SUPERSEDES: GIM 19 (July 20, 2010)
The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) is committed to assuring timely submission of complete, accurate and excellent proposals. In order to achieve this, it is critical that OSP receive proposals in sufficient time to provide adequate review of the applications. With the advent of Grants.gov and other electronic submission systems, it can take up to 48 hours or even longer to process applications once they are submitted by OSP. Once a proposal is submitted to NIH and other outside agencies, the proposal is final and no corrections may be made, unless responding to system-generated errors prior to the Sponsor deadline. This policy is revised to assure that applications submitted from the University of Washington are processed in a timely manner and are submitted in compliance with all sponsor and University requirements.
Applies to: All proposal submissions, including subcontract proposals, and noncompeting renewals (e.g. NIH progress reports), in both paper and electronic format.
Effective beginning with the January 01, 2011 deadlines, the Office of Sponsored Programs will ensure, using its best effort, the on-time submission of applications to the sponsoring agency when each of the following timelines detailed below is met. It should be noted that individual colleges, schools and/or departments may impose additional deadlines in advance of those cited below.
An approved eGC-1 and the proposal containing all final business elements should be received by OSP at least seven (7) working days prior to the sponsor deadline. Final business-related elements of the proposal include but are not limited to the budget, budget justification, cost share commitments, identification of required resources, subcontracts and significant financial interest disclosures. These elements should be in their final form, though the description of the "Scope of Work" ("SOW") may still be in a draft form. Note, however, that the SOW must be far enough along to allow for the accurate identification of any potential compliance issues vis-a-vis export controls or the use of humans or animals in the research. The SOW submitted must be the SOW affiliated with the business proposal. Proposals received seven days or more in advance of the sponsor's deadline will receive a detailed review by OSP to provide greater assurance that the proposal can be submitted error-free.
OSP must receive the final application, in complete form and ready for submission to the sponsor (i.e. "Ready to Submit") three business days prior to the sponsor deadline. "Ready to Submit" means a full and complete application in final format that is ready for submission to the Sponsor.
Proposals received by 5:00 pm, three (3) business days in advance of the sponsor deadline (e.g. Monday by 5:00 pm for a sponsor deadline on Thursday) that have all elements completed (business and science) will be reviewed by OSP staff for accuracy, completion and compliance with sponsor, university and federal and state requirements, and submitted to Sponsor.
All proposals, both paper and electronic, received by OSP after 5:00 pm, three (3) business days prior to the sponsor deadline will be returned to the PI and department contact and will not be submitted to the Sponsor unless a waiver to the deadline is granted by the Assistant Vice Provost for Research.
Non-competing renewals received by OSP after 5:00 pm, three (3) business days prior to the Sponsor deadline will be reviewed and submitted by OSP within five business days of the date the GC-1 is received in OSP and is "Ready to Submit."
Waivers to the three (3) business day rule will be made only for official university closure (e.g. inclement weather), due to PI or Co-PI serious illness, injury, or death of a key personnel, or if documented notification of the funding opportunity was made less than two ( 2) weeks prior to the deadline. Any proposal received by OSP under an approved waiver will be submitted to the sponsor; however, for those proposals requiring submission via Grants.gov, OSP cannot ensure that the electronic submission will be transmitted from Grants.gov to the sponsor agency error-free and in time to meet the sponsor's deadline.
For submission to OSP to be considered timely, the proposal must be routed as an eGC1 and all campus approvals completed and arrive in OSP by the deadlines mentioned above (7 business days, 3 business days) and include all elements mentioned in the policy above.
All requests must be made to Lynne Chronister at lchronis@u.washington.edu or by phone at (206) 543-4043 and must be sent by the Director, Chair, or Dean of the P.I. Dept.
Office of Sponsored Programs, 206-543-4043
