ORPA Electronic Proposal Submission

From Provost Kuncl:

Electronic proposal submission has become the norm for most funding sponsors, particularly NIH, requiring the principal investigator (PI) and staff to prepare and route their applications directly to their ORPA Research Administrator for submission to the sponsor. In increasing numbers, applications submitted to ORPA have had missing information, technical problems with pdfs, typos, etc. This has resulted, in many instances, in an inefficient and frustrating process for all involved, including other PI's that are "in the queue" for proposal submission.

Starting immediately, ORPA will require prior to submitting any electronic proposal to any sponsor, a written statement in the form of an email from the PI or his/her designee that the proposal has been reviewed by the PI and is ready to be submitted. In the review, the PI is responsible for checking and affirming the following NIH requirements.

1. The proposal is complete and in its final form.

2. Accurate, compliant, and up-to-date Biosketches for Senior/Key personnel are attached.

3. All parts of the Research Plan are complete, compliant, and look fine as pdf attachments.

4. All required SF-424 R&R forms are complete.

5. A cover letter is attached, if required by the Funding Opportunity Announcement or the circumstances.

To assist in the process, ORPA has developed an “Avoid Common Errors” cheat sheet and a “Guide for Assembling the SF 424 (R&R).” Although this document is explicitly focused on preparing NIH proposals, proposals to other funding agencies can also be disqualified by similar oversights and mistakes.

This should help eliminate many electronic errors and the need for ORPA to reject and resubmit proposals. I also wish to remind you of the standard requirement that ORPA must receive electronic proposals five (5) business days prior to the sponsor’s deadline along with a completed and signed University Sign-off form.

If you have any questions, please contact your ORPA RA directly.

Donna Beyea - x5-8037

Anne Corriveau – x3-2137

Gayle Elledge - x 5-1502

Brenda Kavanaugh - x5-1504

Tammie Martin - x3-3960

Laurie Naber - x5-4210

Cheryl Williams - x5-1503

Ralph

Ralph W. Kuncl, PhD MD
Provost and Executive Vice President
University of Rochester
200 Wallis Hall
Rochester, NY 14627-0021
Tel: (585) 275-5931
Fax: (585) 276-2500

Executive Assistant, Melinda Smith: melinda.smith@rochester.edu

Office of Research and Project Administration