Department of Contracts and Grants

The Department of Contracts and Grants (DCG) supports USC’s investigators from proposal development to award closeout, ensuring that our grants and contracts are consistent with university standards for academic freedom, research ethics and fiscal responsibility. The Department of Contracts and Grants:
  • Reviews, approves and submits proposals to extramural sponsors
  • Negotiates and accepts awards on behalf of the University
  • Executes subcontracts
  • Coordinates pre-award and post-award actions
  • Develops and maintains positive sponsor relationships
  • Ensures institutional compliance with Federal and State regulations, sponsor policy and University policy
  • Determines how agreements for research services will be processed

In light of these responsibilities, DCG has created a Feedback Form that allows faculty, research administrators, and other support staff to provide anonymous feedback regarding the quality of their interactions with DCG Staff.

Getting Started

Research administration regarding pre-award and post-award management, and procedures and forms
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Training

DCG’s training materials created to assist the research community with USC’s proposal development, routing, and submission systems
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Directory

The Department of Contracts and Grants staff directory and contact information
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DCG NewsFlash

Stay up-to-date on issues related to Research Administration
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DCG NewsFlash

PI Eligibility Waiver Process Update

Reminder: Consistent with the USC Guide to Sponsored Research, all tenured, tenure track, and Research, Teaching, Practice, and Clinical (RTPC) faculty (with the exception of lecturers, adjunct, and part-time faculty)

Revision of NSF Award Terms and Conditions

Announcement: The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced that the following sets of NSF Award Terms and Conditions have been revised: The revised award terms and conditions will apply to all new

Revised NSF Grants.gov Application Guide

Announcement: The National Science Foundation (NSF) has published a revised version of the NSF Grants.gov Application Guide (NSF 24-006). Overall, the guide has been updated to align with the revisions to NSF’s