Getting Research Grants 101
Almost everything you need to know about
how to submit a proposal
How We Can Help
• PSC Services Available
• Pre-award assistance
• Editorial services
• Library services
• Data services
• Administrative services
Pre-Award/Proposal Preparation Services
Who we are and what we do
Who we are: Kerri Cross and Edward Evans
What we do:
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Provide limited assistance on searching for FOAs.
Assist with reviewing FOA for the admin/non-technical pieces.
Answer questions about UM and federal budget regulations.
Provide budget guidance and consultation including preparing
draft budget and justification.
Coordinate with subcontracting agencies.
Prepare and assemble proposal components.
Complete and route internal ISR & UM forms (e-PAF) for
internal review and approval
Develop timeline to ensure on-time proposal submission.
Submit completed proposals to the University for review and
forwarding to sponsors.
Contact staff early and often for assistance.
Three-Step Process
1. Find Funding Sources
2. Prepare & Submit Proposal
3. Complete Follow-Up Tasks
STEP 1
Find Funding
Sources
Finding Funding Opportunity
Announcements (FOAs)
• Talk with your mentor and other faculty about where to
apply – often your best sources of information.
• Join salient listservs
• Join internal DRDA e-mail groups (NIA, NSF, etc.) via
www.drda.umich.edu/funding/groups.html
• Consult internet-based sources directly:
• For all federal grants, go to www.grants.gov, the government
portal for finding and submitting grants.
• Foundation sites (e.g., www.mott.org/)
• Corporate or agency sites (e.g., www.worldbank.org/).
• Individual sponsor sites (e.g., www.nsf.gov/funding/).
• Use U-M grad library grant-seeking resources
(www.lib.umich.edu/grad/guide/guide.php?id=84).
• Consult with PSC Pre-award Support.
Internal vs. External Funding
• Internally Funded Research – small funding from
sources within UM (e.g., PSC, Rackham, OVPR, Ford
Poverty Center, RWJ through SPH)
• Typically announcements are sent via listservs or posted on
websites.
• May require departmental approval/acknowledgement when
submitting proposal (PSC would need to sign off on proposal).
• If unsure about what to do, please contact PSC Pre-award Support
(Kerri or Edward) whenever you think you may submit an
application for internal funding.
• Externally Sponsored Research – outside funding
mechanism (e.g., NIH, NSF, other universities,
foundations)
• UM has a formal process for submitting proposal to the sponsor.
• You must contact PSC Pre-award Support prior to submission.
Internal Sources
Internal sources are often a good way to get
preliminary results before applying for a larger
external grant.
• PSC Small Grants Program include: Hermalin,
Freedman, Mueller and Weinberg Funds as well as
PSC internal funds.
• UM Small/Pilot Grants include: OVPR, Ford Poverty
Center, UM-GHRT, RWJ through SPH (see attached
list for the most common).
Common External Sources
Non-Federal Sources
• Foundations - Sage, Robert Wood Johnson, WT
Grant, Sloan.
• Organizations/Corporations – World Bank,
Brookings, American Cancer Society.
• Diverse instructions for proposals.
• No standard indirect cost rate.
• Shorter review process.
Common External Sources (cont)
Federal Sources
• NIH and NSF provide most of PSC’s externally
funded grants.
• NIH (NICHD, NIA, etc.) - Submit electronically via
e-Research Proposal Management (e-RPM) to
www.grants.gov (some applications still on paper).
• NSF – Submit through Fastlane
• Proposals are governed by federal regulations.
• Indirect costs are applied (standard rate is 54.5%).
• Review process can be lengthy.
Common NIH Funding Mechanisms
See overview at: http://grants1nih.gov/grants/funding/funding_program.htm
Research Grants
• R01 – Investigator-Initiated Grants.
• R03 – Small Research Grant.
Typically $50,000-$100,000 DC over 1-2 years.
• R21 – Exploratory/Development Research Grant.
Typically does not exceed $275,000 DC over 2 years.
PSC proposals are generally funded by one of two
NIH institutes: National Institute of Child Health
& Human Development (NICHD) or National
Institute on Aging (NIA).
Common NIH Funding Mechanisms
(con’t)
Career Development and Training Awards
See http://grants.nih.gov/training/careerdevelopmentawards.htm for
more detailed information
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K01 – Mentored Scientist. See specific Institute for
types of applications accepted. Typically junior-level
researchers.
• K02 – Independent Scientist Award. Support for newly
independent scientists for 3-5 years.
• K99/R00 – Pathways to Independence Award.
Typically a 2-3 year mentored period and then 2-3
years as an independent researcher.
• T32 – Institutional Research Grant. Supports graduates
and postdoctoral research trainees.
Various other funding opportunity announcements are
released periodically – e.g., NIH New Innovator Award.
NSF Funding Opportunities
• NSF has multiple funding opportunities
(see www.nsf.gov/funding/).
• Typically PSC proposals fall under the Social,
Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE)
organization.
• Specify primary program announcement you are
submitting to. Secondary unit can be added for
consideration.
STEP 2
Prepare & Submit
Proposal
Applying for Funding –
It’s not you, it’s the Regents!
• Individual researchers do not apply directly for
outside funding. Rather, the Regents of the
University of Michigan submit an application on
behalf of the researcher(s).
• Awards are almost always made to the University
of Michigan (with rare exceptions).
• In most cases, a proposal must go through a
specific review and submission process before it
leaves UM.
Two Tracks:
Scientific Content and Admin Shell
• Scientific Content – PI has primary
responsibility. Includes abstract, research plan,
human subjects section, literature cited.
• Admin Shell – PSC Pre-Award staff take the
lead. Includes budget and ISR & UM internal
approval forms (e-PAF, ISR Project Summary).
Preparing/Submitting the Proposal
How can PSC assist you, the PI?
• Will answer questions and provide
consultation on your proposal
submission
• Provide assistance with budgeting
and the administrative components
of the submission
• Remember - Contact us early
and often for assistance.
Preparing/Submitting the Proposal
What do you, the PI, need to do?
• Contact Program Officer with questions and/or
applicability
• Contact Kerri (kerris@umich.edu) or Edward
(edevans@ umich.edu).
• Provide draft budget or listing of proposed
personnel/efforts and proposed non-salary items
needed to complete project.
• Review FOA with Pre-Award Staff to highlight items
that need action.
• Review proposed budget with Pre-Award staff to
ensure it meets FOA guidelines.
Preparing the Budget
• Budget justification can be drafted by PSC
Pre-Award staff for editing by the PI, or PI
can send budget draft to be tweaked by
staff.
• PI will review and edit draft budget,
consulting and discussing changes as
needed with staff. This is often an
iterative process.
• Once budget is finalized, staff will
complete necessary internal paperwork
for PI and UM approvals.
What can your budget include?
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Read FOA for specifics of what sponsor allows
or disallows regarding the budget.
• The following are typically allowed:
• Salary for PI and research staff
• Fringe benefits (health insurance, retirement benefits,
FICA tax, etc. PSC uses avg. 28%)
• Travel costs
• Consultant costs
• Data collection costs
• Subcontracts/sub awards
• Other necessary project costs (e.g., personal computer,
duplicating, express mail, conference calls)
• Admin support costs, depending upon project’s scope
and size
What should your budget exclude?
• Read FOA for specifics of what sponsor allows or
disallows regarding the budget.
• The following are typically not allowed:
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General office supplies (pens, paper, etc.)
Postage (stamps)
Hosting
Books and periodicals
Admin/clerical salaries (in some cases)
What are indirect costs?
(aka Overhead, Facilities & Administrative Costs)
• Indirect costs (IDC) are the real costs of University
operations not readily assignable to a particular
project.
• At PSC, IDC support infrastructure – i.e., PSC
support services, ISR services, University
centralized services, lights, heat, buildings, etc.
• FOAs will typically specify allowable indirect cost
recovery rates.
• IDC recovery rates vary by award type and by
sponsor. The current federal rate is 54.5% of direct
costs. Foundations and other non-federal entities
have IDC rates varying from about 0% to 20%.
What if sponsor’s allowable IDC rate
is less than 15%?
• ISR policy requires that proposals derive indirect cost
recovery totaling 15% of direct costs.
• If a sponsor’s IDC rate is 0%, then 15% of the
proposal’s direct costs must be budgeted for Service
Personnel.
• If a sponsor’s IDC rate is 0-15%, then the sum of the
allowable IDC and Service Personnel must equal 15%
of direct costs.
• Service Personnel is budgeted as a direct cost to
support ISR/PSC central functions such as payroll,
accounting, purchasing, grants management, etc.
• In summary, consult PSC Pre-Award Support for
assistance in determining Service Personnel costs in
budget.
Preparing Scientific Content
and Admin Shell
• While working on the proposal budget, PI should
continue to develop scientific content of proposal:
research plan, literature review, human subjects
section, etc.
• Pre-Award Support staff will work with PI to
finalize administrative proposal components:
biosketches for key personnel, facilities
description, subcontractor packages, consultant
letters, etc.
What is the Administrative Shell?
The Admin Shell consists of several forms that are
needed for internal UM review and approval of
your proposal.
PI works with Pre-Award staff to provide:
• Final Budget Notes/Justification
• Project Summary/Abstract (draft is OK)
If applicable, PSC will work with subcontractors to gather
needed approved budgets, sponsor forms etc.
PSC will prepare:
• Itemized Budget (budget turnpike) and ISR Summary
• e-PAF - Proposal Approval Form
• Sponsor Budget Forms
Electronic Submissions Process
Grants.gov, Fastlane, foundations & others
Register in NIH Commons and/or Fastlane to submit electronically.
NIH Commons: see www.drda.umich.edu/nih/commons/ for
registration information
Fastlane: e-mail fastlane-admin@umich.edu to request registration
Incorporate time before electronic submission deadline for PSC,
ISR, and DRDA to review/approve admin shell. In general:
10 business days prior to due date (excluding weekends/holidays),
admin shell must be finalized and is due to ISR Proposals and
Contracts
7 business days prior, admin shell is due to DRDA
5 business days prior, final electronic proposal file (all pieces) must
be uploaded
Pre-Award staff will work with you to develop a timeline that
ensures your proposal is submitted by the sponsor’s due date.
What are PI responsibilities
when submitting via e-RPM?
• PI is responsible for providing all required technical pieces
of the proposal (Project Summary, References, Project
Narrative, Human Subjects Section, etc.) in the required
format (NIH requires PDF files).
• Pre-Award staff will specify components needed and by
when. Generally, staff will handle all the admin and
budget pieces, while PI will provide all the technical
pieces.
• PI is responsible for adhering to agreed-upon timeline for
electronic submission.
• Pre-Award staff will upload proposal components into the
electronic application and forward to DRDA for
submission.
What are PI responsibilities when submitting
directly via other on-line system or e-mailing
directly to sponsor?
• Other on-line systems typically include Fastlane,
ProposalCentral, sponsor website, or e-mail directly
to sponsor).
• Fastlane - PI is responsible for submitting all required
sponsor docs to admin staff & staff can/will upload into
Fastlane and notify DRDA. DRDA submits to NSF.
• Other on-line systems and e-mailing proposal to sponsor,
generally PI is responsible for uploading and submitting
application to sponsor. Submission can only happen once
UM has approved the proposal. Request that a copy be sent
to admin staff for our files and to upload into the UM system.
• PI is responsible for adhering to agreed-upon
timeline for electronic submission.
What are PI responsibilities when
submitting on paper?
• PI is responsible for providing all required technical
pieces of the proposal (Project Summary, References,
Project Narrative, Human Subjects Section, etc.) in
the required format—see separate notes.
• Pre-Award staff will handle copying and routing of
proposal to DRDA (in most cases).
• PI is responsible for adhering to agreed-upon timeline
for paper-based submission.
• If PI needs the maximum amount of time to complete
proposal, s/he takes the responsibility of copying and
sending proposal to sponsor
STEP 3
Complete
Follow-Up Tasks
What remains to be done after
proposal submission?
• For NIH proposals submitted via Grants.gov, review full final
application in NIH Commons within 2 days. Check for errors.
• Provide final electronic copy of full proposal to PSC pre-award
staff for our files.
• In NIH Commons, get proposal score and review Summary
Statements (aka “pink sheets”) about 6 months after proposal
is submitted (actual range 2 to 9 months).
• Determine if revise/resubmit is necessary
• Complete IRB application if proposal receives fundable score.
• If NIH requests Just in time (JIT), admin staff will assist with
assembling and submitting requested documentation.
• Sponsor may request additional information or forms be
completed or signed before an award is made. Contact preaward staff if the need arises. We can assist.
A Final Note:
What does NIH look for in a proposal?
• With the goal of improving public health, NIH funds as many of the
best proposals it receives, given total available funding, for
scientific research projects deemed salient to the RFP.
• NIH’s Peer Review System evaluates each project for its merit.
Investigators’ proposals are not funded simply because they are
established or well known.
• In general, the scientific quality of a project is the factor that
determines whether it is funded. But proposing elegant science is
not enough.
• To get a fundable score in peer review, you must also have the
means to accomplish the work. NIH peer reviewers will assess
whether you and your institution have the expertise and resources
to complete the proposed project.
• Are the PI and other key personnel qualified to do the work?
• Does the institution have equipment and personnel to support you?
• Will your institution allow you enough time to accomplish the
research?