Timely Submission of Grant Proposals and Related Documents

Date: November 17, 2016
Policy ID: 2.800
Status: Final

Contact Office:
Assistant Dean for Research Administration
Office of Grants and Contacts
PO Box 800793
Charlottesville, VA 22908
Phone: 434-243-2908
Fax: 434-924-8725

Oversight Executive:
Senior Associate Dean for Research
Dean’s Office, School of Medicine
PO Box 800793
Charlottesville, VA 22908
Phone:434-982-3408
Fax: 434-982-0874

Applies to:
Any Principal Investigator (PI) who submits a grant to the Office of Grants and Contracts for review and submission.

Reason for Policy:
Applications for extramural funding and related materials should be of the highest quality. Quality is the product of a deliberate, timely proposal preparation process that provides for substantial input, assistance, and review from research team members, faculty colleagues, mentors, departmental staff, and Dean’s office staff. This policy creates a framework to ensure that Proposals and Related Documents represent our collective best efforts.

Definitions:

Administrative Components: The parts of a Proposal that are supplemental to the Science Components. Administrative Components include, at minimum:

• A completed and signed UVA Proposal Routing Form
• A completed and signed sponsor application package (except for the Science Components defined below)
• Abstract (draft)
• Detailed budget and justification
• Compliance information (human or animal subject approvals, biohazard approvals)
• Biosketches
• Appropriate administrative documents for all external participating institutions (consortia)
  • Consortium Agreement, signed by Consortium Institution’s Authorized Official
  • Statement of Work
  • Budget
  • Budget Justification
• Institutional letters of support
• Confirmation of sponsor-specific indirect cost policy (for indirect cost rates other than UVA’s federally approved rate)

Business Day:  A day on which the SOM Office of Grants and Contracts is open, which typically is Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm. University-recognized holidays and other days the University is closed are not Business Days.

Deadline: The date and time specified by a funding agency for the submission of a Proposal or Related Documents. Deadlines that post a time after 5pm shall be considered due at 5 pm. Any deadline prior to 12pm/noon shall be considered due the preceding day by 5pm.

Proposal: A competitive or supplemental application submitted to a funding agency, regardless of agency requirement for institutional endorsement. Applications on which UVA. is a subrecipient are considered Proposals.

Related Documents: Documentation requested by a funding agency in support of a Proposal or an award. This category includes non-competing continuation proposals and progress reports. The agency may set a Deadline for such documents.

Science Components: The sections of a Proposal that address the importance of the science and how the project will be conducted, which are defined as:

• Specific Aims
• Research Plan
• References Cited
• Abstract (final)

PolicyStatement:
The Administrative Components of a Proposal will be completed and submitted to the Office of Grants and Contracts for review not less than five Business Days prior to the funding agency’s Deadline. The Science Components will be completed and submitted to the Office of Grants and Contracts for review and the Proposal will be deemed final and ready for submission by the PI not less than two Business Days prior to the funding agency’s Deadline.

For Proposals that fail to comply with the submission requirements of either the Administrative Components or the Science Components, written approval must be obtained by the PI from the Senior Associate Dean for Research or his/her designee for the proposal to be reviewed and submitted by the Office of Grants and Contracts. Generally, justifications for such approval will be limited to family emergencies and other extreme circumstances. Compliance with this policy assumes that all submitted Components are final and complete except for changes requested by Grants and Contracts staff.

Related Documents will be submitted to the Office of Grants and Contracts not less than five Business Days prior to the Deadline. Exceptions to the deadline for Related Documents will be made when the funding agency provides a Deadline less than five Business Days from its initial request. Although the Office of Grants and Contracts will review and submit related documents that are not submitted within the time frame stipulated in this policy, compliance with the Deadline cannot be assured.

Next Scheduled Review: August 2019

Revision History:
This is the first version of this policy.