’ requirements and responsibilities. A MoU is often the first stage in moving towards a formal contract.
Further, a memorandum of agreement (MoA) is a written document describing a cooperative relationship between two parties wishing to work together on a project or to achieve an agreed upon objective. A MoA serves as a legal document and describes the terms and details of the partnership agreement. If an MoU or MoA is to be signed under a research project, or trial the PI. should ensure that the exact collaborative work and terms & conditions have been finalized between all the parties involved and are mentioned in the document. MoU/MoA will be signed by Dean (Research) only after legal and IPR vetting by the Legal Counsel of AIIMS with non-government funded project. With government funding agencies such as DBT, DST, ICMR etc., no such requirement.

Research being a mandatory activity for faculty or, scientific cadre working in AIIMS there is no justification/rationale for remuneration by way of honorarium to PI or co-investigator for this purpose from project funds.
(Reference- OM No.4-36/86-Acad.II dated 5.11.2002)

A copy of the annual report submitted to funding agency should be sent to Research section.

On completion of a research project, the PI should directly send the final report of research project to the funding agency and a copy thereof to Research Section. The PI should also inform whether any policy or programmatic change have been made in the concerned field based on the report.

Transfer of funds to other institutions from AIIMS as part of multi-institution projects is based on the approved budget from the funding agency and permission for the transfer must be taken from competent authority (Dean Research). The overheads will be charged on budget of AIIMS and not on the total budget.

While publishing findings from research projects is of utmost importance, the institute does not have any provision to pay for such charges from its funds. Publication charges can however be paid from research project if provision for the same exists in the budget. The other existing mechanism for covering publication charges is the learning resource allowance (LRA) provided to faculty and scientists.