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Reminders for Proposal Submissions - Summer 2018 Edition

Reminders for Proposal Submissions - Summer 2018 Edition

Notes on Proposal Submissions, May – June 2018

  • Review the VCU policy on minimum PI required effort – if it is an industry clinical trial, you may be able to budget less than 1% PI effort without having to make up the difference with cost share. https://policy.vcu.edu/sites/default/files/Minimum%20Effort%20for%20Principal%20Investigators%20and%20Key%20Personnel%20on%20Sponsored%20Programs.pdf (link not working)

  • If the SOM Reviewer or OSP requests changes and you can’t finish them the same day, please leave a comment in SPOT letting them know you are working on it – if it is going to be a while before you can “submit changes,” please leave a comment periodically otherwise they will check up on it.

  • When the PI or RA is the one responsible for emailing a proposal submission package to the sponsor, be sure and copy the appropriate OSP team on the email.  OSP usually requests this when they approve a Funding Proposal in RAMS-SPOT that will be submitted directly by the PI or RA.  If you are submitting through a sponsor electronic system, please send a PDF copy of the final proposal to the OSP team once it has been submitted.

  • It is good to try and route things to the SOM Reviewer and OSP well ahead of the sponsor deadline, BUT please be aware that the PI should at least be giving you drafts of each required proposal attachment that you can upload to RAMS-SPOT before routing the FP for internal review.  OSP will often kick the proposal back if there are not enough attachments uploaded for them to begin reviewing the FP.

  • Brush up on the guidelines when two investigators are submitting Partner Proposals to the Department of Defense – there will be two stand-alone Funding Proposals in RAMS-SPOT, but the FP for the Partnering PI will not include all of the uploaded attachments (for example – there are other things to note, too – just check the program announcement guidelines).

  • OSP likes to see Calendar Months as well as % effort on Budget Justifications for Federal (NIH, DoD, etc) proposals.

  • Double check before routing for internal approvals that your RAMS-SPOT budget, your budget justification, any SF-424 budgets, and any other sponsor budget spreadsheets are all in agreement with each other.

  • Double check NIH Biosketches – no Research Support listed in the last section that ended more than 3 years ago (so, removing anything that has an end date prior to approximately August 2015).  All formatting guidelines followed.  No “Pending” research support listed.

  • If your proposal will include budgeting for VCU personnel that have 9 month/3 month salary, please contact the research administrator in that department (usually College of Humanities and Sciences, Regina Cole) before finishing your budget and routing for internal approvals in RAMS-SPOT.

  • Double check that the information you are putting on any sponsor-requested subrecipient commitments forms matches the information you are putting on the Funding Proposal in RAMS-SPOT, and that you have filled out the forms as completely as you can. 

  • For NIH submissions, do not use the role Co-PI in RAMS-SPOT or on the SF-424 forms, only PI/PD or Co-Investigator.

  • For NIH submissions, upload the signed letter of intent or PHS 398 Face Page for any external subawards to the “Consortium/Contractual Arrangements” line on the SF-424 – nothing else.

  • Always use the “hide/show errors” function in RAMS-SPOT when submitting proposals with SF-424 forms.  Whenever possible, this should be clear of errors BEFORE we route it to SOM and OSP for internal review/approval.

  • Consultant vs key personnel vs Co-Investigator vs Other Significant Contributor... try to sort out with the PI EVERYONE’S role on the project as early as possible!

  • Double check to make sure you have given all involved departments “Unit View Access” and any required internal subaccounts.

  • Always list external subaward partners on the “Project/Performance Site Location” form of the SF-424.

  • Be aware if your external subaward is FOREIGN, this must be indicated on both the Funding Proposal in RAMS-SPOT and the SF-424.

  • When submitting to Federal sponsors, always double check that you are using the right Program Announcement number – confirm with the PI, read it yourself just to make sure.

  • Make sure personnel listed on Funding Proposal in RAMS-SPOT match personnel listed on proposal documents and/or SF-424.

  • Read the cover letters that PIs give you for SF-424 proposals – if they are listing preferred review groups or people they do NOT want reviewing their proposal, make sure you transfer all this information to the PHS Assignment Request Form on the SF-424.

  • You do not need to list the “Fiscally Administering Unit” for a proposal submission under “Units with View Access.”  You also do not need to put “Medicine” on the “Units with View Access” list.

  • Personnel listed on the Funding Proposal in RAMS-SPOT as “Other Significant Contributors” cannot have budgeted effort on the proposal.  You must either remove their budgeted effort OR change their role in RAMS-SPOT and on all proposal documents.

  • If you need to put a VCU institutional financial contact name on something, put Presepine Fleming, Interim Director of Grants & Contracts Accounting, not Mark Roberts.

  • If you are helping preparing a K award (career development) and the candidate is using an initial salary that is DIFFERENT from their current Institutional Base Salary, you need to add a statement to the Budget Justification that 1) clearly states what their current actual Institutional Base Salary is and 2) provides justification for why a different salary has been used in the proposal budget.