Develop & Submit Proposal
Need help?
Your SPA representative can help you every step of the way, from proposal and budget development through proposal submission. Find your SPA representative.
The online Grants Portal allows investigators to create a draft shell proposal, organize future grant work by proposal date, and see the status of all projects in one convenient place. Adding collaborators, proposal team members, and departmental administrators to your proposal team allows them to see the upcoming proposals and drafts.
All projects should be entered into the Grants Portal regardless of type: grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, MOUs, MOAs, etc. An overview of the Grants Portal and its functionality provides an introduction. Training on the Grants Portal also is available each semester at Training and Development, as well as upon request for departments or small groups. Please contact your SPA representative to set something up or if you have any questions.
Writing a proposal can be overwhelming. The Office for Proposal Enhancement provides resources to assist you in this process.
A Proposal Submission Checklist, while not agency-specific, gives you a good idea of how much information and documentation is involved for most federal proposals. Check it out and direct any questions to your SPA representative.
The Office for Proposal Enhancement provides technical and skilled support to faculty across campus who are seeking external research funding. Our goals are to help UGA faculty gain large grants by facilitating proposal development and improving the quality of proposals.
Specifically, OPE provides:
- Services: Planning and editing services for research proposals and full project management for large, complex proposals.
- Advice: Quarterly expert panels, peer review programs, and assistance finding research funding. See OPE calendar of events.
- Resources: Official guidance from grantmakers; downloadable boilerplate for UGA centers, institutes, and core facilities; templates and samples of biosketches, budget justifications, data sharing plans, and other proposal components; and agency-specific timelines and checklists.
To be eligible for institutional support from the offices of the President, Provost, Vice President for Research, or the Dean of the Graduate School, training grant proposals must be submitted for review by the Graduate School at least 7 business days prior to the agency deadline for proposal submission.
Developing your budget is a big part of a grant application. You want to make sure you ask for enough money to cover your costs, but you also do not want to exceed sponsor limitations or seem unreasonable in your request. Find the balance between covering costs and not exceeding sponsor limitations.
Basic budget development
Basic Budget Development is a presentation to help faculty members think though all the parts of a budget, including direct costs, indirect costs, and how to avoid unnecessary cost share. While departmental accountants and business managers are best situated to assist with the exact salaries of faculty, staff, and graduate assistants in your department, your SPA representative can answer questions clarifying the University rules, sponsor requirements, and federal guidelines. The budget worksheet is a template to assist in budget creation. Budget justification templates for NIH and NSF proposals also are available from Office for Proposal Enhancement.
Indirect costs and fringe benefits
Indirect cost (IDC) and fringe benefits must be incorporated into your budget. UGA has a federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement. We do not have a federally negotiated fringe rate. Instead we use estimates for fringe based on salary levels during the proposal and only charge actual fringe incurred to the awards.
Travel and per diem costs
Travel and per diem costs also must be incorporated into the budget. UGA uses per diem and travel rates dictated by the U.S. Department of State. Be aware that many federal grants require you to fly on American-owned airlines.
Subrecipients
The Subrecipient Commitment Form streamlines the subcontracting process by gathering information needed for the submission from the sub institution. It also speeds up sub processing at award time by gathering audit information up front. While the form is not required, it is strongly recommended. Contact your SPA representative with any questions.
Research Facility Rates
If your proposal anticipates the use of UGA research facilities, it is imperative you incorporate into the proposal budget the current facility rates. Where rates are not publicly available, you should contact the relevant facility and obtain reasonable estimates. This page maintains a list of links to rate and contact information for many of those research facilities
All Public Health Services (PHS) Investigators (defined as “the Project Director or Principal Investigator and any other person, regardless of title or position, who is responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of PHS-funded projects, either funded or proposed”) are required to complete annual Significant Financial Interest Disclosures in the Grants Portal prior to the submission of proposals to any PHS agencies (ex: FDA, NIH, CDC, etc.) or any agencies adopting PHS Financial Conflict Of Interest (FCOI) rules (ex: American Heart Association). Failure to complete the SFI Disclosure will stop a proposal from being submitted. For questions, please contact your SPA representative.
SPA confirms the submission of all proposals.
Once a proposal is submitted, a confirmation email will be sent to the PI letting them know the submission is complete and supplying any tracking information assigned by the agency. If there is ever a question regarding whether a proposal was successfully submitted or not, please contact your SPA representative or Cathy Cuppett.
SPA offers assistance in working with corporate sponsors.
The University of Georgia has a long history of successful industry collaborations, and we offer a variety of pathways for our researchers to engage with companies at all stages of research and development. See the available options here. For questions or more information, please contact Nick Hinson, contracts manager in the Sponsored Projects Administration, at 706-542-3650 or nhinson@uga.edu.