July 24, 2008

UCOP Lab Research Program RFP: Special Instructions

UCOP Lab Research Program (http://www.ucop.edu/labresrfp/) proposals being submitted for the August 4, 2008 deadline should not be submitted to the Sponsored Projects Office before being submitted through proposalCENTRAL. However, if a proposal is selected for funding, then the PI/department is required to submit the proposal, PRF, and any compliance information to SPO for approval. Please direct any questions to your SPO research administrator.

July 21, 2008

Review, Approval and Reporting of Requests for Funding from Tobacco Industry Sponsors

Vice Chancellor for Research Burnside issued campus guidance on the new UC policy that require special review, approval, and reporting procedures for all research proposals to be submitted for funding to tobacco industry sponsors. The text of the memo is included below. The Proposal Review Form now includes a checkbox to indicate a tobacco industry sponsor.



Date: 7/15/2008
Sender: Beth Burnside, Vice Chancellor for Research (Campus-wide)
To: Deans, Directors, Department Chairs, Senior Administrative Officers
Subject: Review, Approval and Reporting of Requests for Funding from Tobacco Industry Sponsors

At its meeting last fall, the Board of Regents adopted a new policy to require special review, approval, and reporting procedures for all research proposals to be submitted for funding to tobacco industry sponsors. The Regental Resolution (RE-89) requires each UC campus to put in place procedures to ensure that any proposal to be submitted to "an entity whose principal business is the manufacture and sale of tobacco products, and agencies that are substantially controlled by or acting on behalf of such entities" undergo scientific peer review by the campus and be explicitly approved by the Chancellor before submittal to the tobacco industry sponsor.

RE-89 sets out guidelines for instituting the campus peer review committees and requires that the committees provide a written report of recommendations to the Chancellor. Also, RE-89 requires that the Chancellor provide the researcher, the UC President, and The Regents with a written determination approving or disapproving the request to submit the proposal. No proposal may be submitted to a tobacco company without this review and written approval.

Therefore, any PI who is considering submitting a proposal to a tobacco industry sponsor should contact my office immediately so that we can ensure timely initiation and conduct of the required review and determination process. Principal Investigators must receive a project-specific written determination of approval from the Chancellor before a research proposal can be submitted to a tobacco company.

Finally, RE-89 urges researchers to consider carefully whether or not to accept research funding from the tobacco industry and to exercise the utmost care and vigilance in all research to ensure that no funder is allowed to direct or control the outcome of the research or the dissemination of its results.

The text of RE-89 and the Model Policy on Tobacco industry Funding of Research at the University of California is available at: http://www.ucop.edu/research/policies/documents/review_approval_re89.pdf.

Please contact Marcia Smith, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Administration and Compliance at 642-2866 or m_smith@berkeley.edu if you have any questions about the campus procedure, or need assistance in determining whether a specific entity is, or is not considered to meet the definition of the "tobacco industry" for the purpose of the Regental policy.

Beth Burnside
Vice Chancellor for Research