UChicago CASE

Membership

CASE Member Privileges

CASE members can engage in research collaborations with UChicago faculty and have access to all university facilities.  They are invited to participate in UChicago research workshops, seminars and events. We also provide programs for leadership and entrepreneurship training, internal funding opportunities and support for federal funding opportunities, both for pre-award and post-award management. See our Events and Resource pages for more information.

CASE Affiliates receive additional privileges within the associated Unit including co-mentoring UC graduate students and postdocs.

Below, see our Orientation Slideshow, shown at our Fall 2023 Membership Orientation meeting, for more information on what CASE membership benefits are available

Please carefully review each category below to determine the appropriate CASE membership type prior to submitting an application.
(Senior) Scientist/Scholar Affiliate ‡
  • Co-supervise and co-mentor UChicago students and postdocs
  • Ability to charge time and grants without a subcontract
  • Serve as a PI or co-investigator on grant applications at the University
  • Access to custom training courses in leadership, partnerships, and entrepreneurship at Booth (SSLP, SPIN, SPARC)
  • Access to international collaborations
  • Purchase equipment via the University for use on University -administered grants
  • Hire and supervise staff at the University
  • Co-supervise and co-mentor UChicago students and postdocs
‡ Affiliate appointments require review and approvals from the UChicago School/Division, CASE, and Provost Offices.
(Senior) Scientist/Scholar at-Large

 

  • Serve as a PI or co-investigator on grant applications at the University
  • Purchase equipment via the University for use on University -administered grants
  • Hire and supervise staff at the University
  • Access to UChicago facilities and library
  • Ability to charge time and grants without a subcontract
  • Access to mail forwarding, VPN, Wireless Networking, Wireless Networking Secure, Web Proxy, and Box
Staff Member or Postdoc at-Large†
  • Access to UChicago facilities and library
  • Ability to charge time and grants without a subcontract
  • Access to mail forwarding, VPN, Wireless Networking, Wireless Networking Secure, Web Proxy, and Box

† Appointments are linked to supervisor’s CASE status. 

CASE Orientation

View Orientation Slides Here

CASE Member FAQs

I am completing my CASE application online. How do I know which CASE joint appointment (JA) is appropriate?

CASE at-Large is the standard joint appointment type for Staff, Postdocs, and Senior Scientists/Scientists or Senior Scholars/Scholars associating with UChicago. Senior Scientists/Scientists who require the additional privilege of co-mentoring/supervising UChicago students should apply for and complete the vetting process for a CASE Affiliate appointment. Please contact your UChicago faculty mentor for more information on the process for unit affiliation, as the documentation varies by Department/Division.

Please carefully review the membership privileges by membership type above on the CASE website prior to submitting your application in UChicago Workday.

My joint appointment has been approved. What is the importance of onboarding to UChicago CASE?

In addition to receiving appropriate access to UChicago systems and facilities, onboarding is necessary to receive UChicago credentials such as email (for email forwarding), CNet ID for Single Sign-On (SSO) to systems and resources, and Campus Card. Note: Failure to receive credential assignment for your joint appointment can disrupt and/or delay proposal submission. If you received your approval confirmation via email and have yet to complete UChicago onboarding, simply click here to schedule.

I previously received a UChicago CNet ID and email address, but I am no longer able to access emails. How do I resolve this?

Please contact UChicago CASE at uchicagocase@uchicago.edu for assistance with CNet ID or email assignments. We can review your active CASE status and resolve with HR and/or IT Services. Please keep in mind that your CASE privileges allow access to email forwarding; attempting to log in to Outlook or O365 will not be successful. Furthermore, emails can only be forwarded to the email designated upon CNet ID activation. If you need to change your email forwarding or a password reset, please refer to the “Staff” instructions at https://its.uchicago.edu/. If you were previously issued a Campus Card and wish to resume or add building access*, please contact the Identity and Privileges Office (IPO) at (773) 702-3344.

I currently hold a joint appointment as a CASE Scientist Affiliate and am scheduled to begin teaching under a Part-Time Appointment (PTA) in the upcoming term. What do I need to do?

UChicago Workday only allows one role to be assigned to any individual. This means one is either a CASE contingent worker (unpaid) OR a part-time teaching appointee (paid).

a. If you intend to teach in a given quarter, you will need to notify UChicago CASE at uchicagocase@uchicago.edu as well as your institutional contact so that your CASE membership can be temporarily suspended. Your academic unit can notify us when the duration of the teaching contract is over so that we can restore your CASE affiliation.

b. Important: When you teach, you will be unable to charge your research effort to a grant acquired via the CASE JA mechanism.

How can I find available funding as a CASE Principal Investigator (PI)?

CASE members can use their UChicago credentials to access both our internal funding and limited competition space, InfoReady Review, as well as our funding search engine, Pivot-RP.

InfoReady Review: This site allows you to create a user profile and view internal requests for proposals, including seed funding, and solicitations for limited federal and foundational funding. We advise that you read through each RFP or NOFO carefully to review eligibility, and to first consult your home institution supervisor prior to applying for any open opportunity.

Please note that institutionally limited opportunities must be applied for through InfoReady; letters of intent are required for internal slot awarding selection.

Pivot-RP: This allows you to search and curate funding opportunities from federal, non-federal, foundation, corporate, and other private sponsors across a wide variety of disciplines.

Please contact Research Development Support or visit our website for additional funding information.

I would like to submit a proposal. How do I get started?

If you do not yet have an assigned Sponsored Development Manager or Specialist or if you have not yet submitted a proposal through The University of Chicago, please reach out to Anna Jackson, Director, Pre-Award and Sponsored Development Services at annaj@uchicago.edu. You may also find more information here.

If you are a CASE Scientist Affiliate, please contact the Divisional or Departmental grants administrator for assistance with your submission.

Please remember that an active joint appointment is required for any CASE proposal submission through UChicago.

What are Sponsored Development Services?

URA Sponsored Development Services is a team of dedicated Sponsored Development Managers and Specialists who provide pre-award support for opt-in partners across campus at The University of Chicago. These services include support for proposal development, pre-proposals, or Letters of Intent (LOIs), Just-In-Time (JIT) requests and assistance navigating sponsor policies and interpreting guidelines. Pre-Award represents the beginning of the sponsored project lifecycle, which includes finding funding opportunities, preparing, and submitting applications/proposals (which could include pre-proposals or LOIs in advance of full proposal submission), and preparing and submitting Just-In-Time responses. This support is also designed to manage compliance and administrative facets of Principal Investigators’ proposal and pre-award portfolios, so that faculty members may focus on the scientific, technical, and academic content of their work. More information can be found here.

What is the timeline for the proposal preparation process? What should I know as a CASE PI?

It is best to notify URA as soon as possible when you are thinking of submitting a proposal, and even if you are unsure. We would recommend notifying URA months in advance, if possible. Once an investigator decides to submit a proposal, URA will request to be notified as far in advance of the deadline as possible, so that we may begin to plan and coordinate pre-award support accordingly. We require that drafts of proposals be routed at least a week before the sponsor proposal deadline, so that we may ensure they receive institutional review, approval, and endorsement in a timely fashion and prior to the sponsor deadline.

Please find more information on our URA Review and Endorsement procedures here.

For assistance calculating timelines, please also find our due date calculator here.

Which CASE appointments (including at-Large) are automatically PI-eligible, and which appointments require PI status approval?

a. CASE (Senior) Scientists/Scholars at-Large and CASE (Senior) Scientists/Scholars Affiliates are automatically PI eligible. CASE Staff Members and Postdocs do NOT have PI eligibility. Please find more information about the CASE memberships here.

b. Other CASE Staff at-Large Members require both Vice Provost for Research and URA approval for PI status via the PI Status Request Form. However, they may serve in other senior roles on a project.

c. CASE Affiliates with PME have automatic PI status and should submit grants with PME as the submitting department.

What should I consider as a CASE PI when preparing a proposal?

It is important to consider the Request for Proposal (RFP) or solicitation requirements, including eligibility requirements, whether you plan to budget for UChicago graduate students or postdocs as there may be additional considerations or required approvals, whether approval may be required if the RFP permits indirect costs, whether you will need equipment as additional approval may be required for budgeting for equipment, and whether any costs must be cost shared as additional approval may be required.

Additionally, it is also important to consider that per institutional policy, PIs must have effort on research projects, so if the project purpose is research, then effort must be reflected for the PI. If there are additional UChicago senior/key personnel committing effort from other departments, then cross-departmental approval may be required. If outgoing subawards will be part of the project, then that is important to note as additional time may be needed to collect subaward documentation for the proposal. If there is foreign involvement, then that should also be considered as certain international collaborations may require additional approval. These are just some examples of possible considerations for proposal preparation and is not an exhaustive list.

I plan to budget for UChicago graduate students or postdocs, or Argonne postdocs on the proposal. What do I need to know?

a. CASE at-Large Members (refers to CASE Scientist at-Large/CASE Senior Scientist at-Large Members or CASE Scholar at-Large/CASE Senior Scholar at-Large Members):

i. May NOT serve as primary supervisor/mentor of University of Chicago Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs) or postdocs.

ii. May serve as primary supervisor or mentor for Argonne postdocs.

iii. May have UChicago GRAs or postdocs on a proposal, if the GRAs or postdocs are from a department at The University of Chicago and if a UChicago faculty member from a department can supervise the GRAs or postdocs on a project in a paid or unpaid role. The UChicago faculty member would serve as the primary supervisor and the CASE At-Large Member would serve as cosupervisor of the UChicago GRA or postdoc. This will be handled on a caseby-case basis. At Pre- Award stage, the CASE PI should identify a UChicago department and faculty member who will serve as primary supervisor for the GRA or postdoc.

b. CASE Affiliates (refers to CASE Scientists/CASE Senior Scientists who have an approved departmental affiliation):

i. Any proposals submitted for this category of CASE member should be prepared by the department with which the CASE Affiliate has an affiliation. Please note that if the CASE Affiliate’s departmental affiliation is PME, then URA Pre-Award will prepare the proposal and the submitting department will be PME.

ii. May primarily supervise students and postdocs at UChicago. No additional approval is required for CASE Affiliate Members with PME who plan to mentor UC students or postdocs as the faculty vote at PME qualifies the CASE Affiliate with PME to serve as primary mentor.

iii. May supervise postdocs who are at Argonne.

My proposal was just awarded. How do I proceed?

If you received the proposal approval or award document directly, please forward it to Laura Lindley, Senior Director, Sponsored Program Services at llindley@uchicago.edu for next steps. If the award is issued directly to The University of Chicago it will be processed and you will receive an email introducing, you to your dedicated URA Sponsored Program Grants Specialist. Your postaward grants specialist provides support for your funded research portfolio. The support is designed to handle grants administration and financial matters associated with a faculty member’s sponsored funding and research portfolio, so that the faculty member may focus on the technical and academic content.

More information on the support and services provided can be found here.

With whom and how do I manage my award?

Once your first award is received and you have an assigned URA Sponsored Program Grants Specialist, an introductory meeting will be scheduled to outline the services, processes, and scheduling of meetings to review and discuss your research expenses and projections. Your grants specialist will provide additional information on how you can charge expenses and review and confirm effort allocations on your award. You will still be expected to handle the administrative tasks of the award, including technical and performance reporting, with your grant specialist supporting your financial management and reporting.

CASE Member FAQ PDF version Here

Research Resources

Note: CNet ID is required for login.

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