Pre-Award

1. Identify funding

Faculty identifies potential funding opportunities and reviews sponsor guidelines to ensure eligibility, program fit, and key requirements. For assistance in identifying funding opportunities, please refer to the Research Funding page for PIVOT.

2. Notify ORSP (Intake form)

Do not wait until the grant submission deadline to contact ORSP.  The grant-seeking process often begins 6 to 12 months before funding is needed.  As soon as a decision is made to apply for external funding, contact ORSP by completing the intake form at least four weeks prior to the grant submission.

3. Internal Review Routing

All proposals, including letters of intent and full proposals, must be routed in Cayuse portal for internal review and approval. Please refer to the Cayuse page. For assistance with Cayuse, contact ORSP. 

The Cayuse proposal should be completed and submitted at least two weeks prior to the grant submission deadline and before signing any contracts or agreements. Proposals that include subrecipient(s), institutional commitments, cost share, or complex compliance components may require 4–6 weeks of advance notice to ensure adequate preparation, review, and institutional approvals.

4. Prepare proposals

Preparing a proposal involves developing the project narrative, scope of work, and supporting documents in accordance with sponsor guidelines. During this stage, ORSP will assist in developing the budget, addressing required approvals, and ensuring all administrative and regulatory requirements are met before submission. 

For templates and resources, please refer to the Resources page. 

5. Research integrity and compliance

Research integrity and compliance are integral to the pre-award process, ensuring proposals meet institutional, sponsor, and regulatory requirements. For more information, please refer to the Research Integrity and Compliance page or Training Requirements page. 

6. Internal review and approvals

Proposals are reviewed by required institutional units to ensure alignment with University policies, resource availability, and compliance requirements. All necessary approvals must be obtained before the proposal can be submitted to the sponsor.