Proposal Submission

MINIMUM 3 BUSINESS DAYS NOTICE (see also, Sponsored Projects Services' Three-Day Deadline)

• The UAR must be pending Sponsored Project Review. This means the UAR has been routed and approved through all prior levels: PIs/co-Is, units/departments, and colleges.  

• (If relevant) Electronic proposal submission packages (grants.gov, research.gov, etc.) must be released in final form to sponsored projects. 

Proposals that require a budget and budget justification, letters of commitment or cost sharing, and/or a signature from the institution's AOR (Authorized Organization Representative)/ SPO (Sponsored Projects Office) must be routed internally for university approval prior to submission. In order to gain approval, your Business Manager will submit your budget and other necessary application components to the UAccess Research (UAR) system where it will be routed for review and approval to: 1) Principal Investigator(s)/ Co-PIs/ senior personnel, 2) unit/ department heads, 3) college-level offices, and 4) Sponsored Projects Services/ Contracts Office. Once final approval is secured, you will be permitted to submit your final and approved proposal to Sponsored Projects Services (see drop-down item below) for submission to the funding sponsor. 

After your final proposal has received approval in UAccess Research (UAR), you will submit the entire proposal package to Sponsored Projects Services (SPS) Preaward Team. SPS acts as the UA's final approver on the submission of funding proposals. SPS will review applications for compliance with the funder's solicitation and UA policies.  In most instances, SPS will sign and authorize your proposal, prior to submitting your proposal to the funding sponsor. 

SPS requires that all applications follow their three-day deadline rule:
The SPS policy states the following:

• All proposals, routed UAR proposals and electronic submission, should be submitted to SPS in final form* 3 full business days prior to the funding-agency deadline (8am the day it is due to SPS).
• Requests for Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Cost waivers submitted to SPS with the attached signed form require, at minimum, 5 business days prior to the proposal agency deadline for paper proposals, 8 business days for electronic submissions.
• Terms and conditions that need to be reviewed by the Office of Research Contracts (ORC) or documents that require ORC signature require between 7 - 10 business days for review and/or negotiation.

Note that you may be submitting for a limited competition. Limited submissions are funding opportunities where the funder has limited the number of applications from an organization. Selected proposals will need to follow UArizona proposal submission procedures. Some proposals to private foundations require submission and coordination through the University of Arizona Foundation. Download the current UArizona Limited Submission Process (PDF) for full details on the process.

The University of Arizona is required by law to report all federal lobbying activities on a quarterly basis to the US Congress, and the UA Office of Federal Relations compiles and files the University's quarterly submission. As a result, all University of Arizona faculty, staff and personnel who have addressed the federal government, including the US Congress, on policy, legislative or funding issues should review the linked information and if necessary report all lobbying to the UA Office of Federal Relations using the form on the linked page.

Lobbying Policy

For more information, visit the University of Arizona's Research, Innovation & Impact's Institutional Information and Eligibility for Investigators and Directors.

Timeline: As soon as potential opportunity has been identified.

SBSRI personnel will meet with you to determine if the funding sponsor and the funding opportunity is appropriate for you. During this initial consultation, we will discuss the relevancy of the sponsor and/or the opportunity to your research, whether you meet eligibility requirements, experience/expertise of you as the Principal Investigator and project team, feasibility of timeframe, scope of award, etc.

 Timeline: 8 Weeks (40 business days) in advance of Sponsor Deadline

Once you decide to apply for a specific funding opportunity, SBSRI and/or SBS Business staff will coordinate a meeting to discuss the solicitation (aka Call for Proposals or Notice of Funding Opportunity). Ideally, this initial meeting will be set at least 8 weeks (40 business days) prior to the sponsor's deadline. 

During this meeting we will:

• Provide an Overview on Finding Additional Info on Sponsor/Funding Mechanism: Sponsor & Opportunity Webpages, Past Awardees, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

•  Identify and review required/optional content. Such content may include:

  • Project Abstract/Summary

  • Project Narrative

  • Data Management Plan

  • Facilities/Resources Statement

  • PI/Senior Personnel Documents: CVs (i.e., Biographical Sketches or opportunity-tailored resumes), Current & Pending Support, Other Collaborations & Affiliations, etc.

  • Budget and Budget Justification or Narrative. This includes the identification of Lead Proposer as well as potential sub-awards, indirect cost rate (IDC; aka as Facilities & Administration [F&A] or Overhead) to be used, allowable/dis-allowable expenses, sponsor-specific expectations or requirements for mandatory or voluntary cost-share, etc.

  • Other Supporting Documents as Specified

• Identify Method of Submission for Application (i.e., via Grants.gov, Research.gov, Sponsor-specific Portal, Email or Snail Mail)

• Set timelines for draft materials (see information in drop-down item below)

• Set timeline and deadlines for internal routing and approval processes

Timeline: 4+ weeks (20 business days) in advance of Sponsor Deadline

SBSRI personnel can provide direct support to applicants by reviewing drafts of their funding proposal narratives and other required non-financial application components (see general list of supported components in drop-down item above). We provide content-level feedback based on our expert reading and understanding of Call for Proposals/ funding opportunity solicitations. This review can focus on organization of ideas, responsiveness to solicitation prompts and funder mission, clarity of prose, consistency of content across documents, and feasibility of scope of work, among others. 

Find information on the review of financial-related application components in the drop-down menu below: "SBS Business Team Deadlines." 

Timeline: 3 weeks (15 business days) in advance of Sponsor Deadline 

While drafting the required components of a funding proposal, applicants will typically need to register with the funder's application submission portal and orient themselves to the functionality of the portal. Even if the applicant is familiar with the submission portal, SBSRI highly recommends that the applicant re-orient themselves well in advance of the sponsor's deadline. SBSRI personnel can provide a variety of support to applicants: individual consultations to register with application portals, guidance on navigating functions in application portals, and providing models on how to upload application components. Often, federal funding agencies require the use of external systems to prepare compliant components (eg., SciENcv, ORCiD), for which SBSRI personnel can also provide support. 

If the application portal is one that SBSRI personnel are unfamiliar with, we will familiarize ourselves with the system prior to supporting the applicant; this will require additional time. 

Timeline: 2-4 weeks (10 business days) in advance of Sponsor Deadline.  

Once you have finalized the required application materials, SBSRI personnel can provide a pre-compliance check of your non-financial proposal components. This check includes a close review of formatting requirements, including font sizes, word and page limits, margins, use of hyperlinks, reference styles, and so forth. We will also check whether each required component has been uploaded to the application portal correctly and that all required components are present. SBSRI personnel will provide you with a list of required and recommended changes to each component. 

Conducted prior to your submission of the funding proposal to Sponsored Projects Services (see drop-down items above in  Guidance on Steps for External Proposal Submission for more details), this check aims to mitigate delayed submissions to the funder. 

Education in the responsible conduct of research meets more than just regulatory standards and requirements. The Education and Training division of the University of Arizona Office for the Responsible Conduct of Research holds opportunities for professional development, promotes academic success, and builds environments of excellence within our research enterprise. Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) instruction is required by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The RCR office also handles authorship and credit for research findings grievances.

Check the front page News section of SBSRI's website for information about upcoming ORCR workshops throughout the semester.

Research Safety Services

• Human Subjects Protection Office (IRB)
• Human Subjects Training
• New HSPP Forms
• Updated and New Guidance
• eIRB Information (training schedule, how-to videos, and user guidelines)

• Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

• UA Grad College Grievance Policy
• Scholarly, Creative, and Research Misconduct
• Whistle-Blower Policy(link is external)
• Conflict of Interest

• Research Integrity Policy and Guidence
• NSF Ethics Trainings at the UA (required for NSF awardees)
• InterAcademy Council Responsible Conduct of Research Report