Sponsored Research Programs: Internal Submission Deadlines

Scope

This policy applies to all Indiana University personnel submitting proposals for sponsored projects. The Principal Investigator(s) (PI) on a grant proposal is ultimately responsible for adherence to the policy.

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Policy Statement

All proposals for sponsored projects must be reviewed and approved for submission by the Office of Research Administration (ORA). Proposals may not be submitted directly to the funding source without the prior approval of ORA. Proposal materials must be received by ORA in accordance with the timelines outlined in the procedures section of this policy.

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Reason for Policy

Abiding by these internal deadlines helps to ensure a successful proposal submission and avoids negative impacts on other faculty submitting proposals caused by the diversion of staff resources to support late proposals.

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Procedures

A. Sample proposal deadline calculation:

B. Additional Guidance and Definitions

1. Administrative components include all final versions of budgets, bio-sketches (CV), facilities and equipment sections, supplementary materials (such as data management plans, etc.), appendices, and all administrative forms and a unit approved proposal development document in Kuali Coeus. Access to external proposal submission systems (e.g. Fastlane), should be granted to ORA upon submission of the administrative components.
2. Technical components include the final technical proposal and cited literature. Any requested corrections to the administrative materials are due at the same time as technical components.
3. Proposals with external deadlines earlier in the day (e.g., 9 a.m., or noon) should be treated as if they are due by 5 p.m. the prior day.
4. Weekends and holidays are excluded from the internal deadline calculation.
5. Proposals with external submission deadlines outside of normal business hours (e.g., 11:59 p.m.) must be submitted within regular ORA business hours.
6. Please keep in mind that many sponsors require submission of proposals through their own electronic systems, which may be slow or unresponsive during peak use as deadlines approach.
7. For proposals required to be submitted on paper, the PI should submit the finalized proposal to ORA with all required copies. An electronic version of the proposal should be attached to the proposal development document in Kuali Coeus for institutional records.
8. NSF, NIH and other sponsors that follow those guidelines require that all key personnel must have a current conflict of interest (COI) disclosure PRIOR to submission of the proposal. A COI disclosure is current if it was submitted within the past year prior to date of the proposal’s submission. COI disclosures can be submitted through one.iu.edu by accessing the Conflicts of Interest and Commitment Task Icon.
9. Proposals involving subawards should include a signed Letter of Support or Subrecipient Commitment form from all proposed subaward institutions.
10. ORA recommends submitting draft budgets at least one (1) week in advance of the formal routing of the proposal. Draft budgets can be emailed to iuprop@iu.edu.
11. We strongly encourage contacting ORA at least two (2) weeks prior to the external deadline for new federal or federal pass-through proposals that involve a large number of subrecipients, foreign subrecipients or the establishment of operations in a foreign country.

C. Late Proposals:

Proposals submitted after the internal deadlines stated above will be at risk of not being submitted. While ORA will take reasonable steps to accommodate late proposals, completing all tasks required to meet the external submission deadline may not be possible during periods of high activity or when diverting staff resources to submit the late proposal will adversely impact proposal submissions of other faculty that have submitted proposals on time. 

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Definitions

Principal Investigators (PI): A Principal Investigator and co-investigator are Indiana University faculty or staff members who bear joint responsibility for the intellectual leadership of a project. The PI and co-PIs accept overall responsibility for directing the research, financial oversight, and compliance with relevant university policies and sponsor terms and conditions of award.

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History

This policy replaces the prior policy implemented January 1, 2010.

Policy was renumbered and moved to Sponsored Programs Administration subcategory.

This policy was updated in April 2019.

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