Acceptance of an award from a sponsor carries with it the responsibility to be aware of and comply with the terms and conditions of the award. The terms and conditions are either attached to the award document or incorporated by reference and can be found on the sponsor’s website with detailed informaton.

It is important to read and understand the terms and conditions as they contain information about prior approval requirements, spending limitations, requirements for billing and reporting, budget, expenditures and unallowable costs.

In addition to the general terms and conditions of an agency, awards may be issued with specific terms and conditions as outlined in Notice of Award (NOA) documents or program guidelines. When there is a question about what terms and conditions apply to an award, the following order of precedence should be followed:

• Award-specific terms and conditions
• Agency’s program-specific terms and conditions
• Agency’s general terms and conditions
  • The National Science Foundation (NSF) coordinates the posting of updated Research Terms and Conditions from the various participating Federal agencies on its website
• For federal awards:
  • Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR 200 for federal awards and federal flow through)
• For State awards:
  • Uniform Grant Management Standards (UGMS) for sponsored project awards issued by the State of Texas