Proposal Timeline

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College of Engineering Proposal Processing Timeline

To further assist with high quality proposals coming from Michigan State University’s College of Engineering, faculty are required to follow the proposal preparation timeline. This new deadline is intended to be mutually beneficial to both PIs and Research Administrators. Research Administrators will have adequate time to review documents for compliance, and PIs will be able to shift their attention fully to the scientific/technical documents. We anticipate this will improve quality for the entire proposal and result in higher funding success.

The new deadline policy went into effect on November 1, 2018.  Feel free to reach out to DER if you have any questions or concerns.  Proposals meeting these guidelines will take precedence over proposals that do not. Per the OSP deadline policy, all at-risk proposals* (submitted within 8 hours of the sponsor’s deadline) must be specifically endorsed in writing by the Associate Dean for Research (or dean delegate) before OSP can begin its review and submission. 

 

Minimum - 10
Business Days
Before Sponsor Deadline

 
PI notifies the department chair of any special considerations.
 
Solicitation Ready for OSP Review - 10 days

 6 - Business Days

Final Departmental Budget and Proposal Development Document Routed for Approvals - 6 days

5 - Business Days

 

All non-technical documents to DER - 5 days

Non-Technical Documents that must be completed 5 days before include:

  1. Budget
  2. Budget Justification
  3. Project Summary
  4. Facilities, Equipment, and Other Resources
  5. Biographical Sketch (for all PIs)
  6. Current and Pending Support (include this proposal as 'pending' for each PI)
  7. Data Management Plan
  8. Collaborators and Other Affiliations (use NSF excel template for each PI)
  9. Letters of support only if requested by the solicitation
  10. Confirmation of Cost Share if required by solicitation
  11. Completed documents from sub contractor(s) including cost share (if applicable)
  12. Completed documents from consultant(s) (if applicable)

*"Technical" documents may be referred to as a 'description', a Research Strategy, Technical proposal, etc., however, they all mean the same thing; the scientific proposal itself.

3 - Business Days

Final Proposal for Submission to OSP - 3 days

 Proposal Due Date

Proposal submitted in a timely fashion.  For on-time electronic applications submitted by OSP, OSP has a commitment to submit the proposal at least 1 (one) business day before the deadline date.

 

CONTRACTS (Federal or Industry) and INTERNATIONAL activities do not follow the above submission deadline policy. These types of solicitations need additional preparation time by DER & review time/negotiation time by OSP/Business Connect. 

Please contact DER to establish a timeline schedule.

 

*At-Risk Proposal Submissions

Per OSP's Proposal Submission Deadline Policy: "A late proposal is considered at-risk when it is provided to OSP within 8 business hours of the submission deadline. The at-risk proposal must be specifically endorsed by the associate dean for research (or dean delegate) before it is reviewed by OSP. After receiving the endorsement from the research dean, OSP will make reasonable efforts to submit the endorsed proposal. OSP cannot ensure the same proposal service levels for at-risk proposals which may jeopardize receipt by the sponsor. Endorsement by the research dean should be based on extenuating circumstances that might merit a late submittal. 

An example of an extenuating circumstance is when a solicitation is released only 30 days prior to the due date and the proposal includes multiple investigators, subawards, the proposal’s administrative sections have been addressed with the department and/or college, as applicable, and OSP (e.g. the RFA was provided to OSP at least 10 business days before; budget provided to OSP for review 6 business days before, all non-technical documents to DER 5 business days before, etc.), and the final package is provided with enough time to properly submit."