Types of Proposals

Pre-Proposal
Solicited Proposal
Renewal and Continuation Proposals
Limited Submissions
Revised Budgets

 

Pre-Proposals

This type of proposal is requested when a sponsor wishes to minimize an applicant’s effort in preparing a full proposal. They are usually in the form of a letter of intent or a brief abstract of what the PI plans to do, how the PI will conduct the project and why this project has merit. A pre-proposal establishes a foundation for discussion; it does not commit the PI or the University to anything. However, since these proposals often do become the basis for negotiation for funding, if a budget is included in the submission, it should be routed for the appropriate University signatures. When requested by the sponsor, the pre-proposal may be used to determine how well the project fits the agency’s priorities. Also, the preliminary proposal may determine selection for the next stage of the application, help in the selection of possible reviewers and possibly offer a chance for feedback to the PI. After the preproposal is reviewed, the sponsor notifies the investigator if a full proposal is warranted.  Broad Agency Announcements (BAA) usually associated with DOD, refer to pre-proposals or preliminary proposals as “White Papers”.

Solicited Proposal

Sponsors solicit formal proposals by publishing specific program announcements. These solicitations are often called Request for Proposals (RFPs), Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs), Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs), etc. Researchers responding to the program announcement write the proposal to meet the sponsor’s program guidelines. Deadlines may recur annually or several times a year.

A response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) is one type of solicited proposal. Most RFP’s have a stated deadline and are one-time solicitations for specific needs of the sponsor, not expected to recur. The proposed project must respond to the specific work statement in the Request for Proposal.

Solicited proposals must be routed through the University proposal routing process prior to submitting the proposal to the sponsor.

Renewal and Continuation Proposals

competing renewal proposal (also called a competing continuation) is a request for continued funding of a project for which the funding or project period is about to terminate. Such proposals are similar to "new" proposals and must be routed and approved in the same manner.

Noncompeting continuation proposals, which request the next year’s funding within a multi-year grant, generally consist of a progress report, budget, and other relevant materials such as research results, reprints, vitae for new personnel, etc. They sometimes include a financial status report showing the unobligated balance for the current year. Generally, sponsors require the signature of the institutional official and investigators. Noncompeting continuation proposals are routed through Sponsored Programs Administration, even if a budget is not required.

Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPR) is a federal-wide uniform progress report format for use by federal agencies that provide sponsored funding. RPPR is also used for noncompeting continuations. These reports to NSF are now submitted through Research.gov

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires use of the RPPR module to submit progress reports for Streamlined Non-competing Award Process (SNAP), fellowship, and multi-year funded awards. The RPPR is currently available to all institutions for non-SNAP progress reports, including those for complex and training awards. NIH will require all grantee institutions to use the RPPR for non-SNAP progress reports submitted on or after October 17, 2014. If you are unsure if this requirement applies to your NIH grant, your Notice of Award will specify whether an award uses SNAP. Note, “R” awards routinely use SNAP. In addition, the RPPR requirement also applies to all fellowship (“F”) awards.

Limited Solicitations

Occasionally, sponsors announce program-funding opportunities limiting the number of proposals that may be submitted by each institution. The UNH Research Development Office maintains a list of all limited submission programs on the Research Office website (Current LSP Deadlines) and sends a monthly email about upcoming opportunities to the Research Office “Principal Investigators & Project Directors” list. Faculty interested in submitting proposals should follow the limited submission pre-proposal process described here. The primary factors for selecting pre-proposals to go forward to the sponsor are the relevance to the program selection criteria; the potential for successfully competing in the sponsor’s competitive process, and the strategic advantage of the project to UNH.  Those whose pre-proposals are selected as the institutional submission(s) will be notified and must then prepare a complete application to submit to the sponsor. See Limited Submission Programs for additional information.

Revised Budgets

When a sponsor wants to fund a proposed project at an amount different from that originally proposed, the sponsor asks the investigator to submit a "revised" budget supporting the amount to be funded. If the sponsor reduces the budget, the investigator must determine whether the originally proposed scope and objectives of the project can be met under the revised budget. If not, the investigator and sponsor must redefine the scope and objectives in writing before the University accepts the award.

If the original budget contained cost share or matching, the cost share or matching amount may need to change to reflect the budget revisions.  These changes need institutional approval prior to resubmission.

 

 

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Contact Information 

Sponsored Programs Administration
Service Bldg., 2nd Floor
51 College Road
Durham, NH 03824
Phone: 603-862-4865
Fax: 603-862-3564

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