If you are at an organization that NIAID has funded or is considering funding under a grant or cooperative agreement, be aware that staff may conduct a site visit. Here we cover site visits for grants as well as a few details for contracts.
Site Visits: Grantees
Find out whom and what to expect before, during, and after a site visit as well as when a reverse site visit is used.
Who Is Involved?
NIAID staff, i.e., program officers and grants management specialists, may travel to grantee sites to:
- Clarify statements made in an application
- Verify an institution’s suitability for funding
- Correct an institution’s conduct or performance on a funded grant
Staff may conduct “not-for-cause” site visits, such as those for new foreign awardees, as well as “for cause” visits, which generally occur when NIAID has evidence of administrative or accounting deficiencies at an institution.
What To Expect Before and During the Visit
Before NIAID staff arrive at your institution, they will provide a reason for the visit, a confirmed visitation date, and a list of attendees.
Once the visit gets underway, our staff will meet key members of your team and examine facilities and protocols, among other elements. The focus for NIAID program officers will be scientific conduct while the focus for grants management specialists will be project management.
Reverse Site Visit
While NIAID staff go to grantee institutions for a site visit, grantees can come to NIAID for a reverse site visit to address concerns such as scientific conduct. For large, complex grants, NIAID may request a reverse site visit to consult with applicants before they apply.
Post-Site Visit
After a site visit or reverse site visit, NIAID sends the institution a report that summarizes the visit, describes the issues resolved, and lists any actions the institution must take moving forward.
Additional Information
To learn more about the roles of program and grants management staff, how to request a site visit, and whom to contact for answers to your questions, read our Site Visits, Grant Recipient SOP.
Site Visits: Contractors
Learn which NIAID staff are involved in conducting site visits, reasons for preaward and post-award site visits, including reverse site visits, and more.
Who Is Involved?
The NIAID contracting officer's representative and contracting officer, or appropriate representatives travel to a contractor site to:
- Obtain needed information
- Confirm equipment purchases made under the contract
- Resolve an outstanding issue
- Inspect the contractor’s facilities, as needed
In a reverse site visit, contractor staff travel to NIAID, not vice versa.
Preaward and Post-Award Site Visits
To help the government select the most qualified offeror, NIAID staff can conduct preaward site visits to offerors with whom the government has engaged in negotiations.
Post-award site visits allow NIAID staff to obtain first-hand knowledge of the work being performed, the contractor’s facilities, and the experience, expertise, and efficiency of the contractor’s staff.