Participating investigators will work with the other members of the team to develop workable guidelines for the collaborative project. Participating investigators must agree to abide by the policies and rules set up for the collaborative project and to the terms and conditions herein to be eligible to participate. During the period of the award, a participating investigator whose independent research support terminates may continue as a participating investigator at the discretion of the steering committee and with the approval of the NIGMS program director. However, funds from this award are not to be used to support the independent project of such an investigator. It is expected that new participating investigators will be added to the collaborative project over the period of the award as deemed appropriate by the principal investigator and steering committee and with the approval of the NIGMS program director; these additions will be reported in the annual progress report.

Participating Investigator Responsibilities:

The participating investigators are those scientists holding externally peer reviewed grant support in the area of the project and who are involved with and committed to the goals of the project. Exceptions to the rule of external funding may include participating investigators from industry, foreign institutions or allied fields not traditionally supported by the NIH (e.g., physics and mathematics); PIs of pilot project are also included. Participating investigators will work with the principal investigator, the steering committee, and the other members of the large-scale collaborative project to set goals and develop working procedures; they must agree to support the goals of the project and to abide by the operating guidelines and procedures established for the project. Participating investigators will be actively involved in the project and interactive with the other members of the project.