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Preparing Proposals

Office of Sponsored Programs and Sponsored Research Services (SRS) strive to provide A&M-SA with excellent sponsored project administration services. Pre-award administration is a complex process that requires sufficient preparation time prior to submission to the sponsor. Adequate preparation time will ensure that sponsor requirements, A&M-SA rules, SOPs or guidelines are followed and proposals are submitted by the sponsor’s deadline. OSP and SRS are able to add the most value to the proposal submission process when sufficient time is available to prepare the proposal, and to conduct a thorough quality review. To ensure the highest level of support we issue the following guidelines for proposal services:

  1. Initial contact
  • OSP is available to assist you from the very beginning of your proposal preparation activity.  Once you have a specific funding opportunity in mind, complete the Intent to Apply Form  and return it, by email to OSP with a copy to your chairperson, and Dean.  It is important to do this early to be sure you have the support of your department and college, are able to benefit from the full range of OSP and SRS services and are able to obtain approvals in a timely manner.
  • Researchers are asked to contact OSP with their Intent to Apply Form a minimum of 3 weeks prior to the sponsor deadline date.
  • Complex proposals (e.g. the proposal contains subcontracts or cost share/match, etc...) or solicitations containing terms and conditions may need additional preparation time (longer than 3 weeks). Therefore, researchers are encouraged to contact OSP as soon as possible to facilitate the proposal submission.
  • Intent to Apply forms for the School of Education and Human Development must be signed by the Chairperson and Dean before they are sent to OSP.
  • Once the Intent to Apply form is received, OSP will forward a copy to SRS and reach out to the PI to offer assistance with RFP interpretation, Institutional information and preliminary budget.
  • SRS will log the proposal into MAESTRO and reach out to the Principal Investigator (PI) to establish a timeline for the submittal of the proposal. Once the proposal has been logged in, the PI will be assigned a proposal number and receive an automated email from Maestro tasking them to complete the compliance and reporting code screens.
  1. Preparation of Administrative portions of the proposal– SRS requests the following documents (when applicable) 5 business daysin advance of the sponsor deadline:
  • Budget
  • Budget Justification
  • Draft abstract or statement of work (to use in routing to obtain A&M-SA approval)
  • Relevant approved waivers
  • Subcontract documents
  • Biosketch
  • Current & pending
  • Data Management Plan
  • Facilities & Equipment
  1. Technical Portions of the proposal– All technical portions of the proposal should be submitted to SRS, in final format, no later than 1 business day prior to the sponsor deadline.
  2. SRS pledge to the research community
  • Proposals in final format received at SRS by the timeline outlined above will receive a complete and thorough quality review.
  • For proposals completed and submitted to SRS within this timeframe, SRS will work with the PI to make necessary changes to ensure that the proposal is administratively compliant.
  • SRS pledges to submit on-time proposals, with limited exceptions, prior to the sponsor’s deadline. Proposals with the required materials submitted to SRS within the timeframe outlined above will receive priority over proposals received with shorter lead time.
  • SRS staff will make every effort to submit all proposals. In the event that a proposal is received outside of the requested timeframe, the investigator will assume the risk for proposals found to be non-compliant or does not meet the sponsor’s deadline.
  1. Agency Deadline– Unless the deadline is specifically defined as earlier than 5 p.m. by the sponsor, the submission deadline for SRS is 5 p.m. local time on the sponsor’s specified deadline date (even if the sponsor allows submissions beyond 5 p.m.).
  2. Approvals– If a proposal is submitted to the sponsor without SRS or A&M-SA review, the proposal may be withdrawn if it is determined to be non-compliant with the System Member rules, SOPs or guidelines or if a member of the review team refuses to approve it.