Phoebe Search
Award Status
Each award listed in Phoebe Search includes a statement about the status of the award transaction. The award statuses that appear in Phoebe Search are defined below. Please note: Median processing times for awards from various types of sponsors are posted on the SPO website. These median data reflect the “midpoint,” meaning that roughly half of the awards will take longer to process than the number of days listed and half of the awards will take less processing time than the midpoint. Therefore this information should be used as an estimate only. The time it takes to process any specific award will vary depending on SPO staff workload, complexity of the award terms/conditions, and sponsor responsiveness.
Fund Advance
This status indicates that the Principal Investigator’s unit has approved the establishment of a Fund that can be used to charge the PI’s pre-award project expenses before the award is received or fully processed by SPO/IAO. The PI’s unit is responsible for clearing any deficit that results if the anticipated award is never received or the University ultimately cannot accept the award due to the conditions imposed by the sponsor. See Fund Advance Request for more information.
If an award modification is in progress, the award will have an additional routing status of Modification Under Review.
Award Received
Award Received - Under Review
When a sponsor sends the Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) or the Industry Alliances Office (IAO) an official award notice, the award information must be entered into Phoebe, and this may take a few days. After the award information has been entered, the status of the award in Phoebe Search will appear as “Award Received - Under Review.” During this initial stage, awards are reviewed by SPO/IAO for pending compliance approvals, third-party/University cost-sharing commitments, and acceptable sponsor terms and conditions based on University policy. Until this review is completed, SPO/IAO will not have any additional information to share about the award.
Award Received - Under Negotiation
Expedited awards (awards with non-complex terms) will move from “Award Received - Under Review” to “Preparing for Distribution by SPO Records Team.” However, when SPO/IAO is involved in extended negotiations with the sponsor, the status of the award will appear in Phoebe Search as “Under Negotiation.” Negotiation times will vary. If it is necessary for the PI to obtain a Fund and charge project expenses to this Fund while the award is still under negotiation, the PI should consider processing a Fund Advance.
Award Received - Under Negotiation by UC Office of the President
At times it is necessary for the UC Office of the President (UCOP) to negotiate with a sponsor on behalf of UC Berkeley. This typically occurs when a master agreement is being negotiated for all of the UC campuses and UC policy conflicts with a sponsor’s requirements. When the status, “Under Negotiation by the UC Office of the President” is listed, SPO/IAO will not be able to move the award forward until UCOP completes the negotiation process.
Award Received - Preparing for Distribution by SPO Records Team
After an award has been fully executed and reviewed for compliance related issues, it is routed to the SPO Records Team, and the status of the award changes to, “Distribution by the SPO Records Team.” During this stage, the SPO Records Team is finalizing the award record, routes the award to Contracts and Grants Accounting (CGA) for fund activation, and sends an email with a copy of the award and the Phoebe Award Summary (PAS) to the PI and BRS/Department Research Administrator. Note: PIs are always responsible for reading the award document as well as the Phoebe Award Summary. Questions about any award term/condition should be directed to the responsible office (SPO/IAO). Questions about awards that have this status should be directed to Froylan Fernandes, ffernandes@berkeley.edu.
Compliance Approval Pending
Awards that are received from a sponsor and still require compliance approvals by campus authorities (e.g., CPHS for human subjects, ACUC for animal subjects, Conflict of Interest Committee, Vice Chancellor for Research Office) will have the additional status of “Compliance Approval Pending.” Outstanding compliance issues may delay the distribution of the award from SPO/IAO to the SPO Records Team. Questions about a particular compliance issue should be directed to the appropriate campus compliance unit.
Award Not Accepted
This status is listed when the University is unable to set up an award. This can occur if the sponsor’s award terms and conditions are unacceptable to the University (e.g. publication and/or citizenship restrictions) or the award is the result of a policy violation, i.e., a proposal not reviewed/approved by SPO/IAO prior to submission. An award also may not be accepted if the University cannot provide the required cost sharing, facilities, or other resources required/expected by the sponsor.
Sent to BFS
When finalized by the SPO Records Team, the status of the award changes to, “Sent to BFS.” During this stage, award data is automatically fed through the Berkeley Financial System (BFS), where a fund number is typically generated automatically within 24 hours.
If an award modification is in progress, the award will have an additional routing status of Modification Under Review.
Fund Number Assigned
At this stage, the fund number has been assigned in BFS, but the funds are not available to spend. The award remains in this status until the BRS/Department Research Administrator uploads the required project budget and CGA works in collaboration with BRS/Department RAs to activate the fund. PIs with questions about awards with this status should contact their BRS/Department RA.
If an award modification is in progress, the award will have an additional routing status of Modification Under Review.
Active
The status of “Active” means that in most cases CGA has completed the award setup process, and, in most cases, the funds are available to spend.Note: Some campus departments and units require that additional steps be taken before expenditure authority is granted to the PI. PIs are encouraged to work with their BRS/Department Research Administrator to obtain assistance at this stage. In addition, certain types of awards (e.g., UC-funded) are processed by General Accounting, not CGA.
If an award modification is in progress, the award will have an additional routing status of Modification Under Review.
Past End Date
This status will be listed from the end date of the award until ninety (90) days thereafter. During this time the award is still active for close out and other end-of-project activities. New expenditures occurring after the project end date cannot be charged to the fund during this period. Note: The PI should notify SPO/IAO to obtain a No Cost Extension (NCE) if project activities need to continue. Contracts and Grants Accounting (CGA) will only suspend the fund closeout process (for a pending NCE) or extend the award end date (for an approved NCE) if the NCE request/approval is processed through SPO/IAO.
If an award modification is in progress, the award will have an additional routing status of Modification Under Review.
Expired
This status will be listed ninety (90) days after the project end date if the PI does not work through SPO/IAO to obtain a No Cost Extension (NCE). Data and documents will remain available in Phoebe Search for the period required the UCOP record management requirements.
If an award modification is in progress, the award will have an additional routing status of Modification Under Review.