Detailed Proposal Process
All sponsored project proposals are reviewed andsubmitted by the Office of Contracts and Grants (OCG) Proposal Development team.
Proposal Analysts begin working on a proposal once the Principal Investigator (PI) has submitted both the onlineProposal Submission Request (PSR) form (see thePSR Resources page for guidance) and budget details to their Proposal Analyst. They work together to draft and finalize a budget approved by the PI and placed on OCG’sCost Estimation Tool.
You must have acurrent Disclosure of Professional Activities (DEPA) (filed annually) on file prior to the proposal submission. Information on how to file your DEPA is available through theOffice of Research Integrity's Conflicts of Interest and Commitment Office (COIC).
It may be beneficial to contact the sponsor's Program Officer in advance of the submission to discuss technical ideas. Clickherefor guidance/best strategies from the Research & Innovation Office (RIO) to discuss technical ideas with program officers.
Proposal Information
At a minimum, proposals consist of a statement of work and budget, as well as a budget justification if required by the sponsor.
Typically, federal sponsors require a cover page in their format, project summary, project description/narrative, biographical sketches and current/pending support information for key personnel such as PIs and Co-PIs, budget, budget justification, bibliography, facilities and equipment documents, and a data management plan. View theOCG Forms page for additional resources.
If a sponsor requires an institutional commitment (financial or non-financial), please coordinate with your Proposal Analyst and the Research and Innovation Office to ensure the appropriate commitment is prepared.
In addition to sponsor requirements, you may also need to provide additional documents to your Proposal Analyst for the internal record. Your Proposal Analyst will guide you through the sponsor and 91PORN processes for proposal submissions.
The following are common proposal terms and explanations to assist you in this process. Additional proposal information is available on the Proposal Development FAQs page.
A sponsor is the funding entity. They are the creator of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) you will apply to andthey provide the money for your project.They can be industry, government, State institutions, other universitiesand nonprofits.
A PI is a Principal Investigator. They are primarily responsible for project management and reporting. Only certain staff are eligible to be a PI;see the PI Eligibility policy for requirements.
A Co-PI is a Collaborative Principal Investigator. They are also responsible for the management of a project, but collaborate with the PI to make decisions.
Pre-proposals (Step-1) are sometimes required by a sponsor to help them decide which projects they would like to fund and/or for a sponsor to get an idea of how many full proposals to expect. A pre-proposal (Step-1) may be required when a sponsor wants the option to “invite” a PI to submit a full proposal.
Note: Sometimes a pre-proposal (Step-1) will not require a detailed budget nor an official signature. If neither of these are required, you can submit without OCG's involvement. As soon as a budget is required, please involve your Proposal Analyst who will provide details on next steps.
Proposal guidelines and award terms and conditions are not always clear as to when OCG needs to be involved in a proposal or award. The best course of action is tocontact your Proposal Analyst about all proposals, and they can assist in making this determination.
OCG allows and encourages PIs to submit on their own without OCG’s involvement whenall of the following conditions apply:
- Funding will be awarded directly to the PI or student and does not need to be routed through OCG. This is typically based on award terms and conditions
- A budget is not required for the proposal
- An authorized organization representative (AOR) or other institutional representative signature is not required on the proposal
- There are no human subjects, use of animals, biohazards or other compliance related areas involved in the project
- The PI can submit their proposal on their own per the proposal guidelines
If any of the above do not apply to your proposal, a Proposal Analyst needs to assist with a proposal submission. While providing budgeting and proposal preparation expertise, Proposal Analysts can also help prevent budgeting errors and other issues that delay awards.
A collaborative proposal is one in which investigators from two or more organizations wish to collaborate on a unified research project.
Collaborative proposals may be submitted in one of two methods: as a single proposal, in which a single award is being requested with subagreements administered by the lead organization; or by simultaneous submission of proposals from different organizations, with each organization requesting a separate award. In either case, the lead organization’s proposal must contain all of the requisite sections as a single package to be provided to reviewers.
All collaborative proposals must clearly describe the roles to be played by the other organizations, specify the managerial arrangements, and explain the advantages of the multi-organizational effort within the Project Description.