Contact: Adriana Santiago, GCP Project Officer

For project-specific questions, please directly contact the appropriate Subprogramme Leader


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1. CONTRACTS AND SUBCONTRACTS
The GCP is a decentralised research and development programme that is held together by contracts. The most important of these contracts is the Consortium Agreement executed by GCP consortium members in the fall of 2004. The Consortium Agreement can be viewed on the GCP website at http://www.generationcp.org/sccv10/sccv10_upload/Consortium_agreement.pdf. The GCP executes its research through contracts for a) Competitive Grants b) Commissioned Research and c) Special Projects.

Competitive Grants contracts are issued to the Principal Investigating Institution, who is expected to enter into subcontracts with and disburse funds to all of the project partners. A sample of the competitive grants contract can be viewed here: www.generationcp.org/research/policy/COMPETITIVE_CONTRACT.doc

Commissioned Research contracts are issued to each partner institution for all commissioned projects in which they are involved for that year. That means that each institution receives one Commissioned Research contract (also called the Annual Agreement) from the GCP that covers their portion of all of the commissioned research projects in which they are involved for that year only. A sample of the commissioned research contract can be viewed here: www.generationcp.org/research/policy/COMMISSIONED_CONTRACT.doc

Among the most important provisions of the Consortium Agreement are its provisions on intellectual property (IP). The IP provisions are vitally important because it is here that the consortium members have tried to ensure that when new and useful products are produced in the course of GCP, it will be possible actually to distribute them to the poor people in developing countries for whom they were developed. Because they have signed the Consortium Agreement, GCP consortium members are bound by its IP provisions. However, much of the work on competitive and commissioned grants will be done by partner/collaborating institutes that are not consortium members (who are referred to as "Supporting Participants" in the Consortium Agreement). Because these partners/collaborators have not signed the Consortium Agreement, it is necessary to enter into subcontracts with them to ensure that the results of research funded with GCP funds will be subject to the IP provisions of the Consortium Agreement. PI institutions, and not the GCP itself, must enter into subcontracts with non-GCP partner institutions who are participating in any project. To view GCP's Intellectual Property Helpdesk.

In addition to your institution's normal subcontractual provisions, subcontracts for GCP projects must include, at the very least, these relevant provisions of the GCP Consortium Agreement: 1) data and material sharing, and 2) the provisions on intellectual property (ownership, assignment, licensing, commercialisation and management). It is recommended that they also include provisions on: the objective of GCP; contributions to the Project; accounting and budgeting; confidentiality of information; publications and public announcements; settling disputes and arbitration; termination; and no agency relationship.

The GCP has subcontract templates available for use:
Standard Terms and Conditions (2 pages) – These sample terms and conditions may be used by principal investigating institutions when they have questions regarding how to arrange subcontracts. Note that these terms and conditions do not contain all of the terms that a university or research institute's legal or contracts office might require, and thus principal investigating institutions are free to modify the terms to meet their own needs, so long as they cover the basics.

Full Subcontract (9 pages) – For institutions that want to use the terms and conditions above without modifying them, they still need to have a letter agreement or something similar, which specifies amounts and terms of payment, schedules for performance, performance criteria, etc. This subcontract template expressly lists the terms and conditions as binding the parties and should be signed by the parties.

For the competitive research projects of the GCP, GCP contracts are issued only with the principal investigating institute. The principal investigating institute is thus responsible for entering into subcontracts with other consortium members or outside institutions that are participating in the project. The principal investigating institution may request the GCP to disburse funds directly to the project partners by filling out this form: Payment Form. This does not absolve the principal investigating from entering into subcontracts for the project. By signing the letter of agreement with the GCP, the principal investigating institute takes full responsibility for the project.

For the commissioned research projects, GCP issues contracts by consortium member institution instead of by project. This means that, for the most part, subcontracts are not needed for the various partners on the projects, who are almost all GCP member institutions. For example, a Bioinformatics Platform-Building Project that involves CIAT, CIP, CIMMYT, Bioversity International, and IRRI would be handled by separate commissioned research contracts for each institution. For the outside partners who are participating in commissioned research projects, the consortium member with the previously established relationship with that group will issue the subcontract. For example, for a project on Conserved Orthologous Markers that involves CAAS, CIP, and the Scottish Crops Research Institute (SCRI), the GCP would issue contracts to CAAS and CIP, and CIP would be expected to enter into the subcontract with SCRI since they have a previous relationship.

For a more detailed explanation of the subcontracting policy, please see the full explanation of the GCP’s Subcontracting Policy, drafted by GCP legal counsel Shawn Sullivan. When in doubt about when to issue a subcontract, feel free to contact Adriana Santiago (a.santiago@cgiar.org) or Shawn Sullivan (sullivan@sullivanlaw.net).

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2. SUBSISTENCE USE AGREEMENT (Amendment to the GCP Consortium, as approved by the GCP Programme Steering Committee in Nov 2005)
This agreement must be referenced in any subcontracts with any institutions who are not members of the GCP consortium to ensure that all GCP products can be made available to the resource-poor.

Subsistence Use Agreement

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3. REPORTING RESPONSIBILITIES
It is GCP philosophy to keep reporting responsibilities to a minimum, but we expect comprehensive, timely reports according to the annual reporting schedule (see below).

For competitive research projects, GCP expects one Annual Update Technical report from the principal investigator. The reports shall be submitted to the relevant Subprogramme Leader. One Annual Update Technical Report is required to be submitted, together with the Annual Financial Report, for each project. A Final Technical Report must also be submitted on completion of the project. The principal investigating institution is responsible for submitting the technical and financial report. The funds for Year 2 and Year 3 of the competitive projects are contingent upon receipt and approval of the technical and financial report.

For commissioned research projects, the GCP expects one Annual Update Technical Report from the principal investigator of each project on 15 October of each year. A Final Technical Report must also be submitted on completion of the project. Even though Commissioned Research Contracts are issued by the partner institutions, the technical reports must be submitted by the project principal investigator and not the institutional contact for the project.

Every institution must submit an Annual Financial Report for GCP funds.

Because the technical reports are divorced from the financial reports, it is imperative that the principal investigators, partner scientists, and all of the institutions involved are aware of any extensions or any other modifications that may have been granted for the project, as these will affect the financial report your institution submits for the GCP commissioned research. Please be in touch with your financial administrators regarding the administration of your project!

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5. GCP PROJECT REVIEW POLICY 
Reviews by type of project:
Competitive project: Evaluated by an external review panel with some input at the end of the process from the MT, mainly on budget, collaboration and links with ongoing GCP projects.
 
Commissioned project (old ones): Reviewed by the lead SPL with input from other SPL(s) who might be involved in the monitoring of the project; comments also provided by at least one RAP member, where applicable (in Phase II, not all SPs have a RAP member). The lead SPL has the option to ask for external review, in particular if the respective RAP member does not have the right expertise to review a proposal.
 
Challenge Initiatives (not including cowpea and the chickpea CIs):  Review conducted by all members of the MT. External feedback not required unless requested by a member of the MT.
 
Tropical Legumes Improvement (including cowpea and the chickpea CIs): Review conducted by all members of the MT. External feedback not required unless requested by TLI Project Leader or any other member of the MT. Gates Foundation and their contracted external reviewers also provide feedback.
 
General working principles:

• Any member of the MT has the right to ask for external review in case she/he has any doubts about either the entire or specific elements of a project (this principle would not however apply to competitive projects).
• Such a request, with names of possible reviewers when appropriate, should be shared with the entire team (ie, the review should not come as a surprise).
• Although feedback provided by external reviewers must be taken very seriously, it remains indicative and not mandatory, so PIs should receive the consolidated feedback, incorporating all comments, from the external review and the MT.
• The names of both external and internal (MT) reviewers are strictly confidential.
• External reviews should be considered very seriously when:
• There is a lack of expertise in the MT
• The evaluation of a project is quite different amongst the different MT members
• There is a possible conflict of interest within the MT

6a. COMMISSIONED PROJECTS
The GCP will grant no-cost extensions until 15 October, or 31 December. No other dates will be accepted.

No-cost extension requests may be submitted by email and must include:

• Interim scientific report (you may use the most recent technical report submitted if that applies) and explanation of why the work has been delayed (3 pages max)
• Requested deadline for final termination of project: either 15 October, or 31 December.

If the request is approved, the GCP will issue a formal communication to your institution approving the extension. The Final Technical and Financial Reports are due upon the approved deadline for the extension.

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6b. COMPETITIVE GRANTS
For the competitive grants, no-cost extensions will only be granted for the end of the project. This means that a no-cost extension should be requested within a reasonable time before the end of the project term, and not on a year-by-year basis. No-cost extensions for competitive grants will be considered on a case-by-case basis for UP TO ONE YEAR only.
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7. BUDGET
Please note that indirect costs in the GCP must be limited to 18%.

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8. FINANCIAL REPORTS
Annual financial reports on all projects are due to the GCP by up to 45 days following 31 December (to allow for closing of books) of each year REGARDLESS OF any no-cost extensions.

Any payment for the following year will be delayed if the financial report is delayed.

Templates for financial reports:
- Competitive Projects
- Commissioned Projects (last updated 12th February 2009)

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9. BUDGET REALLOCATIONS
The GCP policy on project budget reallocations is as follows:
The Project Principal Investigator may approve budget reallocations of up to 10% on any partner budget line. Any reallocation above 10% must be approved by the Subprogramme Leader and documented in writing by GCP. Any reallocations between/among partners must be approved by the Subprogramme Leader and documented in writing by the GCP.

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10. UNSPENT RESEARCH PROJECT FUNDS
If project funds are not spent by upon completion of the project term, the GCP requests that the funds be sent back to the GCP in a timely fashion.

10a. LEFTOVER TRAINING FUNDS: SUPPLEMENTAL GRANTS
Remaining funds from training activities may be reassigned for Supplemental Grants to support GCP-related research activities or equipment purchases by the course participants. The PI must solicit a proposal (one page) and budget from the grantees for the activity. The amount per person/activity is limited to $5,000.

If the funds are still at the PI’s institution, once the PI and the relevant Subprogramme Leader have approved the proposal and budget for the supplemental activity, the PI’s institution is responsible for entering into letters of agreement with the grantees and for submitting the technical report and financial accounting of the supplemental grants.

If the funds are still at the GCP, once the PI and the relevant Subprogramme Leader have approved the proposal and budget, the PI will send the full list of proposed activities, budgets, and banking information for the grantees to GCP Headquarters. The GCP will prepare letters of agreement for the funds that stipulate that the grantee must submit a report (one page) to the PI on how the funds were spent within 6 months of receiving the funds. GCP Headquarters will be responsible for disbursing the funds directly to the grantees, but the project PI is still responsible for the technical and financial reporting to the GCP on these combined activities. The PI must then submit the compiled final accounting (technical and financial) of all the grants to GCP Headquarters. The GCP Headquarters does not require original receipts for the financial report, but does require an authorised note from the grant recipient’s institution that the funds were spent according to the proposal and budget. Thus, the grantees’ reporting responsibilities are: within six months of receiving the funds, they must submit a one page technical report and an authorised letter from his/her home institution certifying that funds were spent according to the budget.

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11. POLICY ON DATA AVAILABILITY

Important note: Final payment (20% of the project's final year of funding) will be released on GCP's approval of Final financial and Final techincal reports. GCP's approval of Final techincal reports will not be granted without the release of quality data in a suitable format, as outlined in the 'Data production and sharing' section directly below.

Data production and sharing
As outlined in Appendix E of your GCP research proposal, the following information is mandatory:

1. The nature of the data to be produced
Phenotypic data, genetic map, QTL characterisation, gene expression, etc.

2. The format of the data
MS-Excel file, Word table, MapMaker output file, etc. Data sets should be presented in a form that allows an outsider to interpret the data. To assure interpretability and allow easy processing of the data, the GCP templates should be used. See available templates

3. Where and when the data will be posted
By the end of the project, data must be posted to one of two places: either i) to a publicly accessible database, or, ii) to the GCP Central Registry.
 

Data embargo and conditions
A six-month embargo period can be considered in case of cleaning of the data or preparation of publication(s). In such cases, data must be available upon the request of the Subprogramme Leader at the end of the project. If the data are posted to a public database, the link to that data must be provided to the curator of the GCP Data Central Registry. In the event that a six-month embargo is granted, payment of the final 20% will be withheld until the data are released.

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12. GCP Asset Inventory Database
Each institution performing substantial research in the GCP is required to file an annual intellectual property management report. The Asset Inventory Database (AID) allows your institution to complete this report online by means of a user-friendly Web interface. Although the asset inventory system refers to ‘assets’ and ‘inventions’, these terms should be understood in their broadest sense. Our aim is for your institution to record essentially all significant research inputs used in, and all products/outputs arising from, a research project. Examples include germplasm, molecular markers, genotypic data, crop modeling software, etc. In addition, your institution should provide specific information regarding any restrictions on the use of the input or output, such as ‘research only’ restrictions in a material transfer agreement, etc.

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13. Acknowledging GCP  in publications, presentations and Public Awareness /publicity materials
GCP researchers are under an obligation to acknowledge GCP support in all releases (presentations, publications, papers, posters, press releases, public awareness/publicity materials, etc.) on, or derived from, their GCP work or projects. This obligation covers BOTH financial and non-financial support. (For specific details on acknowledging support from the GCP’s Genotyping Support Service [GSS], please see the GSS webpage).

(i) Financial support: For projects which are funded or partially-funded by GCP, reference is made to Clause 18.4 of the project agreement with GCP which states that:

“In the event that and prior to the production by the Principal Investigating Institute of any written, audio-visual and/or information technology material connected with or resulting from the Activities by the Principal Investigating Institute and intended for limited or general publication, the Recipient shall acknowledge the GCP's role in providing funding for the Activities".

When acknowledging GCP funding,  DO NOT use the term 'sponsored by' or its synonyms or derivatives. For acknowledging financial support, we recommend the following text:

This work/project was funded/partially-funded by the CGIAR Generation Challenge Programme (GCP).  

ii) Non-financial support: Examples of non-financial support provided by GCP include, but are by no means limited to, project conceptualisation, provision of research ideas and new directions or research re-orientation.

Please provide all the details pertaining to this support.

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