Proposal Submission Proposal Submission Process - PowerPoint Presentation

1. Proposal Submission Proposal Submission ProcessFYAP – May 6, 2014Julie Wammack, Assistant DirectorSponsored Research Administration (SRA)

2. Steps for Proposal SubmissionFind funding that matches your research interests/needsReview all the agency documents – funding solicitation, agency guidelines, etc.Prepare proposal Obtain institutional approvalsSubmit the proposal to Sponsored Research Administration (SRA)2

3. Proposal ToolsStaff Assignment SheetFacts SheetTransmittal Form/InstructionsProgram Announcement/SolicitationApplication packageAgency Guidelines

4. Contact Sponsored Research Administration (SRA) – ASAPEstablish a working relationship with the administrator who will process your proposalAdministrator provides agency-specific expertiseQuestions about the proposal process can be answered3-day submission policyDocuments needed for SRAPI Responsibilities/SRA Responsibilities4

5. Three-Working-Day PolicySRA Administrator needs at least three working days prior to the proposal deadline to review the proposal for complianceThis allows for feedback and suggestions to keep the proposal compliant with the agency guidelines and FSU policiesBy 9am of three-day deadline, SRA Administrator must receive “complete proposal”PI can work on narrative/scope of work until 9am of the deadline day

6. Three-working-day Deadline ChartSponsor DeadlineSRA Internal Deadline MondayPrevious Wednesday by 9 amTuesdayPrevious Thursday by 9 amWednesdayPrevious Friday by 9 amThursdayMonday of the same week by 9 amFridayTuesday of the same week by 9 amSaturday (if no agency guidance, Friday is considered deadline)Tuesday of the same week by 9 amSunday (if no agency guidance, Friday is considered deadline)Tuesday of the same week by 9 am

7. Review ALL Proposal DocumentsFunding Announcement:Request for Proposal (RFP), Program Solicitation, Request for Application (RFA), Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)Application Instructions Agency GuidelinesAll these documents provide information pertinent to your proposalThe instructions/guidelines must be followed or you risk the proposal being ‘returned without review’ for non-compliance.7

8. Request for Proposal (RFP) Program DescriptionEligibility (Limited Submission?)Funding LimitsDeadlines – Due Dates for SubmissionsSubmission process – electronic? Hard copy?Review/Evaluation CriteriaAward DescriptionAward Administration Reporting requirements, etc. 8

9. NEH – Challenge GrantDeadline: May 1, 2014Program Description: NEH challenge grants are capacity-building grants, intended to help institutions and organizations secure long-term support for their humanities programs and resources. Expenditures not eligible for support: recovery of indirect costsType of award: Matching grant - Recipients must raise three times the amount of federal funds offered, . . .Eligibility:Institutions may apply for only one NEH challenge grant in a calendar year

10. Basic Proposal DocumentsTransmittal Form Scope of WorkBudgetBudget Justification plus -All other agency-required documentsNOTE: Proposal must be submitted to SRA in ready-form for submission10

11. Transmittal Form – Institution ApprovalsAgency and funding announcementProposal due date and submission type Name of PI/Co-PIs, other personnel and departments involvedAmount requested and project performance periodDistribution of the indirect costs between the participating departments Special commitmentsPI, Co-PIs, Chair & Dean approvals of proposal11

12. Electronic Transmittal - OMNITo submit a proposal through OMNI - use the proposal guidehttp://www.research.fsu.edu/contractsgrants/documents/proposaldevelopmentguide.pdf Any employee may create a proposal/submit it for approvalEmployees entered on the Proposal Resources page or added by the workflow program can view the proposalOnce the proposal data has been entered and attachments uploaded, ‘Start Approval Process’After this step, the proposal is frozen and may not be edited by anyone unless denied & returned back to the originator or after the SRA office has approved and submitted

13. Scope of WorkMay be referred to as project narrative, project description, or technical portionThis is the most important part of the proposal and should be the reason why the project is or is not fundedThe agency outlines the requirements or sections that should be included13

14. Additional DocumentsOther Items that may be required:Requests for internal approvals (i.e., cost sharing commitment form) with appropriate departmental, chair, and dean approvalsCommitment letters from entities with whom you wish to subcontractForms and/or application required by the sponsorReferences, biosketches, current/pending support, etc.

15. Prepare the Proposal ApplicationDownload the application forms from the agency website or upload the proposal documents for grants.gov, FastLane or other sponsor-specific electronic submission systemsComplete forms in the application and attach required items Most proposals include the following:Abstract, Project Narrative, Budget, Budget Narrative, Biosketch, Current/Pending Support, References, Facilities/Equipment Statement15

16. Standard NSF Grant ApplicationProject Summary – 1 pageProject Description (narrative) – 15 pagesBudget/Justification (3 pages)ReferencesBiosketches – 2 pages – specific formatCurrent/Pending SupportFacilities/EquipmentData Management PlanPostdoc mentoring plan if requesting support for a postdoc16

17. Budget DevelopmentDirect Cost CategoriesFacilities &Administrative (F&A) Costs or Indirect Costs or “overhead”17

18. Direct Costs – A-21Direct 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.18

19. Indirect Costs - F&A - OverheadCosts 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. 19

20. FSU’s Indirect Cost RatesFSU has a negotiated indirect cost rate with the Dept of Health and Human Services (DHHS)Indirect Cost Rates are applied depending on the following:Type of AgencyLocation of Project (on/off campus/Mag Lab)Type of ProjectSolicitation 20

21. Recovery of Indirect CostsFSU’s policy is to recover the full indirect costs based on our negotiated rate agreementMost Federal agencies allow our full indirect cost rate and consider a reduced rate as cost-sharingNSF prohibits cost-sharing and other Federal agencies are following their leadThere is no need for a waiver/reduction of indirect costs if the agency has a limit/restriction on indirect cost recoveryA request for reduction of the indirect cost rate must be approved by the VPR before the proposal is submitted

22. Indirect Cost Base - MTDCModified 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 $25,000Typically applied to Federally-funded projects 22

23. Indirect Cost Base - TDCTotal Direct Costs (TDC) – consists of all direct costsFSU policy - exclude matriculation from indirect cost baseTypically applied to non-federally funded projects23

24. Sample Budget MTD TDSalaries/Fringe $50,000 $50,000Equipment $10,000 $10,000Supplies $ 3,000 $ 3,000Publications $ 2,000 $ 2,000Tuition $11,712 $11,712Total Direct $76,712 $76,712MTDC/TD Base $55,000 $65,000Indirect Costs $28,600 $ 6,500Total Requested $105,312 $83,21224

25. Personnel – Salaries/WagesInclude faculty, technicians, post-docs, graduate students, & other personnel needed to accomplish the project objectivesNOTE: for Federally-funded projects, administrative & clerical personnel normally fall within the indirect costs category and cannot be charged as “direct costs”25

26. Fringe BenefitsFaculty/A&P/USPSRetirement; Health Insurance; Social Security & MedicareWorker’s Comp & UnemploymentOPS Students*Worker’s Comp & UnemploymentGrad students supplement for health insuranceOPS Non-studentsMedicare; Worker’s Comp & UnemploymentHealth Insurance for all OPS employees working 30+ hours/weekTerminal Leave PoolHealth Insurance – 12 month employees – proportionate to salary requestFor all OPS employees working 30+ hours/week26

27. ConsultantsOutside individuals with expertise and skills that will add value to projectCosts are usually listed in terms of daily rateConsultants are typically paid in the form of a subcontractConsultants are never listed in the salaries & wages section and faculty & other FSU staff should not be listed as consultants27

28. EquipmentItems costing $5,000 or more with a useful life of 1 year or moreItems costing below $5,000 are considered materials/supplies and should be identified on that lineEquipment should be detailed in the budget justificationEquipment requests should only include those items needed to complete the projectFSU has a policy for purchasing IT Devices on Federally-funded projects

29. SuppliesSupplies and materials related to the projectCan be listed in budget as broad categories such as glassware, chemicals or art suppliesMinor equipment costing < $5,000NOTE: For Federally-funded projects, routine office supplies are normally treated as an indirect costs (paper, pencils, post-it notes, etc.)29

30. C.A.S. ExemptionsIn exceptional circumstances, indirect costs may be charged ‘directly’ to a sponsored project.Exceptional circumstances means that the project requires an extensive amount of administrative and/or clerical support or goods/services significantly greater than the routine level provided by an academic departmentA C.A.S. 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.30

31. TravelProject-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 policyMost agencies (and SRA) require a break-down of funds requested, such as airfare, hotels, car rental, etc.31

32. Subawards/SubcontractsRepresents a collaboration of work by one or more other institutionsCosts for subawardee is presented in a separate line item and should include both the subawardee’s direct and F&A costsA subaward detailed budget should be included as part of budget justificationSubawardee’s F&A costs are calculated in accordance with the subawardee’s negotiated F&A rate agreement32

33. Subawards / SubcontractsIf a collaboration is proposed, each collaborator needs to provide:Letter of commitment from the Sponsored Program Office (not PI)Scope of work for the PI’s activitiesBudgetBudget JustificationOther agency required documents33

34. Other Direct CostsThis 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 Federally-funded projects.34

35. MatriculationMatriculation costs (minimum of 9 hrs) should be included for graduate assistants supported by the projectGraduate Matriculation Rate for 14-15 is $433.77/hr or $11,712 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 proposals35

36. MatriculationMultiyear proposals should include a 7.5% increase in matriculation costs annuallyOut of state matriculation is not an allowable cost in most circumstancesCollege of Engineering may apply out of state rates to their proposalsCertain training grants allow out of state matriculation. Check the sponsor guidelinesFees are not an allowable cost unless applying for a training grant36

37. Cost SharingCosting 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.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.37

38. FSU Cost Sharing PolicyFSU’s policy is to make a cost sharing commitment only when required by the sponsor or by the competitive nature of the award and then only to the extent necessary to meet the specific requirements of the sponsored project.If a PI requests an exception to this policy, the department Chair and Dean must approve.The VPR approval is required, also.Cost sharing should be approved well before the proposal deadline 38

39. SRA Review - Provide FeedbackReview of Program Solicitation; Agency GuidelinesReview of Transmittal Form - hardcopy or in OMNI Review Budget/JustificationSalaries – actual salary; escalation if included should be reasonable and disclosedIndirect Cost Rate/CalculationAllowable CostsScope of WorkOther DocumentsAgency required documents – biosketch/current-pending support, etc.Internal Approvals: Cost Sharing Commitment/CAS Exemption Request

40. Types of SubmissionElectronic – Federal Agencies (Grants.gov, FastLane, NSPIRES, etc.)PI/Dept is responsible for completing applicationSRA submitsEmail – State Agencies, Institutions of Higher EducationPI can email directly after SRA approves proposalHardcopy PI/Department is responsible for making copies and delivery after SRA approves proposal

41. Questions? Sponsored Research Administration850-644-5260srs@mailer.fsu.edu41