In the context of United States federal funding from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or the National Science Foundation (NSF), the PI is the person who takes direct responsibility for completion of a funded project, directing the research and reporting directly to the funding agency. For small projects (which might involve 1–5 people) the PI is typically the person who conceived of the investigation, but for larger projects the PI may be selected by a team to obtain the best strategic advantage for the project.