Working with the Office of Sponsored Projects: Procedures & Budget Basics

Donna Martin

Office of Sponsored ProjectsThe mission: assist university faculty

and staff obtain external funding for their research, creative artistry, and instructional and public service projects.

Step 1: Have a Strategic Research Plan

Have an idea! Innovative Creative Collaborative New directions in the field, etc.

Step 1: Have a Strategic Research Plan, cont’d

Know key sources for funding—others, conferences, journal articles

Know key researchers (how can you compete with the established researchers in the field?)

Establish timelines for your research program (1 year, 5 years, 10 years) – with OSP

Pilot data and beyond Internal grants (perhaps to gather pilot data;

OSP doesn’t assist with internal grants) Post-doctoral opportunities Foundations State (somewhat limited funding

opportunities) Federal

Step 2: When planning a proposal submission…

At least 1 month before deadline: Contact the OSP Research

Development Staff to discuss the proposal and budget

Begin to line up institutional project commitments, where necessary

Steps 3-4: Finalize narrative & budget

2-3 weeks before deadline:

Your narrative should be nearing a final draft.

You and your OSP Research Development Specialist should be finalizing the budget.

Step 5: Proposal submission

All proposals must be delivered to OSP in final form 5 working days prior to the agency deadline

Step 5: Proposal submission

All proposals must be delivered to OSP in final form 5 working days prior to the agency deadline

Step 5: Proposal submission

All proposals must be delivered to OSP in final form 5 working days prior to the agency deadline

Electronic submissions are especially important to have well before the deadline day. They will be submitted before the deadline day.

OSP will obtain internal approval signatures

Proposal Submission, cont’d Many are electronic submissions through

grants.gov or agency/foundation websites. If copies are needed, OSP will make the

copies and mail.

Internal Approvals… System Tracking & External Project form

(STEP) …they’re on green paper…eventually will be routed electronically…

STEP forms include basic proposal info: (who, what, when, where): PI/co-PI, title, 1 sentence description of project Budget info, any Facilities & Administrative

costs (F&A/Indirects/Overhead) scope of work or Abstract

Internal Approvals, cont’dBefore a proposal is submitted to an external

agency: the PI (& co-PI) has to sign the STEP forms Your Departmental Chair has to sign Your Dean has to sign Double that if your co-PI is from another

department and/or college OSP has to sign

Internal Approvals, cont’d

It is the PI’s responsibility to provide his or her Chair and Dean with information about the proposed project well before they receive internal signature folders from OSP.

Then what? Contact OSP immediately when you receive

your award notice! You may need documentation sent back to the

agency with authorized university signatures (V.P. of Research or Director of OSP)

If they award less than requested, we’ll need to revise the budget

OSP has to initiate award process Grants Fiscal Administration

Potential delays at award stage No proposal on file in OSP (still need to have

internal approvals in place before OSP can execute and process award)

Outstanding compliance issues (IRB, IACUC) Problematic award language (OSP may have

to negotiate with the sponsor) Publication Rights Intellectual Property Rights

Contact OSP when you receive a letter of denial.

If OSP receives a letter of denial that the agency did not also send to the PI, an electronic notice will be sent to the PI.

If your proposal is rejected. . . Don’t give up!

Get reviews Talk to agency contact Re-evaluate, revise and resubmit Look for other potential funders

OSP website resources

Connections to funding sources Information on Federal & University

Regulations Links to grant writing advice Forms Budget Information and more

http://www.osp.niu.edu

Finding Funding IRIS GrantSearch SPIN

Foundation Center: newsletters available (Arts & Education)

Federal info: www.grants.gov

Budget

Budget Basics Work with OSP to prepare the budget Excel templates for 1 - 5 year projects are

available The templates are internal for OSP and are

the NSF standard. The budget categories can be altered for whatever format is required by a specific agency/foundation.

Step 1: Read the Guidelines!

Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation: “And if you submit a budget that contradicts any of these carefully described guidelines, we will have reason to think of you as a careless reader and thoughtless applicant. This will inevitably be reflected in our estimation of the potential of your scholarship.”

Step 2: Be familiar with what can/cannot be included in a budget

Budget CostsEnvision what your project needs to make it a reality

A cost must be reasonable A cost must be allowable: permitted by agency

guidelines or other regulations A cost must be allocable: the cost is incurred solely

to support or advance the work of a specific sponsored research award and is necessary

Unallowable costs Generally, unallowable costs include:

administrative and clerical salaries local telephone charges and installation office supplies memberships postage

If a charge is unallowable as a direct cost, it is also unallowable as a match or cost sharing.

Consider agency limits: Items they will fund—& items they will NOT

fund What level they will fund—don’t propose a

budget over the level (it will most likely be rejected. Automatic rejection for some programs.)

What is number of years they will fund?

Budget tips If the project is over several years, build in cost

increases Remember that the grant will not start for

probably several months and submit costs accordingly

Develop a budget explanation to delineate clearly how budget figures were computed

Ensure that the budget coincides with the narrative and falls within the time-frame allowed (see guidelines for start and end dates)

Step 3: Develop your Budget Direct Costs Facilities & Administrative Costs

Step 4: Budget Justification/narrative Consists of short paragraphs describing each

line item Generally included after the budget

explanation to clarify and justify the requests Items which need special justification include

equipment purchases (especially personal computers), foreign travel, administrative/clerical costs, and sometimes course releases

5. Cost SharingSome grants require that a portion of the total project

costs be contributed by your agency or other sources. These contributions must be:

directly related to the project occur within the project time period easy to trace in an audit by the funding agency approved by the source of the funds prior to

submission of the proposal (Department Chairs/Deans, etc)

6. Subcontracts If you’re working with another university to

subcontract a piece of the work (not as a “consultant”—that’s a different issue and not through OSP), OSP will need the following: A budget (we’ll work with you to develop this) A consortium agreement (the Universities

establish an agreement to cooperate on an award) A Scope of Work—a couple paragraphs

describing the work you are agreeing to perform

Putting it all together OSP is here to help you through the

grant process: setting up your research goals, finding funding, reviewing narratives, securing internal signatures, submitting applications, and through the award or denial of proposal stages. We’ll go over review comments with you and work on revisions/resubmissions.