UW Research

Limited Submission Opportunities

Many federal agencies and foundations offer grants, awards, and fellowships that limit the number of applications that can come from one institution. In order to increase the chances of the UW succeeding in such “Limited Submission Opportunity” (LSO) applications, the Office of Research has established a procedure to review pre-proposals in a timely fashion.

Visit the Limited Submission Opportunities page for current opportunities (requires a UW NetID).

The Review and Selection Process

For each limited submission opportunity, the Office of Research notifies, by e-mail listserv, Deans, Directors, Chairs and faculty of the opportunity details, deadlines and general directions and deadlines for internal submission of pre-proposals. Subscription to this listserv is open to all (see section below for more information).

After the OR internal deadline, pre-proposals that have been received are sent to members of the OR Limited Submissions Opportunity Review Committee. In their efforts to choose pre-proposals that are most likely to be funded and have high impact, the Committee reviews each pre-proposal based on these criteria:

  1. Meets all eligibility requirements specified by the funding organization RFA
  2. Is scientifically and technically strong
  3. Promotes the greater University research mission

Many pre-proposals require a letter of support from the PI’s nominator, Dean or Chair. This letter should address the above criteria, recognizing that the internal UW selection process is often highly competitive. Given the importance of the nominator’s letter, we encourage nominators to consult resources on how to write strong letters, such as: http://www.hhmi.org/sites/default/files/Educational%20Materials/Lab%20Management/letter.pdf.

Some schools and colleges require that materials be routed through their office in advance of the UW deadline. Please check with your school or college administration to confirm.

Once the decision has been made on which pre-proposal(s) will go forward, all applicants are notified of the Committee’s decision. Occasionally, the Committee may provide feedback and recommendations to successful candidates so that that the quality of the full proposal can be enhanced.

The Office of Research provides a limited submissions approval letter that must be attached to the applicant’s eGC1 for the application to be considered by OSP.

Limited Submissions Listserv

UW faculty and staff can subscribe to the Limited Submissions Listserv which provides notices of upcoming opportunities, deadlines and instructions for pre-proposal submission.

  • To subscribe, send an email with the text “Subscribe to the limited submissions listserv” to: limitedsubs@uw.edu
  • To unsubscribe, send an email with the text “Unsubscribe to the limited submissions listserv” to: limitedsubs@uw.edu

Inquiries and Contact Information

For general inquiries, or to request a listing of a limited submission opportunity that is not already listed on this page, please email us at limitedsubs@uw.edu or call 206-616-9089.

In addition to the listings above, visit the UW Corporate and Foundation Relations webpage https://www.washington.edu/cfr/faculty/working-with-foundations/funder-info/ to find more information about selected foundation funders that the University of Washington has built relationships with over the years.