Proposal Development

Guidelines for Preparing and Submitting a Proposal

All proposals for external research funding by Main Campus faculty must be reviewed by the Grants and Contracts team of the Office of Research Services (ORS) prior to submission. To ensure comprehensive and high quality reviews, all proposal documents must be submitted in a timely fashion. Please see the Table of Roles and Responsibilities for reviewing and submitting a proposal

Proposal Submission Deadlines

In particular, researchers should comply with the following deadlines:

FIVE DAY RULE: all administrative components, including budgets, must be submitted at least five business days prior to the sponsor’s submission deadline; and

THREE DAY RULE: all technical/scientific components must be submitted at least three business days prior to the sponsor’s submission deadline.

Proposals that do not comply with these deadlines will be reviewed to the extent possible, but quality assurance and compliance with university and sponsor requirements cannot be guaranteed. For additional information about Preparing a Proposal please visit here.

Please visit Main Campus Research Proposal Steps and Deadlines for additional information.

Proposal Routing

All proposals are required to be routed in GU-PASS for institutional review and approval prior to the sponsor’s deadline. All faculty and staff can access GU-PASS “anytime-anywhere” by using their GU Net IDs and passwords and GU-supported browsers (Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer). For FAQ for GU Pass please go here. Please contact your Cluster Research Administrator (CRA) as your first point of contact for initiating a proposal. If you do not have a CRA please contact ORS at researchadmin@georgetown.edu

To facilitate the navigation on GU Pass we have created this GU Pass Job Aid. If you have never submitted a proposal in GU Pass please contact the GU Pass team ( gu-pass@georgetown.edu) to create an account before submitting a proposal

Proposal Components

The proposal format depends on the requirements of the sponsor. Most sponsors have policies and procedures for submission of proposals and might require the use of specific application forms. Other sponsors are less directive. In any case, PIs should obtain most recent versions of guidelines and should follow the required proposal format. Proposals generally include the following components:

Section	Description
Abstract or Proposal Summary	Outlines the proposed research, including objectives, methodology, and significance of the research.
Proposal Narrative or Research Plan	Provides a full and detailed explanation of the proposed research, typically including a project timetable. It should include general background information regarding how the project relates to previous and current research.
CV/Biographical Sketch	Should be submitted for all key personnel, indicating background, professional interests, research capabilities and publications. (For NIH biosketches, please see NIH specific guidance.)
References	List all references cited in the proposal
Budget and Budget Justification	Includes a reasonable estimate of the financial support required to conduct the project, including justification of budget expenses. Consult Rates, Facts & Figures For additional details for Budget development go here
Facilities and Resources	Describes equipment or other relevant resources that will be available for use on the project. Examples of such resources include laboratory and office spaces, library resources, animal facilities, and computer services or equipment.
Equipment	Describes equipment that will be available for use on the project.
Data Management Plan	For guidance from Georgetown Library on developing a Data Management Plan, please see here. When this is required by the sponsor, this plan often includes: types of data, samples, physical collections, software, curriculum materials, and other materials to be produced in the course of the project. For guidance on large data sets, contact Alisa Kang (alisa.kang@georgetown.edu), Director for Research Technologies, UIS.
Letters of Support	Letters of support from non-university investigation may also be required (See below Sample letters under Proposal Resources).
Current & Pending/Other Support	This is a compilation of the current funding and time commitments for the Principal Investigator (PI) and any other key project personnel. (For NSF proposals, please see NSF specific guidance. For NIH proposals, please see NIH specific guidance.)

Proposal Resources

GU Pass Job Aid (new window)

GU Pass Other Support Job Aid (PIs)

Disclosure Forms

Grant Writing References

Budget Development Guidelines

Course Buyout Policy

NSF Proposals Requirements

Mock Study Section

Sample 1- Letter of Endorsement

Sample 2- Letter of Endorsement

Sample 3 – Letter of Acceptance Grant

Sample 4- Sub-recipient Commitment Form

Sample 5- Letter of Intent (LOI) – From Georgetown University to Sponsor

Sample 6- FDP Expanded Clearinghouse member_Letter of Intent

Guidelines from Sponsors for Grant Applications

Please see below general guidelines from sponsor to apply for different funding opportunities:

NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts – visit here
NIH -NIAID sample applications
NIH How to Apply for a Grant – visit here
NSF Guidelines for Preparing Proposals -visit here
NSF Proposals Job Aids
NSF-Approved Formats for the Biographical Sketch. Use of an NSF-approved format for the biographical sketch will be required upon implementation of the PAPPG (NSF 20-1), for all proposals submitted or due on or after June 1, 2020. NSF recently recorded a webinar on the use of NSF-approved formats.
NSF has posted Important Notice (IN) 147, Research.gov Implementation Update (new window), dated September 22, 2020, to the NSF website.
NSF Finding Funding Opportunities – visit here
Federal Agencies Award Grants – visit here

Proposal Development Support for Main Campus & Law Center

For Proposal Development help, please email the Research Development Specialists proposaldevelopers@georgetown.edu. Please let them know as soon as possible and no later than at least 6 weeks before the proposal deadline in order to access the full range of proposal development services. Please contact:

Jill T. Brasky – Research Development Specialist (jb2719@georgetown.edu)
Tuccoa Polk – Research Development Specialist (tsp24@georgetown.edu)
Richard Cecil – Strategic Proposal Development Officer Main Campus & Law Center/GUMC (rc398@georgetown.edu)

For additional help with Proposal Development

Carole Sargent, PhD, Director of the Office of Scholarly Publications, is available to help you write the research statement portion of the grant. She has trained for this work by interviewing grants officers at the NEH, NSF, and ACLS, and also earning a certificate from the journal Nature through its masterclasses. She will guide you to analyze examples from past grant winners, talk to selected winners and to grants officers when available and appropriate, and craft a grant description that satisfies all of the organization’s criteria.

Proposal Compliance

There are a number of compliance requirements at Georgetown University that must be met in order to conduct research.