Proposal Development

Julie Wammack

CRC FYAP

May 2, 2012

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Steps for Proposal Development/Submission

Find funding that matches your research interests/needs

Read the agency documents – RFP, agency guidelines, etc.

Prepare proposal Obtain institutional approvals Submit the proposal to SRS

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Contact SRS – ASAP

Establish a working relationship with the administrator who will process your proposal

Administrator provides agency-specific expertise

Questions about the proposal process can be answered

3-day submission policy Documents needed for SRS PI Responsibilities/SRS Responsibilities

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Review ALL Proposal Documents

Funding Announcement –

RFP, Program Solicitation, Bid, BAA Application Instructions Agency Guidelines All these documents provide information pertinent to

your proposal These instructions must be followed or you risk the

proposal being rejected for non-compliance

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Request for Proposal (RFP)

Program Description Award Description Eligibility (Limited Submission?) Funding Limits Deadlines – Due Dates for Submissions Review/Evaluation Criteria Award Administration

Reporting requirements, etc.

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Natl Endowment of the HumanitiesChallenge Grants – Deadline 5/2/12

Institutions that support research, education, preservation, and public programming in humanities disciplines are eligible to apply for an NEH challenge grant; institutions may apply for only one NEH challenge grant in a calendar year.

The federal portions of NEH challenge grants have ranged in recent years from $30,000 to $1 million

Successful applicants will be offered a matching grant; recipients must raise three times the amount of federal funds offered

Challenge grant funds, federal or nonfederal, may not be used for . . . recovery of indirect costs . . .

Applicants are encouraged to submit a letter of intent and a preliminary draft of the full narrative section of the application. . . 6

Prepare the Proposal Application

Download the application forms from the agency website or upload the proposal documents for grants.gov, Fastlane or other sponsor-specific electronic submission programs

Check with the SRS to see if they handle any of the required forms

Fill-out forms in the application and attach items that must be included(Abstract, Project Narrative, Budget, Budget Narrative, Biosketch, Current/Pending Support, etc.)

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Standard NSF Grant Application

Project Summary – 1 page Project Description (narrative) – 15 pages Budget/Justification (3 pages) References Biosketches – 2 pages – specific format Current/Pending Support Facilities/Equipment Data Management Plan Postdoc mentoring plan if requesting support for

a postdoc 8

SRS Internal Documents Transmittal Form Scope of Work Budget Budget Justification

plus - All other agency-required documents

NOTE: Proposal must be submitted to SRS in

ready-form for submission

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Transmittal Form

Funding Announcement/Request for proposal (RFP) or solicitation number

Proposal due date and project performance period Name of PI/Co-PIs and departments involved Distribution of the indirect costs between the

participating departments Special commitments Items that may need further review or certifications

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Certifications

FSU must provide certain assurances, representations, and certifications when proposals are submitted or when accepting an award

Special Certifications may include Animal subjects DNA/RNA use Human subjects Hazardous chemicals Use of the FSU Marine Lab facilities

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Institutional approvals

Attach the entire agency application including the RFP, with the Proposal Transmittal

Route to all PI’s for signature Route to all associated Chairs and Deans for

approval Route to Sponsored Research Services for

approval

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Submitting Transmittal via OMNI

OMNI proposal submissions include the same information as a hardcopy proposal submitted with the Proposal Transmittal Form Differences

You attach the items electronically in the OMNI system

You can route the proposal electronically Advantages

You can track approvals electronically No running around Electronic records are available 24/7

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Submission Policy

3 Day Rule - The Vice President for Research instituted a policy effective on February 1, 2006, that states that a proposal must be submitted to Sponsored Research Services (SRS) by 9am three working days prior to the Agency deadline You may work on the technical narrative until 9am

on the day of submission SRS needs ample time to review the proposal and

institutional commitments Subcontracts or collaborations are also subject to

this rule

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Sponsor SRS InternalDeadline Deadline

Monday the previous Wednesday at 9 A.M.Tuesday the previous Thursday at 9 A.M.Wednesday the previous Friday at 9 A.M.Thursday Monday of the same week at 9 A.M.Friday Tuesday of the same week at 9

A.M.

*Saturday and Sunday are not business days and do not count towards the 3-day rule. You should treat Friday as the deadline, so the internal proposal deadline is Tuesday of the same week at 9 am.

*Some agencies move weekend and Federal holiday due dates to the next business day – but it needs to be verified by the sponsor.

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What Happens at Sponsored Research Services Review the RFP Review the complete proposal for conformity

with the RFP and FSU policies and regulations

Review special commitments that are being made

Make sure all parties have approved the proposal

Check the budget and budget justification

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Budget Development

1. Direct Cost Categories

2. F&A/Indirect Costs or “overhead”

3. Cost-sharing

4. C.A.S. exemption items

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Direct Costs

Direct costs are those costs that can be identified specifically with a particular sponsored project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity, or that can be directly assigned to such activities relatively easily with a high degree of accuracy.

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Indirect Costs - F&A - Overhead

Indirect costs are those that are incurred for common or joint objectives and, therefore, cannot be identified readily and specifically with a particular sponsored project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity.

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FSU’s Indirect Cost Rates

Indirect Cost Rates are applied depending on the following:

Type of Agency Location of Project (on/off campus/Mag

Lab) Type of Project Solicitation

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Budget – Types of Projects

Research A systematic study directed toward fuller scientific

knowledge and understanding gained of the subject studied

Instruction The teaching and training activities of an institution

Other Sponsored Activity This includes programs and projects which involve

the performance of work other than instruction or organized research

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F&A Bases - MTDC

Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) consists of all salaries and wages, fringe benefits, materials, supplies, services, travel, and subgrants/subcontracts up to the first $25,000 of each subgrant/subcontract

MTDC excludes equipment, capital expenditures, charges for patient care, tuition remission, rental costs of off-site facilities, scholarships, fellowships, and the portion of each subgrant/subcontract in excess of $25,000

Typically applied to federal-funded projects

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F&A Bases - TDC

Total Direct Costs (TDC) – consists of all direct costs

FSU policy - exclude matriculation from F&A base

Typically applied to non-federal funded projects

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Sample Budget MTDC/TDC Base

MTD TD

Salaries/Fringe $50,000 $50,000

Equipment $10,000 $10,000

Supplies $ 3,000 $ 3,000

Publications $ 2,000 $ 2,000

Tuition $10,895 $10,895

Total Direct $75,895 $75,895

MTDC/TD Base $55,000 $65,000

Indirect Costs $25,850 $ 6,500

Total Requested $101,745 $82,395 24

Cost Sharing• Costing sharing or matching is that portion of project costs

not borne by the sponsor. • A cost sharing commitment means any cost sharing included

and quantified (e.g., % of effort and/or dollar amount) in the proposal budget, proposal narrative or award document. The award document may incorporate the commitment directly or by reference to the proposal. Commitments must be authorized by the department chair, dean and Division of Sponsored Research prior to submitting the proposal.

• Project enhancement means describing "resources that are available" for the project but are not quantified in the proposal budget, narrative or other documents. This is not considered a cost sharing commitment.

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FSU Cost Sharing Policy

• The policy of the University is to make a cost sharing commitment only when required by the sponsor or by the competitive nature of the award and then to cost share only to the extent necessary to meet the specific requirements of the sponsored project.

• Should a PI have reason to request an exception to this policy, his or her chair or director must approve the request. The PI will then forward it for approval to his or her dean, or to the University official who oversees the PI's unit;

• Requires VPR approval, also.• Cost sharing is approved at the proposal stage.

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Personnel

Salaries & Wages

Include faculty, technicians, post-docs, graduate students, & other personnel who are assigned to the project

NOTE: for Federal projects administrative & clerical personnel normally fall within the indirect costs category and cannot be charged as “direct costs”

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Fringe Benefits Faculty/A&P/USPS

Retirement Health Insurance Social Security & Medicare Worker’s Comp & Unemployment

OPS Students Worker’s Comp & Unemployment

(*Grad students - salary supplement for health insurance)

OPS Non-students Medicare Worker’s Comp & Unemployment

Terminal Leave Poolhttp://www.research.fsu.edu/contractsgrants/documents/factssheet.pdf

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Consultants

Outside individuals with expertise and skills that will add value to project

Costs are usually listed in terms of daily rate

Consultants are typically paid in the form of a subcontract

Consultants never listed in the salaries & wages section and faculty & other FSU staff should not be listed as consultants

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Equipment• Items costing $5,000 or more with a useful life of 1 year or

more

• Items costing below $5,000 are considered materials/supplies and should be identified on that line

• Equipment should be detailed in the budget justification

• Equipment requests should only include those items needed to complete the project

Equipment – A-21

(3) "Special purpose equipment“ means equipment which is used only for research, medical, scientific, or other technical activities. Examples of special purpose equipment include microscopes, x-ray machines, surgical instruments, and spectrometers.

*Can be charged as a direct cost

Equipment – A-21

(4) "General purpose equipment“ means equipment, which is not limited to research, medical, scientific or other technical activities. •Examples include office equipment and furnishings, modular offices, telephone networks, information technology equipment and systems, air conditioning equipment, reproduction and printing equipment, and motor vehicles.•Cannot be charged as a direct cost

Agency Specific Guidance

National Science Foundation (NSF)Allowable items ordinarily will be limited to research equipment and apparatus not already available for the conduct of the work. General-purpose equipment, such as a personal computer and office furnishings, are not eligible for support unless primarily or exclusively used in the actual conduct of scientific research.

Department of Energy (DOE)Allowable items ordinarily will be limited to scientific equipment and apparatus not already available for the conduct of the work.

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Agency Specific

NASA•General-purpose equipment (e.g., personal computers and/or commercial software) valued at or above $5,000 is not allowable as a direct cost unless specifically approved by the NASA Award Officer.• Any requested general-purpose equipment purchase valued at or above $5,000 to be made as a direct charge under this award must include the equipment description, an explanation of how it will be used in the conduct of the research proposed, and a written certification that the equipment will be used exclusively for the proposed research activities and not for general business or administrative purposes.

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Supplies

Supplies and materials related to the project

Can be listed in budget as broad categories such as glassware, chemicals or art supplies

Minor equipment costing < $5,000

If the item is equipment costing $1,000 to $4,999 and has a useful life of a year or more, then it is excluded from the indirect cost base when calculating indirect costs from Federal sponsors

NOTE: For Federal projects, routine office supplies are normally treated as an indirect costs (paper, pencils, post-it notes, etc.)

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C.A.S. Exemptions

• In exceptional circumstances it may be appropriate to charge F&A costs directly to a sponsored project.

• If the nature of a sponsored project requires an extensive amount of administrative and/or clerical support or goods/services significantly greater than the routine level provided by an academic department, then the effort is deemed an exceptional circumstance and such costs can be accounted for as direct costs.

• An Exemption is REQUIRED to direct charge administrative and clerical salaries and other administrative-type expenses.

• In addition to meeting definition of exceptional circumstances, costs must be specifically identifiable to a particular sponsored project, be reasonable, allowable and allocable.

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C.A.S. Exemptions

• CAS exemption must be approved in advance of charges normally classified as F&A being charged directly to a project – at the proposal stage

• Complete CAS form• http://www.research.fsu.edu/contractsgrants/forms.html

• Submit to Director, Sponsored Research Services

NOTE: FSU (SRS) needs to approve the C.A.S. exemption; agency approval is not adequate because FSU is audited on these items

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Travel

Project-related travel is usually allowed and may include trips to collect data, present findings at a professional meeting, meetings with program officers or collaborators, etc.

Reimbursement of costs should be consistent with FSU’s travel policy

Most agencies (and SRS) require a break-down of funds requested, such as airfare, hotels, car rental, etc.

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Subawards/Subcontracts

Represents a collaboration of work by one or more other institutions

Costs for subawardee is presented in a separate line item and should include both the subawardee’s direct and F&A costs

A subaward detailed budget should be included as part of budget justification

Subawardee’s F&A costs are calculated in accordance with the subawardee’s negotiated F&A rate agreement

Contractual agreements for services or goods with an outside party are not included in this category

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Subawards / Subcontracts

If a collaboration is proposed we will need the following from each collaborator Letter of commitment from the Sponsored

Program Office (not PI) Scope of work for their activities Budget Budget Justification

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Other Direct Costs

This category contains all other proposal costs, i.e., animal per diems, publication charges, graphic fees, matriculation, communications, shipping, etc.

NOTE: Postage, local telephone, and memberships are normally treated as F&A costs on federal projects

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Matriculation

Matriculation costs (minimum of 9 hrs) should be included for graduate assistants supported by the project

Graduate Matriculation Rate for 12-13 is $403.51/hr or $10,895 for 27 hours (in-state)

If matriculation costs are not included in budget, an alternate source for paying must be identified (waiver 2 or 3 on transmittal form)

FSU excludes matriculation from F&A calculations in all proposals

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Matriculation Multiyear proposals should include a 15%

increase in matriculation costs annually Out of state matriculation is not an allowable

cost in most circumstances College of Engineering may apply out of

state rates to their proposals Certain training grants allow out of state

matriculation. Check the sponsor guidelines Fees are not an allowable cost unless applying

for a training grant

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Submission to Sponsor

Who is responsible for submission to the agency or sponsor? Hardcopy proposals = PI Electronic proposals = Sponsored Research

Services

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Notice of Intent to Award

The proposal has been sent off, and the funding agency has now made a funding decision . . .

Congratulations! The agency has recommended funding for your project!

Intent to Award may arrive in different forms Letter to PI and/or Sponsored Research Email Funding agency electronic funding mechanism A grant or contract arrives in the mail

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Agency Award Information This intent to award typically states the following:

That your application has been selected for funding Next step requirements of the funding agency

Revised budget Scope of work Animal subject protocols Human subjects approvals Revision of time period for project Certifications

Anticipated start date of the award

NOTE: A grant or contract received in the mail also requires some of the items listed above

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Additional Information

If new budget or scope of work is needed: This typically occurs when a funding agency

reduces the amount being funded from what you requested. If you are being funded a significant amount less than requested, typically your scope of work should be reduced

You will need to work with Sponsored Research Services and your department to obtain the required approvals for your new budget and time commitments to re-submit to the agency

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Advance Spending Project set up in Advance - is the internal set-up of a budget

number from which you may begin work and start spending

Request for Advance form can be found on www.research.fsu.edu

Implications of an advance Financial Research / Personnel

SRS looks at many factors Anticipated award date Agency pre-award spending regulations Agency assurance of award Department Guarantee of Advance Request

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Questions?

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