I want to submit a proposal, what do I do now?

The following timeline provides an overview of the major milestones in the proposal development process. 

Grants and Contracts Development works with Principal Investigators/Projects Directors to understand the scope of the proposal submission and its requirements and facilitate campus authorization for the submission. 

You may reference the Pre-Award Review and Approval Procedure which detail the roles and responsibilities in the process.

• 30-60 Days prior to the submission deadline (20-40 business days)

  You’ve come across a funding opportunity that you are interested in applying to, so what happens next? Email Melissa Teetzel regarding your intent to apply. Within two business days, a specialist will be assigned to assist you throughout the proposal process and submission and contact you to get started.

  Once a specialist has verified that the Principal Investigator (PI) and institution are eligible to apply to the opportunity, they will notify necessary parties of your intent to submit a grant proposal. They will also discuss if portal registration is required for that grant, as well as the PI’s writing and editing needs for their proposal (including supporting documents). It is important to disclose if your proposal will involve Co-PIs, collaborators, or subawards.

  If your project involves hazardous or controlled substances; new space or renovation needs; information technology costs (including all hardware/software and support); intellectual property considerations; extensive institutional data; or cost-sharing/matching, please be aware that each of these requires coordination with other campus units and the Grants and Contracts Development Specialist will work with you to involve those units.

• 30 Days prior to the submission deadline (20 business days)

  Draft Budget – The PI will need to send the grants specialist an anticipated list of project expenses, including quotes for equipment and specialized supplies. With this information, the specialist will draft a budget, including the federally negotiated indirect cost (IDC) rate (currently 49% for on-campus projects). If the notice of funding opportunity does not allow IDC or has an IDC ceiling that is lower than the campus’ rate, we still encourage you to submit a proposal. The grants specialist will discuss options.

  Supporting Documents – If your proposal requires supporting documents, including but not limited to a biographical sketch, current and pending support, and collaborators and other affiliations, the grants specialist will provide you with the allowable forms and/or guidelines for the funding agency that you’re applying to. With 30 days’ notice, OGSR can assist in updating senior personnel’s existing documents and/or editing and reviewing a draft, but it’s important for all senior personnel to create the initial draft independently as they are the best source (and often the only source) for expertise of the information needed.

• Three Weeks prior to the submission deadline (15 business days)
  Proposal Editing - If reviewing and editing of the narrative has been requested, the PI will send a draft to the grants specialist. They will return your draft with edits within five business days, giving the PI roughly two weeks to finalize their writing.
• Two Weeks prior to the submission deadline (10 business days)

  Finalize Budget and Provide a Short Project Summary – Once the grants specialist has the PI’s approval to finalize a budget, they will coordinate the Sponsored Projects Approval Form (SPAF) via AdobeSign. The SPAF is the internal routing approval process required for each proposal and it includes the finalized budget and a project summary (provided by the PI). Once the SPAF is routed, it cannot be edited and it is highly discouraged to make budget changes unless completely necessary.

  Supporting Documents – If you requested assistance with supporting documents at least 30 days prior to the deadline, you’ll need to submit draft documents within 10 business days of the deadline. This will allow the grants specialist to thoroughly review and finalize your documents.
• One Week prior to the submission deadline (5 business days)
  Finalize All Required Documents – In the week leading up to the submission deadline, the PI should begin sending finalized proposal documents to the grants specialist so that they can review for compliance (not editing at this stage) and upload into the proposal application.
• Two Business Days prior the submission deadline
  Completed Application – PIs should aim to have all documents completed and sent to the grants specialist two business days prior to the deadline. This allows GCD to thoroughly ensure all required documents are completed properly. Once all forms are uploaded into the application, the grants specialist will download the full proposal and send to the PI for review.
• One Business Day prior the submission deadline
  Submit Proposal Application – Once the PI and GCD have reviewed the application and the PI has approved it for submission, the grants specialist will officially submit the application to the funding agency (unless otherwise discussed). The final version of the proposal is requested the day prior to the official deadline to allow time for unforeseeable circumstances that may prevent the proposal from being submitted on time.
• Day of Submission
  Congratulations! Now that you have officially submitted your proposal, take a breather and wait to hear back from the funding agency (often a 6-12 month process). Interested in submitting more proposals in the near future? Let the Grants and Contracts Specialist know. They can either assist in finding funding or beginning a new proposal process. Prefer to take some time to recuperate? We support that too! Either way, well done!