In order to comply with federal requirements for signature authentication, the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) accepts electronic signatures via Adobe Sign or scanned wet ink signatures on all submission forms. For more information regarding Adobe Sign, please visit the UAB eSignature webpage. Any signature that is not certified by Adobe Sign or a wet ink signature will be sent back as an Incomplete submission. This includes copy and pasting of a previous signature or any other electronic version besides Adobe Sign. Please see the reminders below regarding the signature process.

• Principal Investigator/Project Director – PI/PD certifications are always required; no “per” signature is allowed.
• Division Director - only if required by the department
• Facility and Planning Signature – required if project involves any renovation. See #11.
• Department Chair - always required
• Dean - required if the project has cost sharing, establishes a new faculty position, requests additional space, or the project is being transferred in or transferred out of UAB.
• Notes regarding multiple individuals designated as Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI):
  • UAB may designate multiple individuals as PD/PI if required by the sponsor or by the program.
  • All PD/PIs must sign the checklist.
  • If you are submitting an NIH multi-PI/PI application, it must include a Leadership Plan, and the PD/PIs must have a role type indicated in the NIH eRA Commons system.
  • NIH grants that do not allow multiple PIs will indicate that in the funding announcement.

**Projects involving Centers must have the signature of the Department Chair and Dean of the Principal Investigator’s primary faculty appointment. The submitting unit should be the primary appointment of the Principal Investigator, not a Center.

Lastly, please note, if there is a need for sharing the F & A distribution between the primary faculty appointment and some other unit, a completed and signed Indirect Cost Revenue Redistribution Form is required.