A comprehensive Statement of Work (SOW) should identify:
- Who - the subrecipient institution, the PI and project staffing
- What - project and subaward objectives and description of research to be conducted
- When - the period of performance and timing/frequency of meetings and reports
- Where - location(s) where the research will be conducted
- How - deliverables and milestones defined with a high level of specificity and detail
A comprehensive SOW performs the following functions:
- Allows OSP to perform the required subrecipient risk assessment and determine contract terms
- Clarifies the determination of the subrecipient versus contractor relationship
- Supports more effective monitoring
- Allows UAB to identify and correct performance deficiencies
- Not the same as the grant proposal abstract.
A comprehensive SOW should include the following or similar headings:
- Project Background and Need for Subaward
- Describe the project (overall funded proposal) in general, non-technical terms
- Describe the subaward (the portion of the project to be performed by the subrecipient) in general, non-technical terms including
- nature of the intellectual leadership the subrecipient is expected to provide
- why the subrecipient was selected to perform the work
- Subrecipient’s Scope of Work
- State the purpose of the subaward, within the context of the overall project, in more specific terms
- Describe in detail the work to be performed by the subrecipient, the results UAB expects, and how the subaward benefits the project
- Reporting Schedule
- Describe reporting requirements in detail including content, format, due date and frequency, as applicable
- Deliverables (tangibles)
- Describe what tangible items UAB expects from the subrecipient, i.e., results, data, physical equipment, etc. and estimates of the amount of effort allocated for each for each task or phase
- Payment Schedule
- Describe when invoices should be submitted and how the charges should be supported