Proposal

PROJECT BUDGET

GUR proposals may request up to $15,000. Proposals with insufficiently detailed budgets or budget justifications may be returned without review. GUR proposals do not require matching funds from the PI’s College and/or Department. However, matching funds may be included when applicable and when pre-approved by the Chair and Dean.

BUDGETING GUIDELINES

Personnel: FPI faculty summer salary up to $5,000 or 1/9th salary, whichever is less, is allowable. Matching faculty academic time is permitted though not required. Inclusion of graduate and undergraduate research assistants (RAs) is encouraged. Research assistants may be paid hourly or on stipends. Matching student RA stipends related to the proposed research are permitted.

Fringe Benefits: Fringe benefit costs are required for all personnel categories other than PI summer salary.

Direct Research Expenses: Expense categories such as equipment, participant support costs, and other direct research costs typically allowed by federal sponsors are permitted. Travel for proposed scholarship may be supported if it is well justified within the scope of the project.

Unallowable Expenses: Facilities and administrative (F&A) costs, graduate tuition, and PI fringe benefits are unallowable on GUR awards. If the graduate RA is supported on a stipend from this award, a financial plan for covering required graduate tuition costs should be articulated in the budget justification

The committee will consider a wide variety of specific budgetary requests if the budget items are adequately justified. A budget justification is required in the application. Instructions for the budget justification can be found in the GUR Proposal Template. The committee may choose to award a GUR grant at a level of funding different from the amount requested.

All budgets should be prepared with the understanding that budget changes exceeding 25% of the total award and re-budgeting of funds into categories not included in the original budget must be approved by the Research Office. See the GUR Post-Award section for more information.

NOTE: For tax purposes, stipends for principal investigators on GUR grants are fellowships rather than wages and are therefore exempt from FICA, but no fellowship is exempt from Federal and State payroll taxes. It is assumed that a faculty member receiving fellowship funds will not have any qualified educational expenses and appropriate payroll taxes will be subject to withholding at the time of disbursement.

PROJECT DURATION

GUR grants are awarded for up to two years with periods of performance commencing June 1. No-cost extensions may be granted up to three times only when circumstances warrant. No-cost extension instructions are in the GUR Post-Award section.

PROPOSAL COMPONENTS & FORMATTING

Submit the GUR proposal using the GUR Proposal Template. All components should be single-spaced using 11-pt Arial font with one-inch margins.

Executive Summary: The executive summary is a one-page section consisting of three sub-sections: an overview, a statement on the significance of the problem, and a statement on the intellectual merit of the approach/plan for scholarship. The overview should include a description of the scope of the proposed activity. The statement on the significance of the problem should describe how the scholarship addresses an unmet need of high importance or is an extraordinarily novel or creative innovation. The statement on the intellectual merit should concisely summarize the plan or methods and activities and how they are clearly aligned with the significance of the problem.

Project Description: A three-page section providing a statement of work including a plan for scholarship with clear achievable goals and details about the expected significance of the scholarship resulting from project activities. The project’s intellectual merit/plan for scholarship and significance of the problem should be fully described in the Project Description. Include any relevant figures or tables. Additionally, investigators should specifically include: a training plan for student involvement and explain how the proposed work will lead to future support and/or opportunities. The entire Project Description should be clear to a reviewer having an advanced educational background within an allied discipline, but who may not be an expert in the field.

Timeline: A one-half page description, infographic, or chart detailing a clear and reasonable timeline for the proposed activities. Include dates, tasks, dependencies and milestones as applicable.

Additional information such as References, Budget Justification, PI and co-PI NSF-style Biosketches, and PI and co-PI NSF-style Current & Pending Support should be combined with the proposal template and submitted as one PDF document. Incomplete applications will be returned without review.

Submission

PROCEDURES FOR SUBMITTING SELECTED PROPOSALS

1. A letter of intent (LOI) to submit a full proposal must be submitted by the deadline noted above using this online application form. Notices of intent include: the PI’s full name, department affiliation, and email address; a proposed title; and a short (<250 word) abstract of the proposed work. Only proposals submitting a LOI will be considered for the competition.
2. PIs submitting a LOI will receive subsequent instructions on full proposal submission.
3. The GUR Proposal Template must be used for formatting the proposal which should be submitted as a single PDF document. Complete proposals include an Executive Summary; Project Description; Timeline; References; Budget and Budget Justification; PI and Co-PI NSF-style Biosketches; and PI and co-PI NSF-style Current & Pending Support.
4. Applications must be submitted using the online application system by 11:59 PM on the submission deadline noted above.

PROCEDURES FOR SELECTED PROPOSALS

FACULTY PROCEDURES

1. When a proposal is selected for funding, the faculty member should reach out to their applicable department administrator or grant analyst so that a record in UD's Grant Management System, PeopleSoft (PS), can be initiated.
2. PIs submitting a LOI will receive subsequent instructions on full proposal submission.
3. Faculty should provide the administrator with a single PDF copy of the full proposal submission.
4. Faculty should work with the Department Administrator to develop a more detailed budget as is required for PeopleSoft input. A detailed budget template can be found on the Research Office website.

ADMINISTRATOR PROCEDURES

Departmental administrator or grant analyst guidance for using UD’s Grants Management System is available on the Research Office website and by contacting the department’s assigned Contract & Grant Specialist in the Research Office.

GUR PEOPLESOFT PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sponsor ID: 0921 – General University Research
2. Purpose: RSCH7 – University Sponsored Research
3. Budget Considerations:
   • Requested amount up to $15,000 entered as direct costs
   • Applicable cost-share entered from department and/or College (not required)
   • Faculty Summer Salary: Up to $5,000 for the Principal Investigator budgeted under account code 120800 and budget category PSTDOC so that fringe benefits are not incurred.
   • Graduate student tuition is prohibited.
   • F&A Pricing Setup: F&A costs are not permissible on GUR awards.
     • Choose “Industrial Research On-Campus” for the rate type; overwrite the F&A rate to zero.
     • Pricing Method should be FIXED
   • Under the Attachments tab, upload a single PDF copy of the full proposal submission using the following naming convention: ProposalID_Other
   • Routing of FIN Proposal Approval Summary (PAS) webform should include PI, Department Chair, College Dean and OSP per standard procedures.

FACULTY S-CONTRACT PROCEDURES

If you choose to receive a stipend from your recently awarded grant, the S-Contract that is processed by your department should identify the payment by using account code 120800 and the earnings code PFF. This account code will identify the stipend as a fellowship, which is not subject to FICA taxes, TIAA pension contributions, or university matching of such contributions. In addition, the account will not be charged fringe benefits on the stipend. The comments section of the S-Contract should include the phrase “Stipend Award from GUR”. University policy limits a summer payment such as this to 1/9th of your regular salary.

PROPOSAL REVIEW RUBRIC

Score is out of 100 possible points. Download the Rubric PDF below:

Terms and Conditions

GUR grants are made with the following understood commitments from the PI.

1. Acceptance signifies intent to continue employment with the University for the duration of the proposal period.
2. The University's patent, copyright, and publication policies, found in the Faculty Handbook, apply to research conducted under a GUR grant. GUR research must comply with the University Research, Sponsored Programs, Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Policies.
3. If the proposed research includes human subjects or private identifiable data, and/or the use of non-human vertebrate animals, the research protocol must be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board or the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee respectively prior to expending any GUR funds. If IRB or IACUC approval is not granted for the study, the award will be withdrawn.
4. The University exercises no direction or supervision over the details of the research or activities to be performed but does require adherence to the original objectives and purposes of the grant. It also requires that a final report on the proposal be submitted to the Research Office no later than ninety (90) days after the end date of the award. Final reports can be submitted using the UD Internal Seed Grant Request form.
5. Publications or other scholarly works directly resulting from a GUR grant must include an acknowledgment that the research was carried out with the support of the University of Delaware General University Research grant program. Each grantee is required to furnish one copy of any resulting papers, books, or other publications to the University Library through the Research Office (researchdev@udel.edu).
6. Unless arrangements to the contrary have been included in the proposal as accepted, financial income derived from the project will be returned to the University, up to the amount of the award. This is not meant to conflict with university policies on patents, copyrights, and publications.

GUR Post Award

AWARD SELECTION

General University Research grants are awards based on eligibility and merit. Proposals are reviewed for eligibility by the Research Office and evaluations of merit and award recommendations are made by the Faculty Senate Research Committee. The Vice President for Research, Scholarship, and Innovation makes the final award decision.

POST AWARD ADMINISTRATION

Awarded proposals will be assigned an award number and purpose code for expenditures. Only successful awards should be entered into PeopleSoft by PI’s department administrator for tracking and reporting purposes. Correspondence and post-award reporting should include the award number and purpose code. All proposals funded at a level different than proposed, must provide a revised budget before the purpose code is established.

The UD Internal Seed Grant Request form should be used for re-budgeting and no-cost extension requests and for submitting the required final report.

Rebudgeting: Budget changes exceeding 25% of the total award and re-budgeting of funds into categories not in the original budget require prior approval by the Research Office.
No-cost Extensions: Requests for no-cost extensions must be submitted no sooner than 90 days and at least 30 days prior to the award end date. Requests should include the reason for, and the duration of, the extension. A maximum of one year is allowed per NCE request and total requests are limited to three per award.
Final Reports: A final report for the award must be submitted to the Research Office no later than ninety (90) days after the end date of the grant. Final reports are to be submitted using the University of Delaware Seed Grant Program Final Report.

Proposal

PROJECT BUDGET

UDRF proposals may request up to $50,000 of which $30,000 is sponsor-direct funding with an additional $15,000 in matching funds from the PI’s Dean ($7,500) and the Provost’s Office ($7,500) and $5,000 if a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) stipend is requested. All UDRF proposals require matching funds from the PI’s College and Provost’s Office.

BUDGETING GUIDELINES

Personnel: PI faculty summer salary up to $5,000.00 or 1/9th salary, whichever is less, is allowable. University of Delaware graduate research assistant (RA) stipends, hourly wage, and other positions providing technical assistance are allowable. Support of UD graduate students are generally accorded as a higher priority than other budget categories. REU stipends in the amount of $5,000 may be requested and are limited to UD undergraduate students.

• Fringe Benefits: Fringe benefit costs are required for all personnel categories other than PI summer salary.
• Direct Research Expenses: Expense categories such as equipment, travel, participant support costs, and other direct research costs typically allowed by federal sponsors are allowed.
• Unallowable Expenses: Facilities and administrative (F&A) costs, graduate tuition, and PI fringe benefits are unallowable on UDRF awards.

All budgets should be prepared with the understanding that budget changes exceeding 25% of the total award and re-budgeting of funds into categories not included in the original budget must be approved by the Research Office. See the UDRF Post-Award section for more information.

PROJECT DURATION

UDRF grants are awarded for up to two years with periods of performance commencing June 1. No-cost extensions may be granted up to three times only when circumstances warrant. No-cost extension instructions are presented in the UDRF Post-Award section of this document.

PROPOSAL COMPONENTS & FORMATTING

Submit the UDRF proposal using the UDRF Proposal Template. All components should be single-spaced using 11-pt Arial font with one-inch margins. Additional information such as References, Budget Justification, PI and co-PI NSF-style Biosketches, and PI and co-PI NSF-style Current & Pending Support should be combined with the proposal template and submitted as one PDF document. Incomplete applications will be returned without review.

Executive Summary: The executive summary is a one-page section consisting of three sub-sections: Overview, Intellectual Merit, and Broader Impacts. The Overview should include a description of the scientific scope of the proposal and potential future sources of external funding. The statement on Intellectual Merit should describe how the project will advance knowledge and understanding in the domain. The statement on Broader Impacts should describe how the project will benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes. The summary should be written for a non-expert, highly educated reader.

Project Description: A three-page section providing a statement of work including clearly achievable goals within the proposed timeline and expected significance of the proposed research. The project’s intellectual merit and broader impacts should be fully described in the Project Description. Include any relevant figures or tables. Investigators should specifically address the approaches for seeking external funding and, investigators with significant current support, must include a clear explanation of how the proposed research differs from existing awards. The entire Project Description should be clear to a reviewer having a technical/scientific background within an allied discipline, but who may not be an expert in the field.

Submission

PROCEDURES FOR SELECTED PROPOSALS

FACULTY PROCEDURES

1. When a proposal is selected for funding, the faculty member should reach out to their applicable department administrator or grant analyst so that a record in UD's Grant Management System, PeopleSoft (PS), can be initiated.
2. Faculty should provide the administrator with a single PDF copy of the full proposal submission.
3. Faculty should work with the administrator in adapting their awarded budget to the PeopleSoft input budget categories. If needed, detailed budget template can be found on the Research Office website.

ADMINISTRATOR PROCEDURES

Departmental administrator or grant analyst guidance for using UD’s Grants Management System is available on the Research Office website and by contacting the department’s assigned Contract & Grant Specialist in the Research Office.

UDRF PEOPLESOFT PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sponsor ID: 2910 - University of Delaware Research Foundation
2. Purpose: RSCH4- Foundation Research
3. Budget Considerations:
   • Direct Costs: Enter up to $30,000 base award from UDRF as direct costs. The PI may also have requested and received an additional $5,000 as direct costs for a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) supplement. Note: The undergraduate student must be budgeted under participant support costs (see details below).
   • Cost Share:
     • $7,500 from the Provost’s Office should be entered as cost share from department ID #01551. (This cost share will be approved by the Research Office. The Provost Office does not need to approve the Proposal Summary Form.)
     • $7,500 from the College Dean should be entered as cost share from the appropriate department ID.
   • Faculty Summer Salary: Up to $5,000 or 1/9th summer salary for the PI, whichever is less, and must be budgeted under account code 120800 with budget category PSTDOC so that fringe benefits are not incurred.
   • Participant Support Costs: REU supplements are limited to $5,000 and must be budgeted under account code 146115 with budget category PTSTIP. These funds can only be used for the REU and may not be used for other wage categories or other project expenses. A separate project must be created for REU participant support costs.
   • Graduate student tuition is prohibited.
   • F&A Pricing Setup: F&A costs are not permissible on UDRF awards.
     • Choose “Industrial Research On-Campus” for the rate type; overwrite the F&A rate to zero.
     • Pricing Method should be FIXED
   • Under the Attachments tab, upload a single PDF copy of the full proposal submission using the following naming convention: ProposalID_Other
   • Routing of FIN Proposal Approval Summary (PAS) webform should include PI, Department Chair, College Dean and Research Office per standard procedures.

FACULTY S-CONTRACT PROCEDURES

If the PI chooses to receive a stipend from their recently awarded UDRF grant, the S-Contract that is processed by their department should identify the payment by using account code 120800 and the earnings code PFF. This account code will identify the stipend as a fellowship, which is not subject to FICA taxes, TIAA pension contributions, or university matching of such contributions. In addition, the account will not be charged fringe benefits on the stipend. The comments section of the S-Contract should include the phrase “Stipend Award from UDRF”. University policy limits a summer payment such as this to 1/9th of the PI's regular salary.

Terms & Conditions

UDRF research grants are made with the following understood commitments from the PI.

1. Acceptance signifies intent to continue employment with the University for the duration of the proposal period.
2. The University's patent, copyright, and publication policies, found in the Faculty Handbook, apply to research conducted under a UDRF grant. UDRF research must comply with the University Research, Sponsored Programs, Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Policies.
3. If the proposed research includes human subjects or private identifiable data, and/or the use of non-human vertebrate animals, the research protocol must be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board or the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee respectively prior to expending any UDRF funds. If IRB or IACUC approval is not granted for the study, the award will be withdrawn.
4. The University exercises no direction or supervision over the details of the research or activities to be performed but does require adherence to the original objectives and purposes of the grant. It also requires that a final report on the proposal be submitted to the Research Office no later than ninety (90) days after the end date of the award. Final reports can be submitted using the UD Internal Seed Grant Request form.
5. Every publication directly resulting from a research grant must include an acknowledgment that the research was carried out with the support of the University of Delaware Research Foundation. Each grantee is required to furnish one copy of any resulting papers, books, or other publications to the University Library through the Research Office (researchdev@udel.edu).
6. Unless arrangements to the contrary have been included in the proposal as accepted, financial income derived from the project will be returned to the University, up to the amount of the award. This is not meant to conflict with university policies on patents, copyrights, and publications.

Post Award

AWARD SELECTION

University of Delaware Research Foundation grants are awarded based on eligibility and merit and administered by the UD Research Office. Evaluations of merit and award recommendations are made by the UDRF Research Committee, which is composed of engineers and scientists from the private sector in the region. The UDRF Board of Trustees makes the final award decisions at one of its semi-annual meetings.

POST AWARD ADMINISTRATION

Awarded proposals will be assigned an award number and purpose code for expenditures. Only successful awards should be entered into PeopleSoft by the PI’s department administrator for tracking and reporting purposes. Correspondence and post-award reporting should include the award number and purpose code. All proposals funded at a level different than what was proposed must provide a revised budget before the purpose code is established.

The UD Internal Seed Grant Request form must be used for re-budgeting and requesting no-cost extensions. The UD Seed Grant Final Report form must be used for submitting the required final report.

Rebudgeting: Budget changes exceeding 25% of the total award and re-budgeting of funds into categories not in the original budget require prior approval by the Research Office. Funds awarded for an REU stipend paid on account 146115 may not be rebudgeted.

No-cost Extensions: Requests for No-Cost Extensions must be submitted no sooner than 90 days and at least 30 days prior to the award end date. Requests should include the reason for and the duration of the extension. A maximum of one year is allowed per NCE request and total requests are limited to three per award.

Final Reports: A final report for the award must be submitted to the Research Office no later than ninety (90) days after the end date of the grant.