The Principal Investigator (P.I.) is a researcher who has a research leadership role and is the point of contact for a project or partnership that applies the scientific method, historical method, or other research methodology for the advancement of knowledge resulting in independent, objective, high quality, traceable, and reproducible results. The P.I. has primary responsibility for the intellectual direction and integrity of the research or research-related activity, including data production, findings and results, and ensures ethical conduct in all aspects of the research process including but not limited to the treatment of human and animal subjects, conflicts of interest, data acquisition, sharing and ownership, publication practices, responsible authorship, and collaborative research and reporting. While various tasks may be delegated to team members, some of whom may have greater expertise in specific areas, the P.I. is familiar with the various technical and scientific aspects of a project and how they fit together, is able to identify and remediate gaps, and ensure communication within the team and with users of the research data and results. The project may be very small involving only a few people (or even only one person – the P.I.), or extremely large involving many groups and multiple P.I.ís and/or co-P.I.ís. Depending on the type of organization (e.g., university, industry, institute, laboratory, government program, etc.) the role of the P.I., how that role fits into the organizational structure, and how it relates to roles within and outside of the organization can vary. SYNONYM. PI. RELATED TERM. Researcher; Research manager; Project manager; Program manager; Laboratory manager; Manager
