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University of Northern Colorado > OSP > Proposal Development >  

PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION Working with OSP The Office of Sponsored Programs is responsible for submitting proposals for restricted research, training/instruction, and service projects at Northern Colorado. All proposals to Federal and State agencies, industry and business entities, foundations and nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and other external organizations require institutional approval prior to submission.  The Assistant Vice President for Research has delegated the authority for approval and submission of proposals to the Office of Sponsored Programs.  Requests for support from individuals do not go through OSP, but are managed by the UNC Foundation. If you plan to request, or anticipate receiving, funding, equipment, materials and supplies, or any other form of support from an external organization or institution, please check with OSP to determine if institutional approval is needed.  This applies to formal proposals, preliminary proposals, email submissions, letters, and even agreements reached at meetings or during conversations with potential collaborators. Working with OSP prior to proposing or accepting agreements from sponsors will ensure that potential problems are resolved in advance and will result in a shorter, smoother turn-around and implementation of your project. Grant-writing Resources The Office of Sponsored Programs maintains a library of resources on grantsmanship and proposal writing, including a variety of books as well as the Winning Grants video series by David Bauer.  Books are available for loan, and the videos may be viewed in the OSP Offices. There are numerous resources for grant-writers on the Internet.  OSP has compiled a list of some of the most helpful from government granting agencies, foundations, successful grant-writers, and grant-writing consultants. On-line Grant Proposal Writing Resources →→

Developing a Grant Proposal 1.  Get your idea on paper. You have a great idea for a project. To present it to potential collaborators, to your dean and director, and as a basis for looking for a source of funding, prepare a brief overview (2-5 pages) answering the following questions: a.  Why is this an important topic? Explain why your project is important and should be supported.  Describe the current situation or state of knowledge for all readers, including those not in your discipline. This is not a description of the purpose of the project, but is a presentation of what is known, which will logically lead to the need or problem. b.  What is the critical need or problem, or the gap in knowledge, that must be addressed? After describing the status of your topic area, you will need to explain what is unknown or missing - what is creating a problem or need or holding back your field.  This should tie directly to your answers to the first question, and should be explained simply and directly; it should state exactly what you plan to address in your project. You should make it clear why the knowledge gap or problem/need is a major, significant problem. c.  How does the project advance your professional career? Explain how your proposed project builds on your previous work, and how it fits into your long-term goals. It should be clear that the problem you have identified in the previous question is encompassed in your long-term goals. d.  What is the objective of the project? Briefly describe exactly what you expect to accomplish with your project. This should tie directly to the gap/problem/need you identified in question b.  This is not a description of your methodology, but of what you will use your methodology to achieve. e.  What is your hypothesis or statement-of-need? All projects are either hypothesis driven or statement-of-need driven.  If your project is hypothesis driven, the central hypothesis should flow logically from your objective (the objective is attained by testing the hypothesis) and the tie should be obvious. Your hypothesis should include the facts that will set up your means of testing it. If your project is statement-of-need driven in which nothing will be tested, the problem/need identified in question b should set up your statement-of need or problem statement.  The statement-of-need should be tied directly to your project objective f.  What is your rationale for conducting the project? Explain why you decided to pursue this project.  This should not be a justification for using a specific strategy to attack  problem and should be more than because it's an interesting problem; but should be the underlying, fundamental  reason for your decision to be involved in the project. g.  What are the specific aims that will contribute to meeting the project's objective? Explain the steps you will achieve during the project that will lead to the objective and address the gap/problem/need identified earlier.  These are steps to be achieved, but are not procedures you will use to achieve them.  Usually a project should be broken down into two to four relatively equal and separate but related aims. they should be brief, exiting, abstract headlines, not long detailed descriptions of what will be done.  They should explain why you want to do, not what you are proposing to do.  Each aim should flow logically into the next, but no aim should be entirely dependent on the outcome of an earlier aim. h.  How will you accomplish the project? Briefly describe the methodology or procedures you plan to employ to accomplish the project tying them back to your aims.  Include a projected timetable. i.  How much do you anticipate it will cost to complete your project? Provide an estimated cost for each year of your project. j.  How is your project innovative? Describe how your project is innovative or unique if you can legitimately make a case for this.  Include those things that make your project special or that would single it out from other projects. k.  What key words would you use to describe your project? Provide at least four succinct terms, or key words, that could be used to identify your project. 2.  You've got a great idea and a written overview, now what? Inform your dean and director of your idea, and make contact with potential collaborators if appropriate.  Get the buy-in and support up front that you will need to prepare your proposal and conduct the project if awarded.  3.  You've got a great idea, a written overview, and a support team; now how do you find a potential sponsor? Use the resources for finding funding opportunities - searchable, on-line databases of grant programs, automatic notification systems, and funding agency grant information websites.  If you would like assistance getting set up to use the databases or with designing a funding search, please contact Arlene Hansen in OSP. Finding Funding →→ 4.  You've got a great idea, a written overview, a support team, and a potential sponsor; now what do you do? Learn as much as you can about the sponsor's areas of interest and funding patterns. Get a copy of the sponsor's guidelines, request for proposals, program announcement, etc., and read it thoroughly.  Outline the requirements or make notations of deadlines/types (electronic, postmark, received), budget constraints, formatting requirements, review criteria, and required proposal elements. Search the sponsor's website for information on previous awards to learn what types of projects have been funded recently and determine if your project seems to fit. List any questions you have regarding the program that are not answered in the guidelines or on the sponsor's website. If information is provided, contact the sponsor's program officer or manager to discuss whether your project idea would be responsive and appropriate to the announcement and to ask your questions.  You may want to ask if the program officer would be willing to read a brief concept paper prior to discussing your idea. If you are planning a major proposal (<$500K / year) that indicates strong funding potential, you may want to try to schedule a visit with the program officer. OSP can help with arranging such visits and may cover part of the travel cost (pending availability of funding). Notify OSP when you have made the decision to submit a proposal, providing a copy of the program guidelines or the website where it can be downloaded 5.  Who else will need to know of your intent to submit a proposal? Assuming that you contacted your dean and director previously to garner their overall support for your project, you should keep them informed of your intention to go forward with a proposal.  Their involvement will be key if your project will require cost-sharing, release time, overload compensation, etc.  If your project will involve faculty or staff members from outside your own school or office, their deans and directors should also be notified.  The Proposal Review and Approval Form, which must be submitted to OSP prior to a proposal being submitted to the sponsor, requires signatures of the deans and directors of all principal investigators or project directors, as well as the deans and directors of any other personnel on the project who will need release time or overload compensation.  Schools and colleges may have their own requirements for proposal review.  It is also recommended that you involve your school or college administrator so that they can be prepared to assist you as appropriate. 6.  What role does OSP play in developing and submitting my proposal? The Office of Sponsored Programs provides "cradle to grave" service to help faculty and professional staff members obtain external funding, including: Development brainstorming with you to develop a project idea that has funding potential reviewing proposal overviews and making recommendations for strengthening them helping you get set up to use funding databases, design funding searches, and register for automated notification of funding notices obtaining copies of program guidelines, preparing summaries or outlines of guidelines highlighting "hot buttons" Interpreting sponsor requirements and contacting sponsors for clarification if needed helping develop a strong proposal budget (some basic budget information such as F&A and fringe benefit rates, is available on the OSP FAQ) in cases of collaborations that involve other institutions, coordinating budgets and other requirements with those institutions and their sponsored programs administration staff         If your draft proposal is completed in time: running a proposal quality review team if requested editing and critiquing the proposal narrative assisting with formatting your proposal Submission Ensuring that all required forms, certifications and representations are completed and included For electronic submissions, working with you to upload the proposal into the submission system as required by the sponsor For hard copy submissions, copying and collating required numbers of the proposal, packing and shipping it to the sponsor to meet the submission deadline 7.  What should you do if a colleague from another institution or organization is submitting a proposal and you will be working on part of his/her project? If you will be collaborating on a project that will be submitted to a funding agency by a colleague at another institution, the proposal development process here will be the same. In these cases, UNC considers the other institution to be the 'sponsor' and the funding agency to be the 'prime sponsor'.  You should plan to work with OSP early in the proposal planning and development process, as we will need to work with the other institution's sponsored programs administration staff to ensure we submit what they need in time to incorporate it into the prime proposal. NOTE: While you will be working and sharing information with your collaborators throughout the proposal development process, a signed Proposal Review and Approval Form is required before OSP can notify the other institution's sponsored programs office that your part of proposal is approved for submission.  8.  What do you need to do if your project includes collaborators from other institutions, but you will be submitting the proposal to the funding agency? Again it will be important to start working with OSP early in the proposal development process.  We will need to receive a line-item budget and a scope of work approved by your collaborator's sponsored programs office in time to incorporate it into our proposal for submission by the deadline date.  NOTE: Individuals who are not employees of UNC may not be listed as principal investigator or personnel on a proposal submitted by UNC. Their roles on the project may be described in the proposal narrative, and they may be listed on a separate subcontractor budget if the sponsor requires or allows us to include budgets for collaborating institutions. 9.  When do you have to have a final copy of your proposal to OSP for submission to the sponsor? Ideally, OSP would have the final proposal, including the completed budget, any letters of support or other attachments, and a completed Proposal Review Form, a minimum of three working days prior to the submission deadline date.  In the real world we know this does not always happen; however, the later we receive a proposal, the less able we are to give you our best service. The OSP staff will always make every effort to submit each proposal; however, the workload varies from one submission date to the next, and your proposal may be one of many to be submitted on a particular day. On heavy deadline dates, Grants.gov may be slow, delaying our ability to upload and submit proposals. For proposals received later than three working days prior to the deadline, OSP cannot guarantee that the proposal will go through a thorough review to ensure that it is complete, formatted properly, meets all the sponsor's requirements, etc..  For proposals received the same day they are due, OSP cannot guarantee that they will be submitted on time. 10.  What is the Proposal Review & Approval Form? The Proposal Review & Approval Form (PRAF) is an internal form on which you provide specific information about your proposal, you certify to certain conditions concerning the proposal, any resulting award, and conflict of interest.  Before OSP can endorse and certify a proposal for submission, all applications must be accompanied by a complete and signed PREF. The PREF requires signatures as follows:     All principal investigators Their directors and deans/VPs    All co-investigators Their directors and deans/VPs     All directors and deans/VPs of any personnel involved in the project who will require release time or overload pay 11.  How should you complete application forms and which ones do you need to prepare? The OSP staff will complete any required certifications and representations; however you should complete as much of any other proposal forms as possible (face page, pending and current support forms, table of contents,, etc.) per the sponsor's instructions.  Standard information that is asked for on many proposal cover or face pages can be found on the OSP Institutional Data page.  If you are preparing a proposal that requires electronic submission, and want to upload your information into the submission system yourself, you may need to contact Sherry May in OSP to get registered and/or for training in using the system.  NOTE: UNC is already registered in most electronic proposal submission systems, so you do not need to do anything if you are responding to a grant announcement that tells you that you must get registered.  Just let OSP know your plans to submit. 12.  If your project involves human or animal subject research, will that  effect submission of your proposal? It will depend on the sponsor to which you will submit the proposal; some sponsors use a "just-in-time" approach to human subject or animal subject approvals, meaning that you are required to submit documentation of institutional approval only if your proposal is selected for funding.  The proposal guidelines will inform you whether you will have to have the appropriate IRB or IACUC approvals in place prior to submitting the proposal.  No research involving animal or human subjects, whether or not externally funded, can be started at UNC without written institutional approval.  UNC Institutional Review Board (human subjects)   UNC Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee. 13. What if you learn of a grant opportunity just a week before the proposal is due, and there isn't time to meet the internal deadlines and get the required signatures? Developing and writing a quality grant proposal in a week is next to impossible unless you have an "off-the-shelf" proposal ready to go. However, if you choose to submit a proposal with that little preparation time, It is very important that you notify us (and your dean and director) as soon as you know you are going to do it, giving us as much information as possible, and working closely with us at all steps until the proposal is submitted. The OSP staff will work with you up to "the last minute" to get a complete, approved proposal ready for submission.  NOTE:  Proposals will not be submitted without deans' and directors' endorsements.. In rare cases, if a proposal was submitted without a complete review by OSP and errors are discovered that the sponsor does not allow us to correct, we are unable to meet a cost sharing commitment or to comply with other conditions identified in the program guidelines, etc., the university may withdraw the proposal from the competition or may decline an award.

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