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v2026.1714 entries · CC-BY 4.0
Dictionary termTrack AStablev2026.2

Co-investigator

A named investigator on a research grant, contract, or protocol other than the lead PI, who contributes substantive scientific expertise and shares responsibility for portions of the work, typically with a defined role in the proposal and a named budget allocation.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board
· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

  • Is an instance

    A statistician named as co-I on a clinical trial, responsible for the analytic workstream with a named budget line

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

  • Not an instance

    A collaborator who provided a unique reagent but is not on the grant is not a co-investigator

Editorial commentary

Co-investigator status carries scientific responsibility but not the lead-PI’s ultimate accountability for the whole project. The role is distinct from collaborator (who provides resources or input but has no formal responsibility) and from consultant (who advises against a fee).

References

  • NIH Multiple Principal Investigator Policy
  • UKRI Co-Investigator Eligibility

Also known as

Co-PI · Co-I

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element
xml
<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Co-investigator"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/co-investigator" />
Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)
json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "name": "Co-investigator",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/co-investigator",
  "description": "A named investigator on a research grant, contract, or protocol other than the lead PI, who contributes substantive scientific expertise and shares responsibility for portions of the work, typically with a defined role in the proposal and a named budget allocation.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/mentorship-training-and-career-stages/",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/co-investigator",
  "sameAs": [
    "Co-PI",
    "Co-I"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}

Adopted by research universities worldwide

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