An application for a grant or contract is considered an agreement between the university and an external entity. Therefore an application must be submitted by staff of Sponsored Programs and not the individual who is proposing the project. Note: If a sponsor’s guidelines specifically indicate that the funds of an awarded application will be given to or administered by an individual, please notify the office to confirm whether the application should be submitted by the individual.

Who does what?

The individual who is proposing the project (PI):

1. Writes any and all narrative portions of an application – assistance is available in the form of boilerplates, templates, sample proposals, external reviews, and in some cases grant writing services – See Develop a Proposal Narrative

2. Identifies budget items that will be needed for the project – for guidance see Develop a Proposal Budget

3. Completes the required application documents to meet both internal and external deadlines shown below:

• Sponsored Programs internal review – at least 3 days before the sponsor’s submission deadline.  This is required for a thorough review of the application package.  Proposals that do not meet this deadline may be submitted to the sponsor with limited to no review.  In such cases, the PI will be responsible for actions taken by the sponsor for non-compliance.  Also, there may be delays in accepting awards and establishing accounts resulting from these proposals.  
• Sponsor’s submission deadline

4. Initiates internal preparation of the proposal in Maestro for internal routing and approvals (by Key Personnel, Department Head, Dean, and Vice Provost for Research).

5. PI can utilize the university's outside research development firm.  PIs interested in this should contact the Office of Sponsored Programs and request permission.  Sponsored Programs will put the PI in contact with the firm.  The PI MUST contact the office at least 30 days before the sponsor's deadline.

Staff:

1. Can assist with preparing the application forms and compiling application packages/documents

2. Will assist in preparing the budget documents

3. Will begin the internal routing process in Maestro

4. Review the application and all documents against the sponsor’s specific guidelines to help ensure the application follows the guidelines of the sponsor and federal, state, and System regulations.

5. Applies on behalf of the applicant/university

List of Items Needed To Submit an Application

1. All required  application documents – see the specific sponsor guidelines to find what documents are required

For assistance developing some of the required documents see the following webpages

     Develop a Proposal Narrative

     Develop a Proposal Budget

     Biographical Sketch

     Subaward (Along With Another University)

     Resources – tools, templates, and data

2. An internal review from Sponsored Programs– submit application documents for review at least 3 days before the sponsor’s application submission deadline.

3. All required internal approvals in Maestro MUST be completed before Sponsored Programs will submit a proposal. (A proposal is routed electronically for internal approvals via Maestro. The proposal must be approved in Maestro by the following personnel and in the following order: Applicant, Department Head, College Dean, and Vice President for Research and Economic Development.  For collaborators from different departments, each person's department head and dean will be included in the routing process.  Please understand that this does take more time to make it through the routing process. (If you know one of the approvers is out of the office, please let us know before routing.)

Guidance for initiating routing in Maestro

Guidance for approving a proposal in Maestro

Recommended Road to Submission

Research Duties Flowchart