1  Initial Agency / Foundation Contacts

Your Role:  Program officers at federal funding agencies and private foundations often suggest that proposal writers contact them a few months before a proposal deadline. These individuals can tell you whether your proposal would be appropriate for their program; they can also give you information about special initiatives or funding opportunities.

Role of the Vice President for Research's Staff:  The staff in the research development unit in the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) can help in identifying funding opportunities, especially from federal agencies. See the OVPR's Research Handbook.

Role of the CLA Development Office:  For foundations that request a Letter of Inquiry (LOI), the college development staff will assist with editing and provide a set of eyes for an outside review to comment upon how the project fits the foundation's funding objectives. The development staff works with the University Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations, as needed, to make sure that multiple Purdue proposal submissions to a single foundation are handled appropriately.

2  Planning a Full Proposal

Your Role:  Approximately one month before the proposal deadline, if possible, arrange a meeting with the staff of the Sponsored Program Services Central Pre-Award Center(centralpreaward@purdue.edu). When applying to a private foundation, you should also meet at this time with the college development office. You need to schedule the meeting(s) if you have any role in a grant proposal, whether the proposal is an original submission, a resubmission, a competing continuation, a subcontract, or another type of proposal. At the meeting(s) you can set a schedule for completing the proposal that will ensure it gets to the agency or foundation on time.

It is helpful if you bring to the meeting(s) a copy of the guidelines for the funding agency or foundation if you are applying to an agency or foundation from which faculty in your department do not typically obtain funding or you are responding to a special RFP.

Pre-Award Services Role: Pre-Award Services staff members regularly consult about proposals with the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) business office, with business-office staff in any other colleges or universities involved in your proposal, and with other staff in the University. They review proposed commitments of faculty effort, salaries, wages, space, and other departmental and University resources. They prepare internal (Purdue) and agency budget papers. Internal budget papers are the foundation of your proposal and are required for verification of salaries, fringe benefits, and the breakdown of expenses into an agency’s broad categories. Pre-Award Services staff members also review your budget justification to ensure compliance with agency and University guidelines.

Role of the CLA Development Office:  A meeting with the development staff will help in focusing the proposal on the agency/foundation’s interests. The development staff also provides editing support during the writing process.

Role of the Vice President for Research's Staff:  Research Development staff provide a number of services for those developing large (minimum $1 million budget) multidisciplinary proposals. Please visit these links for more information about these services:

• Project Coordination for Large Proposals
• Proposal Coordination (writing) for Large Proposals

The OVPR also has proposal coordinators (grant writers) who will consult individually with faculty planning for smaller amounts of external funding. Please visit this link:  

• Proposal Coordination for Small Proposals

3  Proposal Completion and Departmental Approval

Your Role:  Several days before the proposal deadline, the entire final proposal must be ready to submit for review within the University. Initially, you need to sign the proposal and any associated paperwork. (Usually, all signatures are obtained electronically.) Then the Pre-Award Services staff person working with you obtains the signature of your department head. The department head's signature indicates that he or she has approved your proposed allocation of academic-year effort and salary support, any cost sharing, and any commitments of space and other University resources. If faculty from other departments are involved in the proposed research, they and their department heads must sign to indicate their agreement with the plans stated in the proposal.

More on the Role of Pre-Award Services staff:  When the entire proposal is ready, the Pre-Award Services staff person proofreads it, focusing on making sure your budget and budget justification match. The staff person also generates Purdue's Proposal Submission Form, an internal document that, when completed, indicates by signatures the approval of all parties responsible for the proposed research. This form also cues SPS to begin the process of monitoring such things as the use of human and other animal subjects in research.

More on the Role of the College’s Development Office:  When a proposal is for a private foundation, a final review by the development staff is recommended to make sure the document is in the best possible shape for the foundation’s consideration.

4  Review and Approval in the
Liberal Arts Dean's Office

Your Role:  The proposal and other paperwork must then go to the dean’s office for review and approval by business office staff and by the dean or an associate dean. You need to be sure that the dean’s office has two workdays to complete these reviews.

5  Review and Approval in
Sponsored Program Services

Your Role:  Once the proposal is approved by the dean, it and the associated paperwork go to the office of Sponsored Program Services (SPS). Once their staff have reviewed and signed the proposal, it is sent to the funding agency.

Role of Sponsored Program Services:  SPS personnel act as the legal arm of the University for all contracts. In addition, they are the University’s resource for direct contact with funding agencies. They review the proposal for adherence to agency and University guidelines, review the Proposal Submission Form, and obtain the signatures of the administrators who are the contact persons for budgetary matters. For more information, see p. 14 of the OVPR’s Research Handbook.

6  Completion of Supplemental Applications

Your Role:  After the proposal is submitted, you may need to complete a supplemental application (e.g., a protocol for review by the Institutional Review Board Committee if the proposed research involves human subjects). The Pre-Award Services staff will tell you whether any supplemental applications are required.

7  Wait for Review and an Award!

Special Notes

1. Many funding agencies assume that the time and effort of the Principal Investigator is a legitimate cost of research, so proposals to those agencies should include some academic-year salary supportwhen research will be conducted during the academic year.
2. When possible, the headings on your budget justification pages should match those on the Purdue budget pages. This facilitates the internal review of proposals.