Common Proposal Components
The information and templates below are intended to guide and assist you throughout the proposal preparation process. Please note that components vary between sponsors and sponsors periodically revise requirements. It is important to check the sponsor’s guidelines to ensure the most recent guidelines are followed.
Sponsor Grant Proposal Guidelines and Forms
Budget and Budget Justification
Data Management Plan/Resource Sharing Plan
- Sponsor Grant Proposal Guidelines and Forms: When preparing a proposal, you should generally look for sponsor guidelines in 2 places: the specific call for proposals and the sponsor’s website. If you have questions about guidelines, you should contact Sponsored Programs or the contact person listed by the sponsor.
- NIH SF424 (R&R) Application and Submission Information
- PHS 398 Fillable Forms and Guidelines
- National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Grant Information
- National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Grant Opportunities, Application Guidelines, and Resources for Managing your Grant
- NSF Grant Proposal Guide
- USAID Guidance for Submitting Solicited and Unsolicited Proposals
- Cover Page/Face Page: The Cover Page provides information that assists the sponsor in determining the type of application, which program is being applied to, and contact information for the PI and university official among other items.
- Cover Page for use when no sponsor form is available (PDF)
- PHS 398 Face Page (PHS 398 Fillable Forms)
- Table of Contents: The Table of Contents facilitates easy navigation of the proposal components.
- This form is auto generated if using Grants.gov or FastLane.
- PHS 398 Table of Contents Template (PHS 398 Fillable Forms)
- Abstract/Project Summary: The Abstract or Project Summary must be suitable for public distribution and understandable to both the scientist and layperson. See the relevant sponsor’s grant proposal guidelines to ensure all formatting and other requirements are met.
- PHS 398 Form Page 2: Summary, Relevance, Project/Performance Sites, Senior/Key Personnel, Other Significant Contributors, and Human Embryonic Stem Cells (PHS 398 Fillable Forms)
- Project Narrative/Description: The Project Narrative describes the project, its purpose, relevance, and implementation. Each sponsor has specified guidelines for the Project Narrative/Description.
- For NIH and other PHS agencies, the Project Narrative will reflect the second component of the Project Summary and should describe the relevance of this project to the public health.
- The NSF Project Description should be no longer than 15 pages and should not include URLs.
- Budget and Budget Justification: The Budget and Budget Justification (also called a budget narrative) is a financial proposal reflecting the work proposed and outlines the expected project costs in detail. It should mirror the project description.
- Descriptions of budget components and sources for budget information
- Facilities and Administrative (F&A or Indirect Cost) rates
- Contact IRS to obtain a budget template that may be used for most funding agencies.
- Biosketches: Biosketches (Curriculum Vitae) for key personnel are required by most funding agencies.
- NIH Biosketch Template (DOC) (PHS 398 Fillable Forms)
- NSF Biosketch Template (DOC)
- References Cited: Most funding agencies require References Cited section for all references cited in the Project Narrative/Description and/or Research Plan component unless otherwise noted in the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA).
- The University Library can assist researchers in literature searches.
- Facilities and Resources: The Facilities and Resources section provides information on the organizational resources that will be used in conducting the proposed work.
- NIH and other PHS agencies (PHS 398 Fillable Forms)
- NSF prohibits inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing unless specifically stated in an NSF solicitation. The NSF FAQs state that “. . . all organizational resources necessary for the project (both physical and personnel) must be described in the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources section of the proposal (see NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) Chapter II.C.2.i for more information).”
- Data Management Plan/Resource Sharing Plan: Data Management Plans/Resource Sharing Plans describe how proposals disseminate and share results.
- NSF Policy (http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/dmp.jsp)
- NIH Policy (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/peer/guidelines_general/Resource_sharing_plans.pdf)
- A sample Data Management plan can be obtained by contacting IRS staff.
- The University Library provides resources and tools to aid researchers in preparing Data Management Plans.
- Current and Pending Support: Some funding agencies require a Current and Pending Support section at the time of application. This section describes what funding a researcher is currently receiving, as well as what funding the researcher has applied for.
- For NIH, your biosketch will include current and past support whereas current and pending support is a just-in-time requirement unless otherwise noted in the FOA. NIH Policy http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html
- NSF requires Current and Pending Support for all key personnel at the time of application.
- Compliance Documents: Depending on the specific project and sponsor, the researcher may also need to complete a variety of compliance documents.
- The Proposal Review page provides a list of the documents Sponsored Programs will look for when a proposal is submitted.
- The Research Compliance and Integrity unit can help you determine whether you need to submit a Financial Conflict of Interest form prior to proposal submission.
