OADR Pre-Award Process

From Applying to Obtaining Funding

Questions? Contact your Pre-Award Specialist: Aubrey Vinklarek (Aubrey.vinklarek@austin.utexas.edu)

Deadlines/Timeline Guidance

The OADR is here to support you throughout the process of submitting a grant proposal at UT Austin. We often receive a high volume of requests, many with tight deadlines; to ensure that your proposal gets the full attention and review that it deserves, we ask that you follow our Grant Submission Timeline outlined below. OADR understands that opportunities for grants sometimes come within 30 days of the deadline, and we will continue to work with you on every opportunity, but cannot guarantee a full review if documents are received after our internal timeline dates. In addition, any proposal initiation submitted within 21 business days of the deadline may require approval by the Associate Dean for Research.

Grant Submission Timeline:

30 Days	Notify Pre-Award Specialist via email that you are planning to submit a proposal (even if you are not 100% sure), including the opportunity announcement (RFA, PA, FOA, etc.) and deadline date. If you plan to have an external reviewer, please refer to the Pre-Submission Peer Review Process and Pre-Submission Review Guidelines. Pre-Award Specialist issues a submission timeline and checklist soon after.
Set up a meeting with G&C Specialist at your earliest convenience	G&C Specialist will schedule a meeting with the PI and/or the PI’s team to discuss delegation of tasks and preparing budget, justifications, and other materials that G&C Specialist can help to develop. See list below this table detailing proposal components that G&C specialist can provide support on.
7 Business Days	Budget, Budget justification, and Statement of Work are finalized and OADR will submit to OSP for review/approval. All required documentation from any collaborators have been received and will also be submitted to OSP.
5 Business Days	Provide OADR all documents, content, attachments and other info required by the Sponsor IN FINAL FORM (i.e., no Track Changes, comments, etc.). This is to ensure documents are loaded into UTRMS or other proposal portals and available for review by OSP/OADR to ensure compliance with submission guidelines.
0-5 Business Days	Be available to address any requests from OSP. PI (or proxy) needs to be available to confirm final submission after OSP approves. No proposal will be submitted without written final approval by the PI (email is fine).
1 Day	Ideally, OSP submits the proposal one day in advance of proposal due date

Note: We cannot guarantee that major changes submitted to OADR within 48 hours of a final deadline can be included. Anything submitted to OADR under 10 business days’ advance notice will not be guaranteed a full review. All deadlines and internal timelines are calculated in business days. Any changes made over a weekend before a Monday deadline may not be included.

What can my Pre-Award G&C Specialist assist with as I prepare and submit my proposal?

Facilitate peer review by an external reviewer. See peer review process diagram and guidelines. Keep in mind that OADR will provide an honorarium to have their grant proposals peer reviewed by an outside source, ideally by an experienced reviewer.
Manage timeline for submission and ensure that deadlines are met as closely as possible
Liaise the submission/approval process with OSP
Help to interpret guidelines and sponsor instructions
Prepare proposal application forms and provide examples/instructions on required documents that align with sponsor specifications
Facilitate requests for subaward documents from external partners
Prepare budgets and budget justifications that comply with sponsor and OSP policies
Provide Facilities and Resources information
Biosketch Formatting
Gather Other Support documentation
Proofread and assist with reference work (with ample time provided).
Review final documents to ensure that sponsor guidelines have been met
In most cases, the G&C Specialist will upload all documents to submission portal through UTRMS

*Something else? Just ASK! We may be able to help or point you in the right direction.

Required documents for OSP Initial Review:

Statement of Work
Detailed Budget
Sponsor Budget
Budget Justification
UTRMS Funding Proposal Form – G&C specialist will complete and send for PI review/certification

Items required if applicable:

Subaward documents:

Letter of Commitment (signed by sub entity AOR or equivalent)
Statement of Work
Subaward Budget
Subaward Budget Justification

Cost Share Recap Form (Pre-award Specialist will draft on your behalf)
Third party cost share commitment letters
Consultant letters of commitment
FCOI -FID for subcontract key personnel if entity does not already have a PHS compliant policy

OTHER HELPFUL LINKS:

Fringe Rate Guidance: https://research.utexas.edu/osp/prepare-submit-proposal/fringe-rates-guidelines/

F&A (Indirect Cost) Information: https://research.utexas.edu/osp/resources/fa-memo/

FID Form for UT employee: https://research.utexas.edu/ors/conflict-of-interest/financial-interest-disclosure-fid-form/

FID Form for non-employee: https://utexas.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5vczI7DfuxKEnSm

FCOI Clearinghouse: https://thefdp.org/default/fcoi-clearinghouse/

Biosketch Instructions: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm

Other Support Instructions: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/othersupport.htm