Pre-Award Session
MUHAS, Dartmouth, UCSF
Commons Challenges and Solutions for
Proposal Preparation
Monday October 20, 2014
Agenda
O MUHAS Office of Sponsored Projects
O Funding Opportunity Searches
O Proposal Planning and Preparation
O Components of a Grant Application
O Time Management
O Budget Development
MUHAS
Office of Sponsored Projects
O OFFICE OF SPONSORED PROJECTS SUMMARY
O The Directorate of Research and Publication is
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pleased to inform you that the Office of Sponsored
Projects is now in force under DRP. The Office is
going to be supportive in areas such as:
Searching for Funding Opportunities
Grants application and follow up
Negotiation of contracts
Reviewing and ensuring compliance
Research administration training.
It is essential to make use of this unit for the
development of research
Finding Sources of
Funding
Funding Opportunity
Resources
O NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, official
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publication for NIH medical and behavioral
research grant policies, guidelines and funding
opportunities. Sign up for a weekly email
NIH Global Health Funding News
http://www.fic.nih.gov/Funding/News/Pages/fu
nding-news-101314.aspx
Fogarty Center, NIH
Pivot http://pivot.cos.com/
Scangrants http://www.scangrants.com/
Foundation Center
http://www.fic.nih.gov/Funding/NonNIH/Pages/default.aspx
Discussion
O What funding opportunity services/sites do
you currently use?
O What has proven the most successful
method of identifying funding opportunities?
Proposal planning
Proposal Challenges
Avoid Common Proposal
Mistakes
O Read the funding announcement and associated
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application instructions
Allow time for obtaining approvals, letters and
supporting documentation
Don’t wait until the last minute
Allow time to send drafts to colleagues
Contact sponsor to ask questions or discuss
research
Proposal Preparation:
Initial Questions to Discuss
O Settle the basic logistics
O Who is going to be the Principal Investigator
O What type of application/funding opportunity
O Where will the project take place?
O When will the project start and its duration?
O Why is the activity being proposed, and does
it fit within the mission of the organization?
Proposals: Components
Specific Aims
Research
Narrative
Human
Subjects/Animal
Welfare
Biographical
Sketches
Budget and
Budget
Justification
Letters of
Support
Subcontractor
Budgets, Letters
Resources
Data Sharing
Plans
Proposal Preparation:
Who Is Involved?
O Principal Investigator
O Mentor
O Collaborators
O Department Administrators
O Support Staff
O Dean
O Grants Office
Discussion: Proposal
Experiences at MUHAS,
Dartmouth, UCSF
O For a given grant deadline, how many proposals go
through the grants office?
O What support staff is available to assist in proposal
development?
O Are there senior investigators who can provide
guidance or critiques?
O How much time is needed to:
O Review forms and application requirements?
O Register on new submission systems?
O Request and collect letters from collaborators?
Proposal Preparation Steps
O Start accumulating results and information that will add weight
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to your proposal and demonstrate competence.
Ask for letters of reference and collaboration at least several
weeks in advance (6 to 8 weeks) of the deadline date. Remind
your reference providers.
Be aware of what's going on in your field so that you can
include relevant material in the proposal.
Do your homework to see if you can request that your proposal
be sent to a specific review panel.
Obtain all the relevant application forms and read and reread
the instructions so that you understand the submission details
clearly.
Don't hesitate to contact your institution's grant office and/or
the program officer at the funding agency in question.
Proposal Preparation:
Reviewing the Funding
Announcement
Start with eligibility
O Is the institution eligible?
O Is the PI eligible?
O Is the application limited to only one
proposal?
Reviewing the Funding
Announcement
O Space and Resource Needs
O Additional space required?
O Need to rent or use off-site space?
O Collaborations
O Are other departments involved?
O Are other institutions involved?
O Budgetary Requirements
O What is the maximum funding level?
O What is the range of amounts of awards to be
made?
O Is cost sharing required?
O Are there any restrictions on budget categories?
Sample Proposal Preparation Timeline
90 - 61
days
60 - 31
days
• Review announcement, guidelines
• Prepare outline and develop and draft specific aims
• Identify collaborators, share aims, schedule a conference call
• Establish deliverables & deadlines with collaborators
• Notify administrative staff of your intent to apply
• Continue to draft research strategy and refine aims
• Contact administrative staff and meet to review RFA
• Discuss effort, cost sharing, and matching funds with chair,
academic dean, or area administrators.
• Request draft budgets from subcontractors (if applicable)
• Share draft of proposal with colleagues/research committee
30-20 days
•Obtain subcontract budgets and materials from external collaborators
•Finalize budget with department
•Finalize additional components of grant and provide to departmental contact
•Budget Justification
•Biosketches
•Resources
•Equipment
•Narrative and Summary
•Human Subjects/Animal Welfare
•Data Sharing Plans
•Letters of Support
• Complete draft of research strategy
• Meet with OSP staff for consultation and coordination of proposal, as needed.
19-8 days • Finalize cost-sharing and matching funds with chair, dean or other administrator
7-2 days
• PI forwards proposal, routing form, and any needed attachments to Office of
Sponsored Projects for review. (or uploads into system)
• Review and respond to comments from OSP
• PI completes final edits and reviews entire proposal prior to submission
Sample Proposal Preparation
Timeline
2 Days
PostSubmission
•PI reviews final proposal and indicates “ready for submission”
•OSP submits application to sponsor
•PI review application in sponsor system (if applicable)
•Assure all parts have been received successfully. If not, make
corrections
•Monitor sponsor systems and emails for information on review
process
•Monitor systems for “just in time” requests
•Receive sponsor critique and carefully review
Proposal Preparation
Budget Development
Recent Changes:
US Government Rules Change
O Office of Management and Budget issues new guidance
on grants called “Uniform Guidance”
O Federal agencies may apply requirements to foreign
organizations
O Uniform Guidance revises:
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Acronyms and Definitions (Subpart A)
General Provisions (Subpart B)
Pre-Award Requirements (Subpart C)
Post-Awart Requirements (Subpart D)
Cost Principles (Subpart E)
Audit Requirements (Subpart F)
New “Uniform Guidance”:
What Does This Mean for
MUHAS?
O New terminology
O New rules referenced in awards and
subawards
O Increased emphasis on internal controls and
subrecipient monitoring
O Everyone is reviewing the new requirements
to understand the impact. It will take time
and will evolve over time
Budget Development
Typical Costs for Budgets
O Salaries and wages
O Fringe benefits
O Equipment
O Expendable supplies and materials
O Travel
O Subcontracts
O Consultants
O External Interdepartmental
Budget Development
O Read the funding announcement. Is there a cap on
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indirect costs? A percent of effort required for the PI?
Meet with the PI (several times to review and correct the
budget)
Identify direct costs. Refer to sponsor policies on
acceptable direct costs
Apply institutional fringe rate
Identify equipment that will be requested and obtain
quotes if necessary
Obtain salary information for personnel in budget
Identify subcontractors, obtain their budgets and
develop a composite budget
Budget Development
Other Common Costs
O Service centers or recharge centers are common shared
services that charge individual projects according to specified
rates. A commonly budgeted service center is the animal
care facility.
O Other Direct Costs:
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Communications
Publications
Animal Care Costs
Human Subject Costs
Shop Charges
Maintenance / Service Contracts
Computer Costs
Graphic Arts / Photographic Services
Rental / Lease of Facilities
Construction / Renovation / Remodeling Costs
Budget Development
O Here are some examples of costs that should
normally be treated as F&A and NOT budgeted
or charged to a grant:
O General purpose equipment, furniture
O Administrative costs
O Administrative staff salaries
O Office supplies
O Cell phones, pagers, PDA’s
O Memberships
O Subscriptions
Budget Development
O Travel
O Adhere to institutional policy and agency
guidelines
O Distinguish between domestic and foreign
travel
O If foreign travel is sponsored by the federal
government, use federal international per
diem rates
Proposal Development:
Subcontracts
O What is the difference between a subcontractor,
consultant or vendor/contractor?
O Subcontractor: Entity is responsible for
performing a substantive portion of the “work”,
involved in programmatic decisions
O Vendor(Contractor): Performs services only as
part of their normal business, not a coInvestigator, not involved in publications
O Consultant: May perform some research but does
so sporadically throughout the project
Budget Justification
O Narrative written description of the basis for
the requested budget items and how the
amounts were calculated.
O Modular budgets
O Provide brief descriptions of duties for all
positions listed in the budget, with the
number of person months requested each
year and any anticipated fluctuations.
O Explain any year-to-year fluctuations in the
budget
Proposal Development:
Internal Review
O The Authorized Official (AO) of the grantee institution certifies
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the application prior to submission to the sponsor. In the case
of grants.gov submissions, the AO approval is electronic.
As part of the certification process, most institutions have an
internal review process to address both sponsor and
institutional issues. Typically, the Department Chair may sign to
signify agreement and support with the proposed science.
Some review processes involve approval for hiring new staff or
expanding space. Other considerations for internal review:
Limit on the number of applicants
Large program involving cost sharing
Unusual circumstances for the faculty appointment of the PI
Proposal Review:
Compliance Considerations
O The sponsor and your institution will need to
know if the project involves
O Human subjects
O Animal Subjects
O Environmental health and safety issues
Discussion
O What is the review process in your
organization?
O Are proposals submitted last minute?
O Is there a deadline policy?
What is the Institution
Signing?
O Representations and Certifications
O Institution’s policies
O Compliance with laws and public policy
concerns
O Agreement with sponsor’s terms and
conditions
O Contracts: If you have concerns with
contract terms, you can attach a cover letter
and reserve the right to negotiate terms
Grant Application Systems
Electronic submission of grant applications is required for most NIH
application types. Applicants from foreign institutions and international
organizations must fulfill some additional requirements to register for
electronic submission of grant applications.
O NIH eSubmission Tips for International
Applicantshttp://grants.nih.gov/grants/ElectronicReceipt/files/Tips_for
_International_Applicants.pdf
O Webinars Electronic Submission of Grant Applications for Foreign
Institutions
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/webinar_docs/webinar_20120927.htm
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Changes to Foreign Awards for FY13: Training for NIH Program and
Grants Management Staff (10/24/2012)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/foreign/
Resources
O NIH Peer Review Revealed, NIH Peer Review
Revealed provides a front-row seat to a NIH
peer review meeting. Real scientists from
the scientific community review fictional but
realistic grant applications for scientific
merit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl
ayer_embedded&v=fBDxI6l4dOA
Proposal Resources
O Time Management 101 for Grant Applicants,
Science Careers,
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/care
er_magazine/previous_issues/articles/199
9_10_08/nodoi.14917315972206947987