Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A sponsor terminates a grant for cause after repeated failure to submit interim reports.
- Is an instance
A consortium agrees to terminate a Horizon Europe project early after a key beneficiary withdraws and cannot be replaced.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
Routine closeout at the end of a normal performance period is not termination.
- Not an instance
A no-cost extension prolongs the project; it is not termination.
Editorial commentary
Termination is rare in routine research funding but occurs. Sponsor-initiated termination may follow serious non-compliance (misuse of funds, scientific misconduct, repeated reporting failures) or budget reductions at the funder. Recipient-initiated termination may occur when key personnel leave and the work cannot continue, when scientific direction changes radically, or following an institutional decision. Termination triggers an accelerated closeout: final reports, return of unobligated funds, settlement of subaward obligations. Termination for cause may affect future-funding eligibility.
Not the same as a no-cost extension or routine closeout
Termination ends a grant before its scheduled end date; it should not be confused with a no-cost extension, which prolongs an award’s period of performance without additional funds, or with routine closeout, which is the natural, on-schedule conclusion of a project that ran its full course. A grant that is terminated skips the normal wind-down runway entirely — closeout activities that would ordinarily be planned over the final months of a project (subaward settlement, equipment disposition, final invoicing) instead have to be compressed into whatever notice period the termination clause allows, which is typically far shorter.
Closeout obligations still apply
Under 2 CFR 200.340, termination does not relieve either party of standard closeout duties: the recipient must still submit final financial and technical reports, return any unobligated federal funds, and resolve outstanding subrecipient obligations for work already performed. A sponsor terminating for cause will typically also document the specific compliance failure in the recipient’s file, which can affect eligibility for future awards from that sponsor.
References
- US Office of Management and Budget Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.340; Horizon Europe Grant Agreement termination clauses.
Also known as
Award termination · Grant cancellation · Early termination
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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