Preparing a proposal takes a considerable amount of time because of the amount of thought, information and review required and the specific formatting requirements. Because agency deadlines are very specific and strictly adhered to, a researcher and those who are helping him/her are advised to allow enough time for a careful, thorough process, including a thoughtful and timely review by those who must approve the proposal prior to submission. As a guide for lead-time requirements, a researcher should contact signatories (dean, department chair, the appropriate ORA associate director and anyone else whose signature will be required), at least two weeks before the proposal agency submission deadline to indicate that they will need a review and signature, and, if necessary, set up an appointment for the review.
Some helpful hints for the proposal preparation process:-
Remember, none of the signatories can guarantee last-minute review.
All completed proposals must be submitted along with the Internal Sponsored Coordination Form and Financial Interest Disclosure Form to the Office of Research Administration at least five business days prior to the agency submission deadline.
You may also contact the Office of Proposal Development (OPD) for specific kinds of assistance in writing your proposal. In particular, for NIH and NSF proposals, the OPD has developed tools to help you organize your writing and to make writing standard sections more efficient while tailoring them to your particular goals or aims. Please click here for more information.
Step-by-Step Process
Below is a step-by-step list of the proposal writing and submission process for researchers.
- Notify the appropriate ORA associate director that you plan to respond to the funding opportunity represented by the application you have found and downloaded. This will enable the associate director to advise you of any upcoming changes that may impact your work and offer guidance on how best to complete the application. It also allows ORA to appropriately plan their work on your submission.
- Check the current facilities and administration (F&A) and fringe benefit rates, which will be required for the proposal budget. You will need to use the current fiscal year budget rates for both the fringe benefit rates (amounts in addition to basic salary that are paid on behalf of employees to cover health insurance, leave and other benefits) and the facilities and administrative (F&A) costs, which cover expenses for maintaining buildings, utilities and administration which are shared across the University, and which vary by campus and by location within the campus. Both sets of rates are reviewed and updated on a fiscal year basis. Rates are available for future years for budgeting purposes but are subject to revision; your budget will require updating when those rates are revised. Please click here for the most current F&A and fringe benefit rates.
- Complete a draft budget and send it to the appropriate ORA associate director for review and advice as soon as possible, but at least one month before the submission deadline. Refer to the budget section for more information.
- As you draft or complete other components of the proposal, send those to the ORA associate director with whom you are working. Early review by the ORA associate director can make the process more efficient and effective by:
- ensuring that the proposal meets the application requirements,
- confirming budget accuracy, and
- determining that instructions are followed carefully and all required materials are included.
The Office of Research Administration also has grant forms and other useful information available to save you time as follows:
- Key Institutional Information
- Other Tufts forms you may need
- As you complete the proposal, also fill in the Internal Sponsored Coordination Form (Health Sciences Campus or Medford/Somerville Campus). The Internal Sponsored Coordination Form is used to capture data for measuring performance and is the document required by federal agencies, where the investigators affirm compliance with Tufts policies and federal and state laws, regulations and policy. When there is cost-sharing or F&A rate variances, the dean must also sign this form. For more information about the Internal Sponsored Coordination Form, please click here.
- Fill in and attach the Financial Interest Disclosure form. This form is required for all proposal submissions. All investigators proposing to do research must complete this form and return it to the Office of Research Administration (ORA) prior to or when submitting a funding proposal. Information disclosed will be treated confidentially by ORA strictly on a need-to-know basis. The form must be signed by the principal investigator (PI) and each investigator assigned to the research must also submit the form. The department chair’s signature is not required when all answers to the questions are negative, that is, the investigator has nothing to disclose and therefore no conflict of interest. If there is a yes response, then the chair must sign and indicate a determination about whether the research should not go forward, or the conflict is minimal or can be eliminated, reduced or managed. If the department chair is directly involved in the research, the appropriate dean must sign in the space designated for the department chair. It is the responsibility of the PI to update this information promptly if it should change prior to completion of the study. It is also the responsibility of the PI to ensure that each investigator working under his or her supervision on a research project submits this disclosure form as required by the Tufts University Policy on Conflict of Interest in research.
- Once the Internal Sponsored Coordination Form and Financial Interest Disclosure Form have been signed by the department chair and school dean, if required, submit the forms and the rest of the completed application to the ORA associate director five business days prior to the funding agency’s submission deadline. (Be sure to leave enough time for internal department review to allow for these five business days.)
- The ORA associate director ensures that the budget is calculated appropriately, particularly the F&A and fringe benefit rates. The associate director will also verify any cost-sharing components. Any proposed cost-sharing, including reduced F&A rates (or none), must be justified in terms of value of the proposed activity to the academic mission of the institution. Cost-sharing must be approved by the appropriate school official or dean, which should occur when the Internal Sponsored Coordination Form is approved in Step 5. Cost-sharing must meet the requirements of the sponsor, be complete and accurate, and be consistent with Tufts University policy as well as agency terms and conditions. The budget is also reviewed for reasonableness and accuracy. When all information is reviewed and verified, the proposal is approved and signed by the associate director. The associate director will review it for potential errors or warnings. If there are any items that would create an error or warning, the proposal can be returned to the PI to correct them.
- Once the associate director signs the proposal or submits it electronically, key pages are copied (if needed) and the original application is returned to the PI for submission to the funding agency or sponsor. If the proposal is submitted through Grants.gov, just the coordination form are returned if desired.