You have a great idea and a team of researchers on-board. What comes next?
1. Set your budget (2-6 weeks ahead of deadline)
The pre-award support team will start with a template from the Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (OSPA) website and will determine the appropriate indirect cost rate available based on the Request for Proposals, funding agency, and nature of the project work.
2. Request to start a Gold Sheet (2-3 weeks ahead of deadline)
The pre-award team will ask you to respond to questions about compliance and the split in the PI incentive and contribution on the project and then will route it to you for review, editing, and approval. The body of the proposal does not need to be ready to submit when starting a Gold Sheet. For most proposals, OSPA will want to see the budget, budget justification, scope of work/specific aims, and the proposal guidelines attached to the Gold Sheet. All investigators, lead department and RRCs will need to approve the Gold Sheet before it reaches OSPA. OSPA requires 4 days to review and approve.
3. Finalize the proposal application (after the Gold Sheet is submitted)
The pre-award team will set up applications to federal agencies using one of the submission portals: Cayuse, ezFedGrants, FastLane, or Research.gov but can assist with application prep in other portals such as proposalCENTRAL if access is granted. OSPA alone has the ability to submit to federal agencies, and will only do so once the Gold Sheet is approved and the PI sends an email with the approval to submit. If the PI will be sending the proposal via email or sponsor website, the submission must wait until OSPA sends an approval notice.
Templates and Forms for PIs
- Grants Hub
- Resource for Proposal Writing
- Agency Formatting Requirements – PDF
- ISU Costing Policy – SPA