proposal flowchart

Find Grant Funding

Community of Science

www.cos.com

Community of Science allows faculty across all disciplines to search for funding opportunities.

More than a simple search engine, Community of Science offers a variety of services allowing faculty to keep abreast of research trends, seek out guidance, and highlight and promote their own research.

Grants.gov

grants.gov

With over 1,000 grant programs offered by all Federal grant making agencies and access to approximately $400 billion in annual awards, grants.gov is the resource for finding and applying for Federal government grants.

Click here to receive grant e-mail alerts.

Submitting a Proposal

The Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (ORSP) has the central responsibility for approval of proposals prior to submission. Pre-award functions include proposal review, budget review, official institutional signatory, letters supporting collaborative proposals, assurances and certification, and general funding opportunity assistance.

The following steps have been developed for use in the submission of proposals for external funding. This information provides current rates, explanations of processes, and policies within Portland State. This information is periodically updated on the web site as content changes. Advisories will be sent throughout the year as these changes occur.

1. Proposal and PIAF
   The Principal Investigator (PI) writes the proposal and completes and signs the Portland State Proposal Internal Approval Form (PIAF). If the proposal is funded, the PI agrees to conduct the project and follow Portland State policies and procedures.
2. Compliance
   Any special requirements in the proposal, such as animal use, human subjects, recombinant DNA, radiation, chemical carcinogens, or biosafety, require the PI to involve the appropriate Portland State oversight committee and obtain approvals prior to any work starting.
3. Chair/Director Approval
   The proposal is reviewed and signed by the PI and all co-PI's department Chairs (or Center) for department/unit compatibility, budget, or other commitments or use of facilities.
4. Dean Approval
   The proposal is reviewed and signed by the PI and all co-PI's Dean or for consistency with college or unit goals, budget, or other commitments or use of facilities.
5. ORSP Review
   The proposal is delivered to ORSP, allowing a minimum of three business days for review of conformance to university policy, state or federal regulation, budget and fiscal compliance, sponsor certifications and assurances, adherence to regulatory and safety compliance, and potential conflicts of interest.
6. ORSP Approval
   After review, the ORSP Authorizing Official provides approval for release to the external sponsor.
7. Delivery to Sponsor
   The proposal is returned to the PI for duplicating and mailing to the external sponsor and a complete copy of the final proposal is retained by ORSP.

Proposal Package Needed at ORSP

• Completed and Signed PIAF
  Required signatures include the PI and co-PI(s), as well as all relevant Chair/Director(s) and Dean(s).
• Additional Information Required
  Make sure this information is clear on the PIAF:
  • Sponsor Deadline (published deadline and indicate if postmark or receipt deadline)
  • Mailing Deadline (the date you need the proposal from ORSP. Allow a minimum of three business days once delivered to ORSP.)
    Deadlines must be dates and times rather than "ASAP". If a proposal comes in with "ASAP" as the deadline it will be placed in the queue in the order in which it was received.
  • Telephone number of the contact person for proposal pick-up
  • Telephone number of the contact person for budget questions
• One Copy of the Full Proposal
  This includes all materials to be submitted to the sponsor:
  • Project narrative: draft version is acceptable until final version is available, however a final version must be filed with ORSP within one week of submission to the sponsor
  • Detailed budget: this may necessitate two different budgets if the sponsor does not require a detailed budget
  • Budget justification
  • All sponsor required forms, assurances and certifications (check with sponsor guidelines for requirements)
  • Signature page if required by the sponsor (if sponsor makes no requirement, or no signature page delivered, ORSP will sign off on the back of the PIAF)
  • Cost sharing budget if cost sharing is being claimed on the back of the PIAF or is required by the sponsor

Submission of Electronic Proposals

Many funding agencies now require electronic submission of grant proposals. These systems require an Authorized Organizational Representative (Bill Helsley or Nancy Koroloff) to approve and submit proposals.

It is important to notify ORSP that a proposal is in progress so that review and approval can be completed in time to meet sponsor deadlines. As with all proposals, a complete PIAF is required before the Authorized Representative will approve and submit the proposal.

Please contact ORSP at least five working days prior to the deadline by e-mailing both Bill Helsley and Kam Barron. You will be expected to schedule an appointment with ORSP for electronic submission for a time that is at least 24 hours prior to deadline.

If you have questions about the electronic submission process, please contact either Bill helsley (503-725-3417) or Kam Barron (503-725-5231).

Click here for a list of public and private sponsors that require or allow at least partial electronic proposal submission and a brief description of each system.

Budgets

A detailed budget is required with every proposal even if the sponsor requires a modular budget or only a total dollar amount.

Draft budgets are highly encouraged, especially for large or complex proposal but do give ORSP one week lead time. Prior review of a draft budget does not reduce the expected three business day time-frame required for proposal processing and final approval through ORSP. Along with your draft budget, a budget justification is important to determine allowable costs in your budget.

Principal Investigators

Individuals who hold the rank of assistant, associate or full professor; research assistant professor, research associate professor or research professor; research associate or senior research associate may serve as PI or Co-PI on a proposal. A retired faculty member, visiting professor or courtesy appointment may continue to conduct research and serve as a co-investigator if the principal investigator is a regular faculty. Post doctoral fellows can serve as PI or Co-PI with the permission of the department. Doctoral students can be the PI on application for pre-doctoral support or a dissertation grant.

Other PSU employees can serve a principal investigator on a proposal for research or other sponsored project with permission of the Dean of their academic unit and the Vice Provost for Research and Sponsored Projects

Proposal Deadlines and Internal Processing

To ensure the submission of proposals by prescribed deadline dates, faculty should normally allow at least three (3) business days for a proposal to be reviewed and processed through the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects and Research Compliance, from the point the proposal is received in ORSP. During major and heavy deadline periods, additional time for proposal processing may be necessary.

Pre-proposals

Pre-proposal letters of intent must be submitted to the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects for review and authorization if one of the following conditions occur:

• The sponsor requesting the pre-proposal is requiring an institutional signature
• The sponsor requires a detailed budget of the pre-proposal
• The sponsor requires University cost share or in-kind

If one or more of these conditions occur then the PI must submit the proposal package (see prior section).

Limitations on the Number of Proposals an Institution May Submit

For those intending to submit proposals under programs where sponsors limit the number of proposals a campus may submit, a notification must be given to ORSP at least 30 days prior to the submission deadline. The Research Office will provide guidance as to how the submission process will be structured.

Public Sponsors With Electronic Proposal Submissions

Grants.gov
grants.gov

Grants.gov is the centralized portal, established by the Federal government, to provide a unified electronic source that will allow PIs to both find funding opportunities and submit proposals. All 26 Federal agencies have Grants.gov implementation plans. Grants.gov got its start in 2003 by first rolling out funding opportunities. Grant submission capabilities were then added. All 26 agencies will continue to post both funding opportunities and proposal submission packages.

National Science Foundation
www.nsf.gov

NSF required electronic submission for all proposals, including revisions and supplements, using the FastLane system. In order to register for a FastLane user account, the PI should supply ORSP with the information requested on the NSF FastLane System Registration Form. The PI should use the "Allow SRO Access" utility in FastLane to enable ORSP to view the proposal online. Once the completed PIAF is received ORSP then electronically signs and submits the proposal to NSF. The Project Reports System allows the PI to submit annual and final reports as well as post award updates to NSF.

National Institutes of Health
www.nih.gov

NIH has almost completed its transition to Grants.gov for electronic submission of proposals, and also requires registration in the NIH Commons for proposal submissions. The NIH Commons can also be used to submit electronic Simplified Non-Competing Continuation Applications (e-SNAP).

Other links of interest for NIH are:

• eCommons
• eCommons Support
• NIH ERA Homepage

Department of Agriculture
www.usda.gov

USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service will be using Grants.gov for its eGrants solutions. Like NIH, CSREES has developed a staged implementation strategy for Grants.gov over FY 2006 and 2007. Assuming success in the FY 2006 staged deployment, CSREES expects to provide all applicants the option to electronically submit applications to all programs in FY 2007.

Department of Defense: Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs
cdmrp.army.mil/

The e-receipt system allows for online proposal submission, separate actions must be taken by the application and the contract representative to complete the submission process. After review of a paper copy of the proposal, the final submission is made by ORSP.

Department of Education
www.ed.gov

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) will be transitioning its discretionary grants application process to use the federal government-wide Grants.gov system.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
www.nasa.gov

NSPIRES is the NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System. This web-based system supports the entire lifecycle of NASA research solicitation and awards, from the release of solicitation announcements through the peer review and selection process, to awards management and publication of research results. NASA will be using Grants.gov in addition to NSPIRES.

Department of Energy
www.energy.gov

The Department of Energy is also migrating to Grants.gov; their FY06 goal is for 100% of funding opportunities to use Grants.gov for applications.

Private Sponsors With Electronic Proposal Submissions

American Heart Association
www.americanheart.org

Electronic submission is required, but electronic Authorized Representative approval is not required at the proposal phase by AHA. A PIAF and a paper copy of the proposal must be approved by ORSP and then the proposal can be submitted electronically by the PI.

Dreyfus Foundation
www.dreyfus.org

As of July 2003 the proposal cover sheet must be submitted electronically, the remainder of the application must be submitted to the Foundation in paper form. ORSP requires a PIAF and a paper copy prior to submission to the sponsor.

Proposal Central
pc.ramscompany.com

Proposal Central is a web based grants management system allowing grant-making organizations to simplify receipt and review of applications. Participating organizations include: Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, Alzheimer's Association, American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, Arthritis Foundation, Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International and Paralyzed Veterans of America. Electronic submission is required, but electronic Authorized Representative approval is not required at the proposal phase. A PIAF and paper copy of the proposal must be approved by ORSP before submitted electronically by the PI.