Display Accessibility Tools

Accessibility Tools

Grayscale

Highlight Links

Change Contrast

Increase Text Size

Increase Letter Spacing

Readability Bar

Dyslexia Friendly Font

Increase Cursor Size

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Natural Science
Office of Research Support

Application Timeline

Grant Application Timeline

Pre-Award Grant Policy for Applications Submitted through the College of Natural Science Office of Research Support

To enable the NatSci Office of Research Support (ORS) to successfully submit grant applications, the following requirements have been put in place for all applications.

Full final proposals must be submitted to the Nat Sci ORS by 8:00 AM three working days before the agency deadline.

  • For example, for an agency deadline of Wednesday, the final proposal would need to be submitted in full to the Nat Sci ORS by 8:00 AM Monday.
  • Working days are defined as days for which MSU is open for business, even if school in not in session.  An example of which is spring break. Working days do not include weekends or holidays when the university is closed.

Nat Sci will not approve the submission of any application not meeting the 3-day deadline and, thus, OSP will not sign or submit these applications, except as noted below:

  1. A written exception from the granting agency stating the application can be submitted at least 1 day after the agency due date.
  2. Requests for proposals that are released to the public less than 30 working days (6 weeks) or less before the agency due date, or proposals for which the applicant has received a written request from the granting agency to submit a proposal less than 30 working days before the agency due date (a dated RFP or written record of communication is required).

No NatSci approvals will be granted for an application submission unless the full, complete application is submitted to the Nat Sci grant office by 8:00 AM three working days before the agency deadline. A complete application has no components missing, including all sub-awards and documents from other institutions. Please alert your collaborators to this requirement so they can provide needed material before the deadline.

Contact the Nat Sci Office of Research Support several months before the agency due date to confirm the last day that complete applications will be accepted for submission to the granting agency. Please plan carefully and work well ahead of time. No exceptions will be made except those listed above.

NatSci Internal Proposal Deadlines Effective July 1, 2017

10 working days before application deadline

NatSci ORS will contact Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) to alert them of upcoming grant submission.

6 working days before application deadline

NatSci ORS will finalize budget with the PI and submit it to OSP for approval.

5 working days before grant deadline

Deadline for contacting the NatSci Office of Research Support - NatSci ORS will not process any application for individuals who have not contacted this office at least 5 working days before application deadline. 

3 working days before deadline

NatSci ORS will forward final application to OSP for submission to funding agency.

Suggested Timeline for Proposal Development

10 - 12 weeks before deadline

  1. Contact the NatSci Office of Research Support by completing a New Proposal Request Form.
  2. Provide solicitation number or link (RFA, RFP, BAA, etc.)
  3. Determine grant submission timeline
  4. Identify potential internal reviewers
  5. Identify Potential Issues
    1. Registration requirements for funding agency, on-line submission (see items below).
    2. Financial Conflict of Interest Disclosure
    3. Patent, Copyright, Intellectual Property, Publication Restrictions, Ownership of data, deliverables (Contact OSP or MSU Business Connect for these items).
    4. Export Control Certifications
    5. Regulatory Affairs: Human subjects, Vertebrate animal, Human Blood/ materials/fluids, Radioisotopes, Recombinant DNA, Pathogens/biohazards, Hazardous/regulated chemicals
    6. Required Cost share, Match or other University Commitments (Work with your chair to initiate request to NatSci associate dean)
    7. Space: On campus or off campus space, renovations or alterations
    8. Indirect Cost (Overhead, F&A) limitations
    9. Office of International Development
    10. Limited Submission
    11. Specific Data Requirements (Training grants)

6 - 10 weeks before deadline

  1. Contact colleagues
  2. Assign and draft various parts of proposal
  3. Address potential issues

4 - 6 weeks before deadline

  1. Seek input from internal reviewers
  2. Follow up and resolve issues
  3. Collect required documents and information
  4. Begin drafting budget & justification

2 - 4 weeks before deadline

  1. Time to finalize and assemble the proposal
  2. Route KC Proposal Development Document

Why Start Early?

Nearly all granting agencies have absolute time and date deadlines.

MSU has had numerous individual and multi-institutional grants rejected for missing deadlines by only a few minutes due to problems out of the applicant’s control - such as computer or network failures.

The rising number of co-investigators and institutions collaborating on projects creates additional complexity. This increases the needed time for completion of applications.

Popular Resources

Acronyms commonly used at MSU

MSU Conflict of Interest Website

MSU Technologies - Intellectual property, licensing and technology commercialization.

MSU Business-CONNECT - Establishes research partnerships with business and industry

MSU Office of Export Controls & Trade Sanctions - Handles the export of sensitive technologies, equipment, software, biological agents, and related data and services.

MSU Office of Regulatory Affairs - Research compliance for federal, state and university policies