Requests for PI eligibility for researchers who are not members of the Academic Council or the MCL faculty (e.g., Academic Staff members, Postdoctoral Scholars, Instructors or other researchers) in the following situations may be made on a case-by-case basis by the relevant member of the Academic Council or MCL faculty who has oversight responsibility for the proposed PI.


Such requests are subject to the written approval of the department chair and cognizant dean. (In those cases where the proposals arise from areas outside a school dean's jurisdiction, the Dean of Research will act as the equivalent of the school dean in approving such requests.) The approval of the department chair and the dean shall not be pro forma, but shall take into account the academic quality of the proposal, the qualifications of the proposed PI, and the relevance and importance of the proposal to other activities of the University. Such requests will be made only for a particular project with a specified project period. Documentation of the chair and dean's approval must accompany proposals submitted to the Office of Sponsored Research.

The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy operated by Stanford University under contract with the Department of Energy.  SLAC performs mission-driven basic research in particle physics, astrophysics, and photon science including synchrotron radiation.  As an affiliated academic unit of Stanford University, research conducted at SLAC is subject to Stanford University’s policies concerning the conduct of research.

The Director of SLAC is responsible both for the administration and operation of SLAC as a national laboratory and for academic matters arising from SLAC’s role as an affiliated academic unit.

SLAC Distinguished Staff Scientist and Senior Staff Scientist positions are reserved for individuals who have achieved recognition of research leadership nationally or internationally.  Distinguished Staff Scientists are appointed by the SLAC Director and Senior Staff Scientists are appointed by the Associate Laboratory Director of a particular directorate based on recommendations by a SLAC Appointments and Promotions Committee.

To carry out SLAC’s research mission, the SLAC Director may approve SLAC Distinguished and Senior Staff Scientists to be PIs on non-DOE funded research proposals.

PI requests from SLAC Distinguished Staff Scientists and Senior Staff Scientists are subject to the following conditions:

1. The proposed research must be judged by the SLAC Director to be programmatically relevant to SLAC’s mission.  Proposals that are not deemed to be consistent with SLAC’s mission will not be approved.

2. The proposed research must be carried out on the SLAC site and not require utilization of space on the Stanford campus.

3. A member of the Academic Council must serve as mentor for any Stanford graduate students or postdoctoral scholars involved in the proposed research.

4. The research must be conducted in accord with the University’s policies concerning the conduct of research and approved PIs must receive PI training.

In addition to the foregoing, rare exceptions to the PI eligibility policy may be made at the discretion of the Dean of Research in unusual and non-recurring situations that meet a particular need or opportunity for the University. Such requests will be considered only for a specific project with a specific project period. Examples of rare exceptions that have been granted are: proposals submitted by visiting faculty members and other senior visitors for a limited period of time; proposals submitted by a faculty candidate selected by a department but not yet approved by the Provost, Advisory Board, and President; permission for administrators to submit proposals in support of a project in their area (e.g., the museum or the Stanford University Press); special cases of sponsored instruction; and situations where an Academic Council or MCL faculty investigator ceases to be available and it is necessary for the proposed PI to oversee an orderly phase out of a project.


Requests for such exceptions should be made by a member of the Academic Council or MCL faculty on behalf of the proposed PI. Such requests are subject to the approval of the cognizant department chair, school dean, and the Dean of Research.

In all cases, the following six criteria must be met:

Criteria for Granting Rare Exceptions

1. The proposed research must meet a programmatic need of Stanford. Meeting a programmatic need means addressing an area of investigation that is not currently covered at Stanford and is endorsed by a sponsoring member of the Academic Council or MCL faculty as directly relevant to and supportive of the research or teaching programs of the faculty. Research that may be important in its own right and for which outside funding is available will not be judged as meeting the programmatic need criterion unless it facilitates the ongoing objectives of the University in an identifiable and direct way.

2. The proposed research cannot be funded and/or conducted effectively at Stanford unless the proposed individual is the PI. Among other things, this generally will mean that there is no member of the Academic Council or MCL faculty available to take the responsibility for the scientific direction of the project.

3. The proposed PI's qualifications to direct the project provide assurance that the work will be conducted in accord with the standards of excellence of the University.

4. No incremental space will be required for the project.

5. For each graduate student participating in the project, a qualified faculty member has been identified to assure that the student's research program and the education derived from it are consistent with the degree for which the student is a candidate.

6. The research must be designed and conducted in such a way that work can be discontinued when programmatic need ends or if the sponsoring faculty member ceases to be available.

Exceptions to the PI eligibility policy will be rare in situations other than those described in Section 2.A and 2.B above. A written copy of any such requests, along with the justification and approvals of the sponsoring faculty member, the chair, school dean, and Dean of Research should accompany the sponsored project proposal submitted to the Office of Sponsored Research.

In circumstances where this designation would be consistent with sponsor guidelines, the PI may designate members of the Academic Staff-Teaching (AS-T, Lecturers and Sr. Lecturers), Academic Staff-Research (AS-R, Research Associates and Sr. Research Scientists, Sr. Research Engineers, and Sr. Research Scholars), Academic Staff - Libraries (Assistant Librarians, Associate Librarians, Librarians, Senior Librarians), Postdoctoral Scholars, Instructors or other researchers as "Associate Investigators" on sponsored projects.

Senior members of the Academic Staff-Research (Sr. Research Scientists, Sr. Research Engineers, and Sr. Research Scholars) and senior members of the Academic Staff - Libraries (Librarians or Senior Librarians) may also be designated by their Academic Council or MCL faculty supervisors as "Co-Investigators" on those externally-funded projects in which such senior Academic staff members (Research or Libraries) carry substantial project leadership roles. It is not expected that this designation will normally be used for Postdoctoral Scholars, Instructors or other researchers, although such designation may be used in cases where the researcher is performing in such a role and the designation is allowed by the sponsor.