Proposal Preparation

10 Steps to Submit a Proposal:

Step 1. As soon as the PI decides to submit a proposal, the PI sends an email to OSP Pre-Award Services at preaward@boisestate.edu  with the following information:

• Sponsor name

• Program name and a link to the Request for Proposals or Program Solicitation
• Proposal title
• Proposed start/end date
• Date of proposal submission (if earlier than the program’s deadline)
• Any additional information the PI would like to share about the proposal

Step 2. The Pre-Award Services Manager assigns an OSP Research Administrator (RA) to the proposal.

Step 3. The RA contacts the PI to establish the proposal submission timeline, review the proposal guidelines, and develop the budget with input from the PI.

Step 4. The RA completes a Proposal Data Sheet and routes the draft budget and scope of work (or project narrative) for internal approvals using the Frevvo system prior to submitting the proposal. Any additional forms that require approval are attached to the Proposal Data Sheet.

Step 5. The RA initiates the Proposal Data Sheet then routes it to the Department Administrator (DA), PI and College Business Manager (BM) to complete the remaining fields and approve the proposal.  Detailed instructions for using this system are found here.

Step 6. After the BM completes and signs the Proposal Data Sheet, it (with the attachments) is automatically routed to the PI’s Department Chair (DC) and then to the Dean for approval. Once the Dean approves the Proposal Data Sheet, the routing is complete.

Step 7. The PI and the RA finalize the proposal documents (see the Roles and Responsibilities for proposal development below).

Step 8. The RA reviews the budget and proposal to ensure accuracy and compliance with proposal guidelines.

Step 9. The RA submits the proposal to the sponsor using an electronic proposal submission platform (Hard copy proposals are returned to the PI to submit to the sponsor.)

Step 10. The OSP Pre-Award Services office records the proposal information in the InfoEd system and keeps copies of the submitted proposal records pending an award.

Timeline:

This is a generic timeline. More complex proposals or proposals with internal or external collaborators or cost sharing requirements necessitate more time to develop and to route for review and approval.  Individual colleges and departments may have longer timeline requirements.

In accordance with Section 4.1 of Boise State University Policy Number 5030, a proposal is considered late when the final proposal is submitted to the RA less than five (5) full business days prior to the submission deadline. Narrative documents may be submitted to the RA three (3) full business days prior to the deadline. Please review the Proposal Document Submission Deadline Guide for more information.

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF)

Major Research Instrumentation Program

Boise State is classified as a “Ph.D.-granting institution” as defined by NSF’s Major Research Instrumentation Program.   Consistent with the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-69), cost sharing of precisely 30% of the total project cost is required for Ph.D.-granting institutions of higher education. Please contact preaward@boisestate.edu if you intent to submit a proposal to the MRI program. The program limits the number of proposals submitted each year.

The Pre-Award team facilitates an internal proposal vetting process in the fall of each year for the MRI program. To receive a notification of this and other limited submission programs, as well as other funding opportunity announcements, please subscribe to the Funding Blast, Limited Submission Opportunities, and PI News services.

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH)

NIH Salary Cap

Certain Boise State employees’ institutional base salaries exceed the legislatively mandated salary cap on contracts, grants and cooperative agreements funded by NIH.  Therefore, when submitting proposals to NIH, Boise State must adhere to the following requirements from NIH’s Guidance on salary limitations for grants and cooperative agreements FY2019 (the NIH Notice):

The Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019, restricts the amount of direct salary to Executive Level II of the Federal Executive pay scale.  The Office of Personnel Management has recently released new salary levels for the Executive Pay Scale.  Effective January 6, 2019, the salary limitation for Executive Level II is $192,300.

For the purposes of the salary limitation, the terms “direct salary,” “salary,” and “institutional base salary” have the same meaning and are exclusive of fringe benefits and facilities and administrative (F&A) expenses, also referred to as indirect costs. An individual’s institutional base salary is the annual compensation that the applicant organization pays for an individual’s appointment, whether that individual’s time is spent on research, teaching, patient care or other activities. Base salary excludes any income that an individual may be permitted to earn outside of the duties to the applicant organization.

NIH grant/contract awards for applications/proposals that request direct salaries of individuals in excess of the applicable RATE per year will be adjusted in accordance with the legislative salary limitation and will include a notification such as the following: None of the funds in this award shall be used to pay the salary of an individual at a rate in excess of the applicable salary cap. Please see the salary cap summary and the time frames associated with salary caps  at  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/salcap_summary.htm.

An individual’s base salary is NOT per se constrained by the legislative provision for a limitation of salary. The rate limitation simply limits the amount that may be awarded and charged to NIH grants and contracts.  An institution may pay an individual’s salary amount in excess of the salary cap with non-federal funds.

The salary limitation does NOT apply to payments made to consultants under an NIH grant although, as with all costs, those payments must meet the test of reasonableness and be consistent with institutional policy.

The salary limitation provision DOES apply to subawards/subcontracts for substantive work under an NIH grant or contract.

Competing grant applications and contract proposals that include a categorical breakdown in the budget figures/business proposal should continue to reflect the actual institutional base salary of all individuals for whom reimbursement is requested.  In lieu of actual base salary, however, applicants/offerors may elect to provide an explanation indicating that actual institutional base salary exceeds the current salary limitation. When this information is provided, NIH staff will make necessary adjustments to requested salaries prior to award.

If you have additional questions, please review the entire NIH Notice and contact OSP Pre-Award Services at preaward@boisestate.edu.