Proposal Preparation and Submission
Implementation Timeline
Submission thru InfoEd Required
Conflict of Interest Disclosures*
URFO Small Grants, Publication Subvention, Major Program LOIs**
Grant Proposals to Non-Profit Sponsors
Grant Proposals & Clinical Trial Agreements to Industry Sponsors
Ohio, Local Government, and Other Government Sponsors
National Science Foundation
National Institute of Health (all NIH Institutes)
U.S. Department of Energy
NASA, Department of Defense, Other Fed Agencies
Starting Date
10/02/2023
All submission on or after 10/02/2023
Proposals due on or after 10/16/2023
Proposals due on or after 10/30/2023
Proposals due on or after 11/13/2023
Proposals due on or after 1/1/2024
Proposals due on or after 2/5/2024
Proposals due on or after 3/1/2024
TBD
*COI Disclosures: Beginning October 2, all COI disclosures must be made through InfoEd - even when valid COI disclosures exist in the previous system. Legacy data from the site coi.utoledo.edu will not be available! COI disclosures should be submitted in InfoEd no later than November 1 in order to ensure timely processing prior to 2024 deadlines.
**URFO Proposal Submissions: Contact the InfoEd Support Team, InfoEd@utoledo.edu, for assistance with InfoEd questions about LOI, Small Grants, Publication Subvention submissions. Contact Eva English, urfo@utoledo.edu, for URFO programmatic questions.
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) staff is committed to assisting investigators and administrators across both campuses.
- Complete the Proposal Intake Form to request assistance from ORSP on developing your budget and other essential documents
when submitting a proposal for funding from external sponsors.
- This form needs to be completed at least 10 business days prior to proposal submission deadline for proposals without subrecipients, and at least 15 business days prior to the submission deadline for proposals with subrecipients.
- For assistance with proposal writing or development, please contact Eva English, Director of Grants Development and Strategic Partnerships. Proposal-writing resources, guides, and tips are also available on the Proposal Development section of our website.
- Quick guide to steps in proposal preparation or the FAQ page for more information
- InfoEd is coming! Beginning in October 2023, some new proposals will be started in InfoEd instead of through the Proposal Intake Form.
ORSP works with UToledo faculty, staff, students, external sponsors and subcontractors to manage requests for funding for research and other scholarly and creative activities. The ORSP staff also provides oversight and advice on issues of federal, state and institutional compliance, and regulations related to these activities.
Lead times
To provide optimal support to our researchers, in the grant proposal process, ORSP requires both a final budget and completed Proposal Endorsement Form (RSP100) five business days prior to the proposal submission deadline.
For proposals with subrecipients (subcontracts), a final budget is needed ten business days prior to the proposal submission deadline. Some collaborating universities require longer lead times and have refused participation with UToledo proposals when given shorter notice that their internal required lead times.
- The final budget must include a list of all co-investigators, all additional key personnel and a budget justification.
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) is committed to best practice, to utilize and receive the most thorough review and processing of the proposal, it is necessary to receive your packet of complete proposal documents a minimum of five business days prior to the sponsor or lead institution's submission deadline.
Some situations require additional time:
- If you are including subrecipients on your proposal, including co-investigators at other universities or national labs, consultants, and/or purchased services, please note that complete subrecipient commitment forms, budgets, scopes of work, and other documents must be received by ORSP at least 10 to 15 business days prior to the sponsor submission deadline so that the UToledo budget and other documents can be finalized within the five-day window.
- If UToledo is a subrecipient on another institution’s proposal, your budget, scope of work, and subrecipient commitment forms must be received by ORSP at least ten business days prior to the lead institution’s deadline for full review and processing.
No-Cost Extension
Principal Investigator(s) contemplating changes are strongly encouraged to contact their Grant Management Specialist (GMS), or equivalent personnel, as each funding agency may have different requirements and timelines for how these requests must be made. NSF and NIH both allow a one-time automatic grantee approved No-Cost Extension (NCE) upon request. If an additional extension is needed, the sponsor needs to provide written approval and may require additional details to approve the request. Please advise subaward(s) of your intent to extend the award.
Note: having unobligated funds at the end of a grant is not a sufficient justification for a no-cost extension per guidance from NIH and NSF. All programmatic reports must be up to date at the time of the NCE request.
PI’s responsibilities on sponsored projects can be found in policy# 3364-70-22.
NCE requests must be signed by an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) from UToledo before the proposed change can be submitted to the funding agency. Submit the NCE form to begin your request.
If you have any questions regarding this form please contact RSP.Admin@UToledo.edu.
Proposal Endorsement Form (PEF)
Download and complete the Proposal Endorsement Form (RSP100) prior to proposal submission. A PDF of the budget marked final and initialed by your grants coordinator, must be attached to the PEF when it is presented to the co-investigators, deans, and chairs of all represented departments for signatures. The percent credit must be designated on the PEF and allocation for investigators must sum to 100%. The budget sheet must be initialed and dated by all signers. The completed PEF must be signed and received by ORSP before submission to any sponsor.
Percent Effort is Not the Same as Credit
Effort is determined by compensation paid through or committed for a sponsored project (i.e. through mandatory cost share). UToledo policy states that compensation charged to a sponsored program should be reasonable and consistent with earnings for similar work expected for that person’s appointment. This is defined by the Academic Year Base Salary (AYBS). The maximum compensation that can be requested in a sponsored project budget is the individual’s AYBS multiplied by the percent effort committed to the Sponsored Program (UToledo policy 3364-70-18).
Percent credit is determined by agreement among the Principal Investigator(s) (PI), Co-PIs, and Co-Investigators (Co-I). Credit allocation distributes recognition of the investigators and departments as well as Facilities and Administrative (F&A, indirect) costs recovery and distribution among investigators' departments and colleges. Credit must total 100% on each PEF (RSP100). If the PI claims full credit for the grant then Faculty 180 will indicate 100% credit for the PI and his/her department with all indirect cost recovery allocated only to the PI's unit.Split credit is used to fairly represent the contributions of investigators from various units. The process encourages collaborations across departments and colleges by facilitating an equitable distribution on award reports. Such a system also allows recognition of investigators and their departments including when program guidelines stipulate that the PI must be a Provost or VP.
Required Documents
For a complete proposal, the Principal Investigator works with the grants coordinator in ORSP to prepare detailed budget documents for UToledo and subrecipients. A complete budget and drafts of all other documentation is required at least five days prior to proposal submission deadline. Longer lead times are required for proposals with subrecipients or multiple institutions:
- Detailed Budget — changes to your budget cannot be accepted by ORSP within 5 days of sponsor or lead institution deadlines, except under extraordinary circumstances. Changes may not be made to the budget marked final by your grants coordinator without approval by ORSP at any time. Please note, that small changes in the budget are usually allowed after award without sponsor approval.
- Applicable subcontract documents (i.e. approved budget from subrecipient research office, scope of work, consortium agreement)
- Complete proposals typically include:
- Project Summary
- Project Description or Plan
- Budget Justification
- Biosketches for All Key Personnel
- Current and Pending Support
- Data Management Plan
- Facilities and Resources
- Post-Doctoral Fellow Mentoring Plan
- Letters of Support or Collaboration
- All Subrecipient Documents
ORSP Proposal Review & Submission Deadlines
Proposal submission confirms UToledo’s agreement to the sponsor's award terms and conditions. During the pre-award review, unfavorable or unacceptable award terms and conditions may be addressed. However, when a proposal is submitted without ample time for pre-award review, there is not only the potential for an incomplete or inaccurate submission, but also the risk of award terms and conditions to which the University is not able to agree. If the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) is unable to negotiate removal of such terms and conditions at time of the award, the University will decline the award.
The timelines below refer to proposals with all documents complete.
proposals arriving on-time to orsp | 10 days or more before deadline
The pre-award team’s proposal review of documentation requires ten full business days (up to fifteen days for proposals with subrecipients) and include the following:
- Review of Request for Proposal (RFP), FOA, or solicitation to ensure compliance with guideline.
- Review cost share requirements and calculations
- Review draft budget and make suggestions and corrections where needed
- Review budget justification to ensure that it matches final budget
- Advise and assist with letters of support or commitment
- Review budget and other documents for compliance with UToledo policy and submission requirements
- Assist with sponsor submission portal
- When proposal includes subaward(s) – check that all required documentation is received (a minimum of fifteen full business days is required for proposals with subrecipients, subcontracts, or subawards).
Proposals Arriving Late to ORSP | Less Than 10 to 15 Days Before Deadline
If requests for assistance including proposal documents arrive at ORSP less than 10 business days before the submission deadline, grants coordinators will not perform a full proposal review. Rather, the focus will be solely on submitting the proposal in time to meet the sponsor deadline. The Director will inform you if ORSP cannot provide full review of the budget or ensure other documents are complete or correct.
On-time submissions will be given priority.
Complete Proposals Arriving 5 Business Days in Advance of the Submission Deadline
Depending on the volume of proposals already received and in progress within ORSP, review may include the following:
- Review budget
- Review budget justification for consistency with budget
- Review for submission issues
- Review cost share forms
Complete Proposals Arriving 2-4 Business Day in Advance of the Submission Deadline
If submission issues cannot be rapidly resolved, submission may not be possible.
- Review budget
- Review budget justification for consistency with budget