Preparing for Proposal Submission
GU proposal development is a collaborative effort between the Principal Investigator (faculty, staff, or student) and JORA Proposal Development Specialists. In order to receive full review, PIs should notify JORA at least 6 weeks in advance of the submission deadline. Click to see what Cluster you department falls under.
JORA Proposal Development Specialists help investigators prepare and route the required proposal documents for institutional review and approval in GU-PASS prior to the sponsor’s deadline. When notified of a submission by the PI, the JORA Proposal Development Specialist will:
- Review the funding opportunity announcement or other solicitation mechanism to
identify sponsor requirements - Work with PI to develop a budget and justification
- Assist PI with gathering required proposal components and review for adherence to the
funding opportunity - Submit and route proposal packages in GU-PASS on behalf of the PI for institutional
review and approval - Ensure the submission meets sponsor and University policies
- GU-PASS routing should be done at least 10 days before the proposal is due to the sponsor to ensure institutional approval to submit. Final proposal documents are due to JORA at least 5 business days before the deadline to allow time for review of the complete proposal and official submission by the Cluster Research Administrator.
Budget Development
The budget gives a clear picture of all expenditures involved to implement the activities described in the proposal. It is important that budget creation is done early in the proposal development process and is done in tandem with writing the proposal narrative. Reviewers often examine the budget to evaluate whether sufficient and appropriate personnel and other project materials to perform the work have been included.
You should present in the proposed budget your best estimate of the financial support necessary to carry out the project. Expenses can be divided into two categories:
- Direct Costs are specific line items that are directly attributable to project activities. This often includes expenses such as salaries, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, materials and supplies, subrecipient costs, and independent contractors or consultants.
- Indirect Costs (also called Facilities and Administrative costs or overhead), are incurred for the general support and management of research. Indirect costs are paid as a percentage of direct costs. See F&A rates.
There are a few other expense categories that are important when developing the overall budget:
- Salary Cap sets an upper limit on the direct salary amount that a given individual budgeted on a grant or agreement may receive. The current FY2024 Executive Level II salary amount is $221,900 as per the most recent NIH notice regarding Guidance on Salary Limitation for Grants and Cooperative Agreements FY 2024 (NOT-OD-24-057).
- Modified Total Direct Costs are the basis on which most GU indirect costs are calculated (calculated as total costs minus equipment, tuition, patient care costs, participant support costs, patient care costs, and the portion of a subaward in excess of $25,000). For more detailed information, view the Uniform Guidance.
Cost Sharing is another important consideration when creating your budget. Cost sharing occurs when an applicant contributes resources to a sponsored project beyond the amount funded by the sponsor. Examples of cost sharing can include faculty and staff effort, equipment, supplies, reductions/waivers of F&A or fringe benefit rates, space/conference fees, etc.
There are also three types of cost sharing:
- Mandatory Committed Cost Sharing is a cost sharing obligation required by the sponsor as a term or condition of the award.
- Voluntary Committed Cost Sharing is a cost sharing obligation voluntarily proposed by the University to the sponsor and becomes an obligation for the University and condition of the award. The University discourages voluntarily committing cost sharing in a project proposal.
- Voluntary Uncommitted Cost Sharing refers to effort devoted by faculty and senior researchers, which is over and above that which is committed and budgeted for in a sponsored agreement. Typically federal sponsors will require you to list this effort not in the budget or budget justification but rather in the facilities and resources documentation.
For further guidance on how cost sharing is managed at the University, please refer to Main Campus Cost-Share Guidance for External Awards and OCFO Policy 132: Cost-Sharing on Sponsored Projects. CFR § 200.306 outlines the federal government’s policies on cost sharing.
External entities may act as consultants/contractors or recipients of subawards. Subaward relationships are different from purchase orders, service agreements, or work-for-hire relationships. See 2 CFR 200.331 for more details on the differences between consultants/contractors and subawards.
- Consultants serve as an independent contractor, typically an expert in the field, and are normally paid as a vendor.
- Subawards are agreements to carry out a scope of work with intellectual property rights and responsibilities adhering to the subawardee institution.
Whether an outside entity is a consultant/contractor or a subaward affects the project budget for federal awards. For example, consultant fees provide full F&A while subawards provide full F&A to the prime institution (the one issuing the subaward) on the first $25,000 of direct expense only for the period of the award.
Proposal Internal Review
For a full internal review, proposal materials should be received at least 10 days prior to the sponsor deadline and approved in GU-PASS by the PI, their department chair, and the Joint Office of Research Administration (JORA). JORA Proposal Development Specialists work with the PI during the proposal development process and initiate the GU-PASS routing.
Components required for proposal review:
- Budget and budget justification
- Proposal abstract or specific aims
- IRB review status or protocol approval (if relevant)
- IACUC review status or protocol approval (if relevant)
- Environmental Health & Safety review status pertaining to use of controlled substances,
hazardous chemicals, or risks to the environment (if relevant) - Any cost sharing or reduction in indirect costs (if required by sponsor)
- Information relating to any subrecipients or independent consultants/contractors participating in the project
Upon receiving the proposal package in GU-PASS, the JORA Cluster Research Administrator reviews the application for compliance with sponsor and University policies.
Proposal Submission
After approval in GU-PASS, final proposal documents should be received by the JORA Proposal Development Specialist no less than 5 business days before the sponsor deadline. Receiving documents well in advance of the deadline is the best way to ensure on-time and error-free proposal submissions.
Upon receipt of the final documents, the Proposal Development Specialist will:
- Review and upload the documents to the relevant online submission portal
- Provide the PI with a complete application package to review
- Make any necessary application or document updates
- Mark the application as ready for submission and notify the appropriate JORA Cluster
Research Administrator
When the Cluster Research Administrator has been notified the application is ready for submission, they will review the application for completeness and submit the proposal on behalf of the University to the funding agency.
Subaward Process
Upon receipt of award, a JORA Pre-Award Grant Administrator will work with investigators to initiate a request to establish, modify or close out an award from GU to other institutions, such as subawards. GU-PASS is used to track the initiation and modification of subawards. Templates for required documents can be found in the subaward toolkit below.
Requirements for a subaward request:
- Award Specific Risk Assessment & Letter of Intent
- Organizational Risk Assessment
- FDP member organizations are not required to complete this assessment
- Statement of Work
- Annual budget & budget justification
The JORA Pre-Award Grant Administrator will help the Principal Investigator (PI) obtain the necessary documents from the subrecipient and will route the information in GU-PASS.
Subawardee Toolkit:
- Award Specific Risk Assessment
- Organization Risk Assessment
- Setting Up Supplier ID
- Subaward Budget Template
To get the subaward process started, please contact your JORA Pre-Award Grant Administrator or Cluster Research Administrator.
JIT Requests
Just-in-Time (JIT) requests refer to the application timeframe requiring applicants to send updated information to NIH only if an award is likely. This process decreases the administrative burden for 75-80% of the applicants that will not receive funding and provides NIH with the most current information “just-in-time” for award.
Applicants will be notified via email when Just-in-Time information is needed. This notification is not a Notice of Award nor should it be construed to be an indicator of possible funding.
A JIT request will include the following (as applicable):
- Current Other Support for all Key Personnel
- Certification of IRB Approval
- Verification of IACUC Approval
- Human Subjects Education Requirement
- Human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs)
- Genomic Data Sharing Institutional Certification
- Other Information:
- The grantor may also request additional JIT information on a case-by-case basis, such as revised budgets or changes to the human subjects or vertebrate animal sections of the application.