The guidelines and process below apply to units reporting to the Office of the Vice President for Research. DLCIs reporting to other Dean's Offices should follow their local processes to request PI status for researchers.
Researchers not granted PI status by virtue of their appointment may receive PI status by request to their senior officer on a per-project basis. For researchers in the VPR units, requests are considered by the Vice President for Research on a case-by-case basis in a limited set of circumstances, such as:
- To provide special career or professional development opportunities for junior researchers
- A researcher’s unique qualifications make the individual essential to the project
Project Guidelines
For individuals to be granted PI status, their projects must generally meet these criteria:
- Modest in scope and dollars.
- Provide minimal salary coverage for the PI (generally less than ¼ year). The only exceptions are awards designated for career development (e.g., NIH K-99), which might require a larger commitment of effort and/or salary coverage.
- Require the particular expertise of the individual.
- Fit in with the overall research program of the individual’s faculty supervisor or deemed critical to the unit by the department head and/or laboratory director. The unit must agree to provide the space and other resources to support the activity.
- Specify a senior faculty member who agrees to provide oversight to the research scientist/engineer/associate, postdoctoral scholar, instructor or visiting scientist/engineer. Supervision of postdoctoral scholars, graduate assistants and undergraduate students conducting research will be done in accordance with departmental policies.
- For Co-PI and Investigator status (co-investigator): the individual must play an essential role in the project under the supervision of the PI. The PI must agree that the proposed investigator is key to the project and must be willing to provide the resources and the oversight and supervision for their work.
In addition, NSF key personnel are required by the sponsor to have PI status, and NSF projects in units reporting to the VPR should follow the process below.
Position-Based Guidelines
Approval for PI status may differ based on position:
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Research scientists/engineers/associates, instructors/lecturers and postdoctoral associates may serve as PI on small proposals for observation time, facility use, short term exploratory research or as part of a larger umbrella proposal. They may also serve as a PI in cases where there are specialized programs designed for or of benefit to postdoctoral scholars or other early career researchers.
In every case a senior faculty member is required to commit to provide the necessary space and resources for the project as well as to provide mentoring and supervision for the staff member service as a PI or Co-PI.
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Special fellows, clinical investigators or non-faculty early-career investigators may be granted PI status if they have a qualifying appointment at MIT. This would usually be arranged at the time of the appointment.
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Staff involved in educational, service, information technology and other projects. Staff leading a sponsored project where they are responsible for the statement of work and the deliverables may request PI status. These projects are usually adjunct to the staff member’s primary responsibility.
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Non-MIT researchers, typically medical school or hospital employees, may request to be granted PI status. They must have an MIT appointment and an essential role in an MIT project. Usually investigator or Co-PI status with an MIT PI is preferable.
Process for VPR Units
Department heads or lab center directors (or their representative) should email requests for PI/Co-PI or Investigator status to vprrequests@mit.edu.
Include the following in your request:
- Researcher's name and position
- Department/division head or lab director endorsement
- Rationale for why PI status is needed/warranted and why the work the individual will perform is critical to the project
- Description of the career trajectory or the benefit to the professional development of the researcher (if relevant)
- A statement that the conditions for space, resources and oversight have been met
- Proposal information
- Title
- Sponsor
- Budget (needed for PI status only)
- Due date
- Budget and short abstract (if available) (needed for PI status only)
- Researcher’s CV, biosketch or resume
Requests should be made as early as possible to give adequate time for consideration and so that proposals are not late to RAS. The VPR staff will not approve proposals that include investigators that do not have the appropriate PI or investigator status.
Updated October 31, 2025