To establish UAH’s proposal submission process and procedures.
To maximize the chances that sponsored research proposals are successfully selected for award, it is vital that the campus continue to submit the highest-quality proposals to our sponsors. Last minute proposal submissions can result in not enough lead time to conduct a proper review of the proposal before it is submitted and also jeopardize the successful submission in time to meet a sponsor’s deadline.
Additionally, the electronic submission process requires accessing the sponsor web site systems/portals to submit the proposal with ample time to upload the documents, respond to errors, and potentially resubmit the proposal with sufficient time before the published deadline. Sponsors are no longer sympathetic to circumstances that lead to late proposal submissions, so if the system’s time-stamped deadline is not met, the proposal will be rejected and not considered for potential funding.
It usually requires a 5-day lead-time (prior to agency due date) in order for OSP to provide a complete proposal review. This is due to the fact that OSP is often reviewing many proposals simultaneously for the same deadline, preparing proposal budgets, in addition to processing awards, miscellaneous award transactions, and assisting center and department staff with the foregoing. In order to provide a clearer idea to faculty and research staff regarding what OSPcan do, given certain amounts of lead time, we have prepared the following guideline:
| Proposal Components |
Grant and Subgrant Proposals |
Contract and Subcontract Proposal |
| Final proposal package including draft of the technical portion. |
8 am, three (3) working days prior to the sponsor's published deadline. |
8 am, five (5) working days prior to the sponsor's published deadline. |
| Final text for the technical portion. |
No later than noon the day before sponsor's published deadline. |
No later than noon the day before the sponsor's published deadline. |
- A ready-to-submit proposal is defined as (but not limited too) the following: a PI approved proposal budget, all required documents (technical, CVs, current/pending, etc.), all documents uploaded into the respective agency applications; and the application released to OSP.
- The Electronic Internal Coordination Sheet (ICS) will be released upon receipt of the final proposal package as noted above.
- Proposal submissions take precedent over all other actions. The contract administrator’s review will be done as soon as possible, however, no later than 24 hours from date of receipt in OSP. This will allow the PI time to make any needed corrections before submission to the AOR for final approval and submission to the sponsor.
- All proposals are submitted on a First-in First out process. Proposals received before (or by) the OSP submittal deadlines will be processed first.
- If the PI notifies the administrator that additional changes must be made to the already circulated “final” proposal, the PI will have one (1) working day to make the necessary changes, providing available time to do so. If we do not receive the revised documents after the one (1) day grace period; the ICS will be reset for the PI and their immediate supervisor’s (center director, dean, or department chair) approval with comment stating the reason(s) for re-circulation.
Proposals received with less than 1 days' time prior to agency's due date, OSP may only be able to verify that the minimum requirements, such as budget and agency certification and representation forms are complete prior to submission.
If possible, OSP will provide a more thorough review than these minima, time permitting. Note: the contract administrator or contract and grant coordinator will let the PI know when a proposal will receive less than a complete review, due to time constraints.
Proposals received after the OSP submittal deadlines are not guaranteed to be successfully submitted due to:
- Errors that result in a rejection and require a resubmission to the Sponsors' automated web services system; and/or
- Network volume, slowing down transmission of proposal to Sponsors’ automated web services system and thus missing the sponsor due date/time. This is a common issue with Grants.gov submissions.
Emergency circumstances will occur. When they do, please inform the contract administrator or contract and grant coordinator as early as possible; so they can provide assistance and support with the pending proposal.
Periodic reports will be sent to the Center Director, Dean, and Vice President for Research reflecting proposal submission data to assist with the proposal submission process.
Proposal submission processes and procedures are located on the Office of Sponsored Programs website, under the Researchers’ Resources link
