Explore Research Roles and Responsibilities Where can I locate research funding opportunities? How do I develop a competitive proposal? Where do I find the UD data I need to complete my budget? You’ll find the answers here, courtesy of the Research Office. A handy proposal checklist also is provided for your convenience.

Remember, it takes time and effort to develop a successful proposal — in fact, proposal success rates average 20–33%, depending on the field. Funding agencies reject half the proposals they receive because the applicant did not follow instructions or the proposal did not match the funding program.

However, the rewards for garnering research funding can be great, enabling you to explore new frontiers, instruct your students in the conduct of research, and yield new discoveries and knowledge of benefit to society.

*All proposals submitted to external sponsors from the University of Delaware, regardless of the amount, source of funding or the type of project must be reviewed and approved by the Research Office in accordance with UD’s External Sponsorship and Grant policy. For a proposal to be submitted, a proposal record must be created in the UD grants module system. This will originate a form to route for approval of the proposal submission.
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PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT

Institutional Information

NIH Proposal Checklist

NSF Proposal Checklist

PI Eligibility

Institutional Information

NIH Proposal Checklist

NSF Proposal Checklist

PI Eligibility

Proposal Development Assistance

Proposal Info/Checklist

Proposal Writing

3-Day Proposal Deadline Policy

Proposal Development Assistance

Proposal Info/Checklist

Proposal Writing

3-Day Proposal Deadline Policy

Categories of Sponsored Activities

NSF Safe and Inclusive Environment Plan

Categories of Sponsored Activities

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CATEGORIES OF SPONSORED ACTIVITIES

This guidance document illustrates the major categories of sponsored projects, i.e., organized research, other sponsored activities and sponsored instruction.

 

TYPE

DEFINITION

NOTES

Organized Research

Research activities include the inquiry, experimentation, or investigation to increase the scholarly understanding of the involved discipline. The project is making a creative contribution to solve a problem in its field. All research and development activities that are sponsored by federal and nonfederal agencies and organizations (including University research, which is research and development activities that are separately budgeted and accounted for by the institution under an internal application of institutional funds).

This term includes activities involving the training of individuals in research techniques (commonly called research training) where such activities utilize the same facilities as other research and development activities and where such activities are not included in the instruction function.

Organized Research may be appropriate if you can answer yes to any of the following:

  • Are there activities being developed and evaluation that will make a creative contribution to solve a problem?
  • Will there be a scholarly inquiry, analysis, or critical study, hypothesis, or data collection?
  • Will the findings be used to contribute to generalizable knowledge (i.e. meant to have an impact on others within the discipline) inside or outside the Institution?
  • Will the results or outcomes be published, archived, presented, or viewed in some way as relevant beyond the specific participant population?

Other Sponsored Activities

Other Sponsored Activities include programs and projects financed by Federal and non-Federal agencies and organizations which involve the performance of work other than Instruction and Organized Research beneficial to individuals and groups external to the University of Delaware (UD).

Examples of such programs and projects are health service projects, community service programs, non-credit instruction/community education, conference/seminars, cooperative extension services, or outreach projects. UD classifies Service and Testing Agreements as Other Sponsored Activities. Service Agreements do not involve a creative contribution to solve a problem. A Service Agreement creates or modifies tangible or intangible things (e.g. materials, ideas, reviews, processes, etc.) to assist the requested party in optimizing its knowledge. This may include repetitive, quantitative, non-experimental measurements under physically controlled conditions for which the data produced are expected to be within a pre-determined range of values or of reproducibility.

Other Sponsored Activities may be appropriate if you can answer yes to any of the following:

  • Is the intended audience the public for receipt of or participation in a community service with no University research resources to be used?
  • Is the intended activity a conference whose participants are not students enrolled at the University?
  • Is the intended activity travel to a conference (excludes travel related to research)?
  • Is the intended activity for service or testing that does not involve a creative contribution to solve a problem?

Sponsored Instruction/Training

Except for research training, as described above, the term Instruction includes all teaching and training activities of an institution whether offered for credits toward a degree or certificate or on a noncredit basis, and whether they are offered through regular academic departments or separate divisions, such as a summer school division or an extension division.

Examples include student instruction at any location, curriculum development, or projects where UD students receiving academic credits.

Research training should be considered research for purposes of UD PeopleSoft entry.

Instruction may be appropriate if you can answer yes to any of the following:

  • Will the activity support curriculum development not related to a research project?
  • Will the activity support teaching/training activities (other than research training)?
  • Is the intended audience students enrolled at the University?

NSF Safe and Inclusive Environment Plan

 

BUDGETS & RATES

Budget Categories

Budget Justification Guidelines

Budget Justification Template

Budget Salary- DHHS Caps

Budget Categories

Budget Justification Guidelines

Budget Justification Template

Budget Salary- DHHS Caps

Administrative Salaries

Equipment

Facilities & Administrative (F&A)

Fringe Benefit Rates

Administrative Salaries

Equipment

Facilities & Administrative (F&A)

Fringe Benefit Rates

Modified Total Direct Cost

Salary Reference Sheet

Graduate Tuition Rates

Off-Campus Definition

Modified Total Direct Cost

Salary Reference Sheet

Graduate Tuition Rates

Off-Campus Definition

 

SUBAWARD PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Subaward Proposal Info

Subaward Monitoring

Federal Demo Project (FDP)

Subawards Proposal Forms

Subaward Proposal Info

Subaward Monitoring

Federal Demo Project (FDP)

Subawards Proposal Forms

 

PROPOSAL REFERENCES

Gifts vs. Sponsored Project

Data Management Plans

Institutional Letters of Support

UD Financials: PeopleSoft

Gifts vs. Sponsored Project

Data Management Plans

Institutional Letters of Support

UD Financials: PeopleSoft

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Getting Started

Am I eligible to serve as a principal investigator (PI) on a research proposal?

What is a conflict of interest and do I have a conflict?

Where can I find Funding Opportunities?

What should a researcher do before submitting for funding? Or I've found a funding opportunity that is the right match for my research. What are my next steps?

How do I develop a competitive proposal?

The solicitation requires that my proposal be submitted electronically. How do I obtain access to various electronic submission site (example: Fastlane, ERA Commons, NSPIRE, etc)?

How do I route a proposal approval form for signatures?

I found a solicitation that limits the number of proposals that can be submitted. What is the UD Research Office proceedures on Limited Submission Proposals?

Do pre-proposals require UD Research Office approval?

I am preparing a letter of intent, does it have to be signed by the Research Office?

Who at University of Delaware signs as the authorized representative for proposal applications?

What basic information should be on the SF424 for a Grants.gov proposal submission?

What are the important points I should know when preparing an NIH Grants.gov application?

Where do I find more information about NIH Grants.gov application procedures?

Where can I find the NSF Grants.gov application guidelines?

Where do I find information regarding sponsor guidelines?

How do I construct a budget?

Proposal Preparation

Am I eligible to serve as a principal investigator (PI) on a research proposal?

Where can I find research funding?

I've found a research opportunity that is right up my alley. What are the next steps?

How do I develop a competitive proposal?

My proposal has been funded! Now what do I do?

What is the difference between Post Doctoral Fellow and Post Doctoral Researcher?

How do I gain secured access to the Grants system for proposal submission and inquiry?

I have a Post-Doc listed in my NSF proposal budget. What should I include in my Mentoring Statement?

I am preparing a NIH application that involves human subjects and I see there is an entire section of the Research Plan that is devoted to Human Subjects. What should be addressed in this section?

How do I know if I should add a project to my proposal for an individual in another department?

What approvals are required to add or remove projects from an approved proposal?

Proposal Submission

1. How do I obtain access to People Soft grants module?

2. How do I go about getting a letter of support for my research project from the UD administration (Deputy Provost for Research Office, Provost, or President)?

3. When do I need to route a Proposal Approval Form for signatures?

4. Do Pre-Proposals require Research Office approval?

5. I am preparing a Letter of Intent, does it have to be signed by Research Office?

6. What is the process for faculty to gain access to Research.gov?

7. Who at the University of Delaware signs as the Authorized Representative for proposal applications?

8. What is the procedure for a Sponsored Research Program Income?

9. How to avoid common problems and increase submission success regarding PDF documents?