Proposal Process

Funding Opportunities

CAH Interdisciplinary Awards Anticipated Schedule

August 18, 2008 Proposals due in CAH Office
September 8, 2008 - Review of Proposals completed
September 22, 2008 - Announcement of awards

UCF Office of Sponsored Research Funding Opportunities

Includes federal, state, foundation, and internal requests for proposals (RFPs) plus a history of prior RFPs. View Web site.

Other Opportunities

Proposal Writing

Faculty should work with their Chair to make sure:
- Proposals are aligned with program, college, and/or university goals
- There is adequate space and equipment for research
- There is availability of departmental staff to assist with administrative issues
- The budget is acceptable and the Chair is aware of any match commitments that may be required of the department
- Adequate time is provided to find a replacement if a course release or course buyout is requested
Notify the CAH Research Office and send the Web link to the funding agency guidelines.
Assistance finding granting agencies and writing proposals is available through ORC and the CAH Dean’s Office. View the complete UCF proposal submission procedures.
Always follow the funding agency’s guidelines. The wrong font size, spacing, or too many pages can disqualify your proposal and keep it from being reviewed.

Proposal Writing Resources

Budget Creation

Contact the CAH Research Office if you need assistance preparing your budget.

Budgets should be as accurate and detailed as possible during the proposal stage. If awarded, the proposal budget will be used to set up your budget in Peoplesoft. Expenses will be loaded by categories. The number of categories created depends on the level of the grant and is based on funding agency and budget. The categories are:

Salary – Faculty, A&P and USPS staff salaries and dual comps. Include applicable fees, benefits rates, and salary increases for multiple year projects when preparing the salary budget. Use current estimated fringe rates. The actual fringe costs per employee will be charged to the grant.
OPS– Student, GRA, and non-student employees paid by UCF Human Resources department.
Expense – This includes supplies, software, subcontractors, independent contractors, tuition, and travel. Independent contractors are outside vendors while subcontractors are integral partners in the project. ORC must approve all subcontract awards. A scope of work statement and budget are needed for subcontractors signed by someone with authority to sign contracts such as the institution’s sponsored research office or legal department.
Equipment(OCO) – Equipment items cost $1,000 or more and have a life longer than a year. Some examples may include computers, servers, printers, projectors, and lab equipment. These items are tagged by UCF Property and become property of the department if the funder does not want them returned.
Indirect/F&A – Based on type of project and is the maximum overhead rate that the funding agency allows. F&A rates are applied to the total direct costs on a modified basis. Modified means that F&A will not be charged on equipment that costs $1,000 or more per unit, the portion of a subcontract in excess of the first $25K for each subcontract regardless of the number of years of support, patient care costs, rental/maintenance of off-site activities, student tuition, and student support costs. View the current UCF F&A rate.

Human Subjects

IRB approval is required when human subjects are involved. This includes using surveys or questionnaires. When in doubt, check with the IRB Office at IRB@mail.ucf.edu.

PIs who need to use human subjects must take the online Human Subjects Protection training. This self-paced training is good for three years. Register here or read more information about this training. The Compliance section of ORC’s Web site contains more detailed IRB information.

Many agencies require proof of IRB approval to be submitted with the proposal. Please allow enough time for the IRB to review your submission. The expedited process takes about two weeks. A full review can take up to three months because the board meets once a month and may request changes.

Final IRB approval can not be granted to a study until all of the researchers, including faculty supervisor (if there is one on the study) have completed researcher training. For multiple year studies, the IRB needs to be approved annually until project completion.

IRB applications are submitted online through iRIS.

CAH IRB Procedure Guide

Submission/ARGIS

Faculty, PIs, Research Administrators, and Dean’s Office staff do not have the authority to enter into agreements with outside agencies. ORC is the only office vested with the authority to sign research proposals and grant contracts on behalf of the University of Central Florida.

Before submitting any proposals to a granting agency, the Proposal Transmittal Form (PTF) must be entered into ARGIS. The proposal and budget must be uploaded with the PTF. If you have questions or problems entering the PTF please contact Suhail Pantojas in ORC, 407-882-1116, or Kristin Wetherbee in the CAH Research Office, 407-823-0908.

Allow adequate time for the approval process. The PTF and uploaded documents are electronically routed through the approval chain. All proposals must be approved by the PIs, the PIs Chair(s), the CAH Research Office, and ORC. If there are Co-PIs on the grant, their Chair’s and Research Coordinators must also approve the proposal.

CAH ARGIS Procedure Guide

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