Phoebe Proposal

Approvals

Welcome to Phoebe! Phoebe Proposal is the UC Berkeley system for proposal approvals and routing from departments and units to the Sponsored Projects Office and the Industry Alliances Office. With Phoebe, your proposal is prepared, submitted for principal investigator (PI) and departmental approval, and submitted to SPO or IAO fully online. If you are new to the system, read PI and CO-PI Approval or Department or Unit Approval and Submission to SPO or IAO below, and see Overview of Berkeley’s Phoebe System and Phoebe Proposal Basics for help with navigation, search, and other features.

Phoebe 1,2,3 Approve!

Email

  1. Open email from Phoebe
  2. Click link to log in with CalNet and open Phoebe Proposal Summary tab
  3. Review and/or approve proposal (bottom Approve button)

or

Phoebe Action List

  1. Log in to Phoebe with CalNet and open Action List (top left)
  2. Find proposal to approve and click ID to open Proposal Summary tab
  3. Review and/or approve proposal (bottom Approve button)

PI and Co-PI Approval

This section is for principal investigators ready to approve their completed proposal.

When your proposal is complete, the next step is PI approval. If Co-PIs have been added to your proposal, they will also need to approve the proposal. After the PI and all Co-PIs have approved and certified the proposal, it will automatically be routed to your chair, dean, or director for approval within Phoebe.

To see who has worked on and who has approved or is next to approve your proposal, see the Route Log on the Proposal Actions tab.

Finding Proposals to be Approved and Other Actions

The Action List on your Home screen contains unsubmitted proposals created by you and submitted proposals routed to you. Phoebe also provides email notices for approvals and other actions.

Proposals may be routed for three distinct types of actions:

  • For your information (FYI): Proposals routed FYI do not require review or response. You may choose to view the document but are not required to do so. Selecting “FYI” from the Take Action drop-down menu in the Action List will clear the proposal from your Action List.
  • For your acknowledgement: Proposals routed for acknowledgement do not require review or response. To acknowledge a proposal, open the proposal, navigate to the Proposal Actions tab, and click the Acknowledge button. Example: Department chairs for co-principal investigators will receive an acknowledgement request upon submission to SPO.
  • For your approval: You will be required to open the document and view at least the summary screen. The proposal may be approved from this screen. Further in-depth review may also be done if desired. Example: Principal investigators will receive an Approve action for proposals prior to submission for chair approval.

Approving Proposals

For approvals, when a PI or Co-PI clicks on the Doc ID link in the Action List, a Proposal Summary screen provides certification language that the PI is attesting to, high-level information about the proposal, and the option to approve or return the proposal.

When a PI is approving a proposal for submission to SPO or IAO and to an external sponsor, the PI and other approvers should make sure to review key components of the proposal in addition to the summary information presented on the Proposal Summary screen.

Proposals can be returned to the proposal creator (department administrator) if changes are needed. To return a proposal, click the Return button on the bottom of the Proposal Summary screen. You will be asked to provide a reason for returning. The creator will then be able to make revisions on the returned proposal and then resubmit when ready.

Clicking on the Approve button on the Proposal Summary screen will approve the proposal and route to the department or unit approval.

Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator Certification

The text of the certification provided on the PI and Co-PI approval screen is provided here for reference.

  • I certify that (1) the information submitted within is accurate and complete; and (2) that any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or claims may subject me to criminal, civil, or administrative penalties.
  • I certify to the accuracy and completeness of all Other/Current and Pending Support documents contained in this proposal and that the support described from both domestic and international sources is in accordance with the application guidelines or the sponsor’s instructions.
  • I understand all the university and agency regulations pertaining to this proposal, and I accept responsibility for the design, execution, management, and reporting of this project, including submission of any required reports.
  • Should this proposal be funded, my effort on sponsored projects will be adjusted and not exceed 1 FTE.
  • I certify that I am not currently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared ineligible or voluntarily excluded from current transactions by a federal department or agency.
  • I certify that all named subrecipients included in this proposal will take a significant role in programmatic decision making and assist in achieving the project’s goals and objectives. I understand that should any of these entities later be determined to be a contractor the appropriate F&A rate will be applied to all contractor costs.
  • If this proposal is being submitted directly to DOE, NNSA, PHS or to an organization that has adopted the PHS financial disclosure policy, or if UC Berkeley is an identified subrecipient in a proposal being submitted to DOE, NNSA, PHS or to an organization that has adopted the PHS financial disclosure policy, I certify that:
    • All required DOE/PHS Financial Disclosures have been submitted to the Sponsored Projects Office (SPO).
    • I will submit a DOE/PHS disclosure form for all existing investigators annually and for any new UC Berkeley investigator I add to this project in the future before the investigator joins the project.
    • I will not use project funds to support any UC Berkeley investigator who makes a positive disclosure until the UC Berkeley Conflict of Interest (COI) Committee reviews and approves this disclosure.
    • I will not allow any UC Berkeley investigator to participate in this project until the investigator provides me with a certificate of completion of DOE/PHS-compliant training dated within the last four years.
    • I will maintain a file containing up-to-date certificates of DOE/PHS-compliant training for all UC Berkeley investigators for as long as each investigator is involved in the project and to make this information available to the UC Berkeley’s COI Coordinator upon request.
  • Should this proposal and any subsequent non-competing award segments be funded by NIH, I certify that all key personnel involved in the design and conduct of human subjects research will be trained in the protection of human research subjects before beginning work on this project.

Department or Unit Approval and Submission to SPO or IAO

This section is for chairs, deans, directors, and unit heads with authority to approve proposals.

Finding Proposals to be Approved and Other Actions

The Action List on your Home screen contains submitted proposals routed to you and unsubmitted proposals created by you. Phoebe also provides email notices for approvals and other actions.

Proposals may be routed for three distinct types of actions:

  • For your information (FYI): Proposals routed FYI do not require review or response. You may choose to view the document but are not required to do so. Selecting “FYI” from the Take Action drop-down menu in the Action List will clear the proposal from your Action List.
  • For your acknowledgement: You will be required to open the proposal, navigate to the Proposal Actions tab, and click the Acknowledgement button. Example: Department chairs for co-principal investigators in units using Phoebe will receive an acknowledgement request upon submission to SPO.
  • For your approval: You will be required to open the document and view at least the summary screen. The proposal may be approved from this screen. Further in-depth review may also be done if desired.

If you are the chair or approver for the lead administering department, your Action List contains proposals routed to you for departmental approval. You will be required to open the proposal and view at least the summary screen.

Secondary Delegates

Chairs, deans, and directors who wish to delegate departmental approval to another individual within their department/unit may do so by completing and submitting the Delegation of Signature Authority for Proposals form to SPO.

If you have been delegated the authority to approve for your department, you can access proposals awaiting approval by going to your Action List. Then select a delegation in the “Choose Secondary Delegation” drop-down menu in the top right.

Secondary delegates can opt into receiving email from Phoebe when proposals are ready to be approved by going to Workflow Preferences on the Home screen and checking the box to “Receive Secondary Delegate Emails.”

Co-PI Chair or Approver

If you are the chair or approver for a co-PI outside the lead administering unit, proposals will be routed to you for acknowledgement. This acknowledgement does not delay the approval process.

Approving Proposals

For approvals, when a chair, dean, or director clicks the Doc ID link in the Action List, a Proposal Summary screen provides high-level information about the proposal and the option to approve or return the proposal. See Guidance for Review of Proposals by Deans, Directors, and Department Chairs for information.

Proposals can be returned to the proposal creator (department administrator) if changes are needed. To return a proposal, click the Return button on the bottom. You will be asked to provide a reason for returning. The creator will then be able to make revisions on the returned proposal and then resubmit when ready.

Clicking on the Approve button on the Proposal Summary screen will approve the proposal and route it to the Sponsored Projects Office or the Industry Alliances Office.

The text of the proposal approval screen is provided here for reference.

As the official departmental approver for the PI’s Academic/Research Unit, I approve this proposal for submission, and agree to provide the necessary personnel, existing space, and other resources to successfully complete this project including, but not limited to, all stated commitments set forth herein. We accept responsibility for the conduct and administrative oversight on the project, should the proposal be awarded by the sponsor.

If applicable, VCRO approval for Exceptional PI Status will have been obtained prior to the award.

I certify that the sponsor’s eligibility requirements for the PI and/or Co-PI/fellow have been verified for this proposal.

 

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