Develop Proposal, Route & Submit
This stage involves developing the proposal content, and ensuring compliance with institutional and sponsor requirements.
Once the proposal is complete, it is routed internally for necessary reviews and approvals before being submitted to the sponsor. Coordination with department administrators and the Office of Sponsored Programs ensures timely and accurate submission.
What Is a Sponsored Program?
A sponsored program is a research, training, instructional, or related project supported by external funds that are received by the University on behalf of a member of the University community, and for which the University is accountable. Such funds are provided as a result of a formal communication with the sponsor such as a letter, application or other written proposal signed and submitted by an authorized University official through OSP.
A sponsored program will normally have one or more of the following additional characteristics:
- The sponsor has published guidelines, applications, and/or procedures for requesting support.
- The use of funds awarded is restricted to support for a particular project or line of scholarly or scientific inquiry.
- The award includes specifications for project performance and/or outcome.
- The award provides for the disposition of rights in data, inventions, and/or other intellectual property.
- The sponsor requires, as a condition of the award, programmatic, technical, and/or financial reports, which are likely subject to external audit.
Examples of externally provided support not included in this category are:
- gifts or bequests to the University.
- student financial aid.
What is a Proposal?
A proposal is a formal request for funding submitted to an outside organization. It explains what the project is, why it matters, how it will be done, how long it will take, and how much it will cost. At the Office of Sponsored Programs, proposals are the first step to getting grants or other funding and must follow both university and sponsor guidelines. A clear, well-prepared proposal helps turn good ideas into funded projects.
Key Elements of a Proposal
Every sponsored program proposal has its own special requirements for information that needs to be included. At a bare minimum, all proposals require the following elements:
- OSP Routing Process: Before any proposal is submitted to a funding agency, it must first be routed through BC's internal review process. Proposals are routed for review and approval via InfoEd. A full description of BC’s proposal process can be found in the Proposal Submission Guidelines.
- Institutional Information: Sponsors need to know basic information about the PI’s institution, including Congressional district, EIN number, DUNS number, F&A rates, etc.
- Statement of Work: The Statement of Work (SOW) is a document that lists and describes all essential and technical requirements for the effort to be performed, including standards to be used to determine whether the requirements have been met. Depending on the sponsor and BC’s role in the project, the Statement of Work can be as simple as a paragraph describing BC’s contribution to a larger project or multiple sponsor required documents detailing the scope such as a Project Summary, Specific Aims, Research Strategy, etc.
- Budget and Budget Justification: A competitive budget provides a sponsor with a complete financial picture of the proposed project. Budgets are reviewed by the sponsor to verify that the costs are reasonable and necessary to carry out the proposed project and that it conforms to the sponsor's instructions and format. The budget justification provides the sponsor with a rationale for certain items in the budget. Sponsors may want clarifying information on how budget calculations were made for faculty and staff salaries, fringe benefits, F&A rates, special equipment, travel, subawards, etc.
New Proposal Types
Solicited Full Proposal
This type of proposal is submitted at the request of the sponsor. It may be in the form of a Request for Proposals (RFP) posted by the sponsor. The sponsor sets the framework of the project for a specific purpose in contrast to a principal investigator’s (PD/PI) initiated project.
Unsolicited Full Proposal
This type of proposal is initiated by the PD/PI and submitted to the sponsor for an open program that would benefit from the subject of the project. The subject and framework of the project are more flexible than a solicited funding opportunity.
Resubmission
This is a submission of a previously unfunded proposal. Generally, some revisions are made in response to the sponsor’s reviews. Some Federal sponsors limit the number of resubmission opportunities.
Existing Project Proposals
Competing Renewals
A proposal to extend an existing project for an additional period that had not previously been requested. This type of proposal competes for funding with other applicants and is as in-depth as the original proposal.
Noncompeting Renewals or Continuation Applications
A secondary proposal submitted for funding during a period of time included in the original submission. These request incremental funding, provide an update on the project’s status, and do not compete with other applicants for funding.
Supplemental
A secondary request for additional funds on an existing project. This type of proposal is typically used to request funds for an expansion of project scope.
Other Proposal Types
Limited Submissions
Submissions to a program announcement that are limited to a select number of applicants from a single institution. The University reviews and selects the proposal(s) that will be put forward as applications for Limited Submissions (opens in a new tab) if more than one project is being proposed.
Pre-Proposal
An introductory, condensed proposal submitted for the first round of funding. Typically, these provide a summary of the proposed project and may include budgetary estimates. Accepted Pre-Proposals will result in an invitation to submit a full proposal.
Revised Budget
A revised budget proposal is an updated version of a budget that includes changes requested by the sponsor or needed by the project team. These changes usually adjust how funds are distributed across cost categories and/or change the total amount requested, without changing the overall goals of the project. It can be submitted during the review process, after feedback, or when major changes happen.
Proposal Submission Timeline
Budgets for external funding serve as a detailed financial plan that outlines the resources necessary to complete a proposed project. It is the second most scrutinized section of a proposal after the scope of work. A well-prepared budget not only reflects the direct costs of personnel, equipment, supplies, and travel but also accounts for indirect costs, such as facilities and administrative expenses, in accordance with sponsor guidelines. The budget must be accurate, realistic, and fully justified to demonstrate the feasibility of the project and to ensure compliance with institutional and sponsor requirements. Careful budget development also helps safeguard the responsible use of funds and supports the successful execution of the project.
All proposal budgets should be prepared in InfoEd which contains the update-to-date rates for fringe benefits and indirect costs. This ensures that the proposed budget is as accurate as possible. Cost sharing is discouraged and should only be included if required by the sponsor.
Intent to Propose
OSP Review Required if External Submission and:
- A detailed budget is included, or
- An authorized signature/approval is required, or
- The submission is the last requirement before the external sponsor reviews and awards funding
As soon as possible, but no later than 30 days prior to the deadline, PI will inform OSP of submission plans by either of the two methods detailed here. If the Department/Center is utilizing an OSP Proposal Builder (OSP PB), PI will notify OSP of your intent to propose by emailing OSP-PreAward@bc.edu. The OSP PB will then initiate a proposal record in InfoEd and route to OSP for initial notification. If a Departmental Research Administrator (DRA) will be the proposal builder (PB), the PI will inform their DRA PB who will initiate a proposal record in InfoEd and route to OSP for initial notification.
Proposal Building
The PI will work with the Proposal Builder to develop the proposal materials, including the budget and budget justification. Regardless of sponsor requirements, a budget justification should be included with all research proposals to clarify the nature of the expenses in the event of an award. All proposals must have PI effort unless not allowed per sponsor guidelines. The PI and Investigators responsible for development of all technical and supplementary documents, including but not limited to the Biosketch and Other Support/C&P documents.
At least ten business days prior to the deadline, PI provides all Administrative and Budgetary documents to the Proposal Builder. The Proposal Builder will complete initial review of all documents, including subaward packages, to ensure all required materials are collected. The proposal builder will then update the proposal in InfoEd and external submission systems (e.g., Research.gov, NSPIRES or Foundation’s application site), if necessary.
Subaward packages are obtained for each subrecipient named in the research project. A subrecipient is a nonfederal entity that receives a subaward from a pass-through entity to carry out part of a research project (see 2 CFR §200.93). Subrecipients are responsible for performing a substantive portion of the project, have responsibility for programmatic decision-making, and are responsible for adherence to applicable program compliance responsibilities. A subrecipient’s performance is measured against whether the objectives of the sponsored project are met. The required elements of a subaward package are:
- Scope of Work
- Budget
- Budget Justification
- Letter of Intent
The PI will provide draft Science/Technical documents to Proposal Builder. Draft is defined as the document being in a complete-enough state that no further revisions are needed which would impact the research design or concept, addition of collaborators or investigators, inclusion of human subjects or animal studies, and other aspects that impact the budget and administrative components of the application. By the end of business on 6 business days before the sponsor’s due date the Proposal Builder will send the complete proposal with draft science documents to the Proposal Reviewer for review. In order to be considered complete, a proposal must have either a link to the sponsor’s (or prime sponsor’s) funding opportunity or a copy of the sponsor’s (or prime sponsor’s) instructions uploaded.
Three days prior to the due date, PI will provide all final Science/Technical documents to the Proposal Builder.
Proposal Review
Executive Review
Proposals containing the following criteria require Executive Review by either a Department Chair or the Offices of the Vice Provost for Research.
- Department Chair Approval
- Faculty Buyout - Effort during the Academic semester
- Cost Share
- Offices of the Vice Provost for Research Approval
- F&A Exceptions*
- Renovations
- New Space
*If an external sponsor has an established policy for indirect costs the limits the rate that may be taken then a F&A Exception does not need to be sought, but a copy of the indirect cost policy should be included in InfoEd to establish why the indirect cost rate in the proposal was used.
Budget/Content Review
OSP Proposal Reviewers ensures that grant applications meet all the requirements before they are submitted to a funding agency. This includes checking that the proposal follows sponsor guidelines, confirming that budgets and documents are accurate, and making sure all compliance rules are addressed. By carefully reviewing proposals, the OSP helps protect researchers and the university from errors that could delay or prevent funding, while also increasing the chances that applications will be successful.
Between 5 and 3 days prior to the sponsor’s due date the Proposal Reviewer will review the whole proposal. If the proposal documents are out of compliance with the University or Sponsor’s policies the Proposal Reviewer will send back the proposal with requested edits to bring the proposal documents in compliance. The Proposal Builder and PI will update the proposal documents and re-route for final review and approval.
Submission to Sponsor
The Office of Sponsored Programs is responsible for submitting research proposals to external sponsors on behalf of the university. However, before submission a proposal will be routed in InfoEd for the PI’s final review and approval. Upon approval from the PI, OSP will submit as system-to-system (S2S) in InfoEd, submit in the sponsor's system if non-S2S, or provide approval for the PI to submit by changing the record’s status in InfoEd to “Submitted.” The method for submission will be based on the sponsor’s requirements.
- Proposal Submission Guidelines
- InfoEd End User Guide: Proposal Development
- Limited Submission Process for Externally Sponsored Projects