4. Criteria Applicable to Sponsored Research

       It will be the policy of the University, the University Research Board, the departments, and members of the Faculty involved to consider the merits of any proposal for sponsored research based upon the following criteria:

a.   The research should fit within the framework of the four primary and essential objectives of the University cited earlier.

b.   The research should be soundly based; its primary goal should be a significant contribution to knowledge rather than product development; and the personnel involved should be qualified to perform the project.

c.   The research should be proposed and carried out within a regular department of the University, within an interdepartmental center or institute, or through the cooperation of several departments, and be led by a member of the Faculty or professional research staff. The provisions of the research agreement should not grant the sponsor or any other external party a continuing role in the scientific direction of the research.

d.   Major research projects should be clearly related to the academic programs of the department or departments involved, and provide opportunities for graduate or undergraduate research training.
      Projects which do not meet these requirements shall be considered by the Executive Committee of the Council of the Princeton University Community. In no case shall the research extend the activities of a department to an extent that the quality of the educational programs is compromised.

e.   Adequate facilities should be available or provisions should be made for funds to make them available.

f.   There should be a good prospect of employing any additional professional or nonprofessional personnel required within the limits of existing salary scales and personnel policy.

g.   The budget should be adequate for the work proposed, including allowance for contingencies and possible salary increases.

h.   Provision should be made for any University funds required, either in the form of direct costs or indirect expenses computed in accordance with usual University practice.

i.    Contracts or grants for research expected to generate classified information are accepted by the University only under unusual conditions and with specific approval in each case by the University Research Board--see section VIII.D. below. No such research has been carried on by Princeton University for a number of years.

j.   The terms of any contract, grant, or gift to cover the research should, insofar as possible, permit flexible operation under regular University policies and procedures, permit free publication of results (except where the requirements of national security dictate otherwise), reimburse the indirect expenses as well as the direct costs of the research, conform to the principles of the University Patent Policy, and in general permit the University to exercise administrative control and responsibility for the work.

k.   As a matter of policy, the University does not administer funds whose purpose and the character of whose sponsorship cannot be publicly disclosed. In the particular case of research abroad, Faculty, research staff, graduate students and undergraduates receiving grants for this purpose from funds administered by the University are requested not to accept additional support from agencies of the government for purposes that cannot be disclosed.
      Members of the Faculty considering the solicitation of outside funds for research in which they are interested are urged to study the above statement and to consult with the Office of Research and Project Administration.

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