Grant Submission Policy

Grant Submission Policy and Deadlines

All grants and contracts must be reviewed and approved by an authorized institutional official. All proposals–such as research or training grants, private foundations, or individual fellowships–must be reviewed by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) before submission. Further review may be necessary by the dean, chairperson, and/or other academic personnel. Final approval usually rests with the director of ORSP. Proposals submitted to federal or state agencies must be signed (electronically and/or physically) by the ORSP director. Faculty interested in submitting a proposal should send us an email (cc at least one other person) with the name of the agency or program that s/he is applying to, with information about budget and the names of any collaborators, if any. You can call us or email us to make an appointment with one of the staff members in ORSP at least three weeks before the deadline to review the guidelines, develop a budget, and discuss any other policy requirements that must be met. All proposals must undergo an internal approval process in which the chairperson(s) of the principal investigator’s department and the dean of his or her division approve the budget and proposal. For example, a project may require approval for the use of human subjects in research or need institutional resources beyond the capacities of the department or division. These issues should be resolved before a proposal is submitted externally. All proposals must reach ORSP at least five days before the agency’s deadline. A complete overview of the submission policy is described in the following policy directive:

Lead Time

ORSP highly recommends that proposals be submitted to the office several weeks before deadline. At a minimum, the principal investigator/project director must complete and submit the Internal Approval Checklist 15 business days prior to the application deadline. A completed budget, justification, and final draft of the proposal must reach the office at least five (5) working days before the agency deadline. In addition, the Significant Financial Interest Discloure Form must be completed prior to submission and all training through CITI for Responsible Conduct of Research and Conflicts of Interest must be up-to-date. An Export Control Evaluation should also be completed.

If ORSP does not receive the complete grant proposal at least five days prior to the agency deadline, the proposal may not be reviewed or submitted. The PI may have to wait until the next program cycle, and assumes the risk that s/he may need to correct errors in electronic submission and that the proposal may miss the agency deadline.

It is recommended that complex proposals (i.e., involving non-CUNY personnel resulting in multiple consortium or subcontract arrangements; participation of foreign institutions; complicated budgets; etc.) be submitted at least 14 business days before a deadline. If a proposal includes cost-sharing by Queens College, the proposal must be approved by the Provost, the Chairperson and Dean and the University Provost for Research. Voluntary cost-sharing is prohibited by federal and CUNY guidelines and any cost-sharing that is not mandated by a sponsor will be approved only in exceptional instances. All cost-sharing proposals require at least 30 days of lead time for review. Signatures from the campus are required at least 15 days prior to a request from the vice chancellor. We strongly urge PIs to alert us well before the deadline if they require cost-sharing (e.g., waivers of indirect costs, matching funds, uncompensated released time). These proposals will be held to stringent review procedures.

Changes

PIs are responsible for incorporating changes according to agency guidelines or college policy prior to submitting the proposal.

Once the proposal is completed and chair and dean have signed off on internal approval, the proposal and budget cannot be changed.

As always, ORSP will make a good-faith effort to submit late proposals before the deadline. However, priority will go to faculty who have submitted on or before the five-day deadline.

Compliance Issues

All personnel working on a research project must complete the CITI Responsible Conduct of Research and Conflict of Interest training modules. If someone is working with humans or animals, s/he must complete these modules, too. Before submitting a grant proposal, individuals must file completion reports. A Disclosure of Significant Financial Interests form must also be completed and given to ORSP. If the project includes any work outside the United States, an Export Control Evaluation must be completed.

The above policy applies whether Queens College is the lead applicant or a subcontractor under another college’s submission. If you have any questions about these requirements, please contact ORSP at x75400.