B: Notify OSP of Intent to Submit

Once you’ve identified a funding opportunity to pursue, contact OSP to notify the Pre-Award team of your intent to submit a proposal. It is helpful to share a link to the specific solicitation with the Pre-award team. Early notification is also key to allowing the Pre-Award team to provide the highest level of support for your grant development efforts. Faculty are also encouraged to notify their Department Chair and Dean of their intent to submit.

If  your proposal will involve human or animal subjects, biohazardous materials or r-DNA, you will need to obtain approval by the respective oversight committee for these types of research. When you notify the Pre-Award team of your intent to submit, it is also a good idea to notify the respective compliance unit of your research needs (IRB, IACUC, IBC). 

D: Write the Proposal

The PI and project team will have responsibility for writing the proposal narrative, including any supporting documents such as biosketches, abstract, references cited, and supporting documents. The Pre-Award team will assist with development of the budget and budget justification in addition to providing pre-reads and support during the writing phase. Information in the proposal narrative should strongly presented and in enough detail to give reviewers a clear and concise understanding of the proposed project. Consider using SMART objectives to write your narrative (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound). 

D: Cost Sharing

Cost sharing is the portion of total project costs that are paid by the non-federal entity (i.e. UW Oshkosh or a third-party partner). Cost sharing can include cash contributions, or in-kind donations such as donated services or use of existing facilities. Some sponsors have mandatory cost sharing thresholds while other sponsors do not allow cost sharing (i.e. NSF). Cost sharing should only be included in a proposal budget if it is mandatory per the sponsor’s solicitation. In most cases voluntary committed cost sharing is not included in a grant proposal. The PI should work with their department chair and dean’s office to develop a cost sharing plan for the proposal. The Pre-Award team is available to offer suggestions for allowable cost sharing. 

H: Internal Review

Requests for extramural support (i.e. grant funding) that involve the University’s name and resources must be approved through an internal review process prior to submission to the sponsor. This includes proposals where UWO is a subrecipient (non-lead institution). The internal review phase allows institutional approvers such as the Dean, Department Chair, Controller, OSP Director, and Grants Accountant to review and approve the proposal for submission. Internal review is documented on the Internal Review Form (IRF). The PI is responsible for completing the IRF and sharing it with the Pre-Award team. The Pre-Award team will attach it to the proposal and route it for approvals. OSP asks for the IRF, in addition to the final budget and budget narrative, and the drafted project narrative, a minimum of seven (7) business days prior to the sponsor deadline. Pre-award staff perform a full compliance review of the packet. Pre-Award team will contact the PI if their review results in necessary changes to the budget or other documents. The Pre-Award team will then circulate the proposal for internal approvals. The PI should anticipate that internal review will take approximately 3-5 days to complete.