Deadlines

In order to ensure adequate time for review, for notification of any corrections that need to be made, and for institutional endorsement, proposals should be submitted to OSR at least five business days prior to a sponsor's designated deadline. Based on past experience, timely release of the comprehensive proposal package is indispensable for OSR's review of a National Science Foundation (NSF) FastLane electronic proposal. Even more than for hardcopy proposals, electronic submissions often require several iterations of reviewing and revising the file until the information is complete. As a result, OSR has determined that the following items must be received and actions completed at least 48 hours prior to the actual NSF deadline:

• Signed OSR-1 and OSR-100 forms.
• Sponsored Research Office (SRO) Access and all FastLane Forms completed except for Project Description and Project Summary which can still be in process.
• Letters of consortium, budgets and work scopes signed by institutions' Office of Research if subcontracts are involved.
• Letters of endorsement or any other evidence of official approvals of cost sharing commitments.

Only after all of these items are received and actions taken, will OSR begin the proposal review. Unless the above items are received and actions taken at least 48 hours prior to the NSF deadline, OSR will not guarantee that the actual NSF deadline will be met.

The emerging and rapidly changing electronic proposal systems of other Sponsors (both federal and non-federal) also require substantial lead time to navigate and to ensure that data being submitted are complete and accurate. For that reason, the items listed above (or their equivalents) for these types of proposals must also be made available to OSR 48 hours in advance of the electronic submission deadline. If the sponsor does not offer "Sponsored Research Office" type of access within their electronic system, such as the American Heart Association or the U.S. Department of Education, either a printed copy or electronic access must be provided to OSR. As a reminder, under University policy, OSR must review and endorse all proposals prior to their submission to a funding agency. This requirement applies regardless of whether the sponsor itself (or its electronic proposal system) mandates institutional endorsement of the proposal.

Pre-proposal review >>