9.23 / Eligibility to Serve as Principal Investigator

Effective: February 13, 2017

  1. Purpose

    To establish who is eligible to serve as Principal Investigator on sponsored projects.

  2. Policy

    The Principal Investigator (PI) has primary institutional responsibility for providing scientific leadership and administrative/financial management of sponsored projects, and as such, must be an employee of WSU. For the purposes of this policy statement, the term PI shall encompass other sponsor-specific titles such as Project Director and Program Director that are commonly used for non-research sponsored projects.

    All full-time WSU faculty, regardless of rank or tenure status, are eligible to serve as the PI on a sponsored project provided they meet sponsor qualifications. WSU staff and adjunct faculty may serve as the PI on a sponsored project with approval from their Chair and academic college Dean or Center Director provided they meet sponsor qualifications. Typical examples of full-time faculty positions that are eligible to be a PI include:

    • Research Associate
    • Postdoctoral Research Associate or Research Fellow
    • Research Scientist
    • Center Director
    • Academic Professionals

    Exceptions must be approved in writing by the Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer.