Find information in this section on how to appropriately submit your grant proposals, letters of intent/preliminary proposals, fellowships, contracts, and material transfer agreements through the University.
Begin here by reviewing the Responsibility Matrix (PDF) to see who is responsible for what during the proposal submission process.
Only an authorized representative can sign certain documents on behalf of the University. Grants and contracts are submitted and negotiated in the University's name; only those persons authorized to sign grants and contracts can provide a legal binding signature. Individual faculty and staff are not authorized to provide these signatures.
Approved Delegations of Authority to sign grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements for the Chancellor and the President (this is who would sign your grant proposal submission, grant contract/agreement, and contracts with external sponsors):
Ms. Charna Howson, Director of Sponsored Programs
287 Rivers Street; PO Box 32174, Room 384
Boone, NC 28608-2174
Email: grants@appstate.edu
Phone: 828-262-7311
Fax: 828-262-2641
Approved Delegations of Authority to sign grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements for the Chief Finance Officer (this is who would sign financial reports for your sponsored projects):
Mrs. Elaine Berry of Contracts and Grants Accounting
Contracts and Grants Accounting
ASU Box 32043
Boone, NC 28608-2043
Email: berryle@appstate.edu
Phone: 828-262-6890
If your proposal requires a letter of support from the Provost or the Chancellor, please contact the Vice-Provost for Research, Dr. Ece Karatan, who will forward your request to the appropriate office.
Your proposal may be submitted to the sponsor when:
Please note: If you submit a proposal before receiving all required internal approvals, the University reserves the right to withdraw the proposal or not accept an award if, upon review, the proposal is found to contain terms with which the University cannot comply.
Your proposal must be reviewed and approved prior to submission to the sponsor by the following via the AGrants system:
**If you are the head of your department/program or unit, you will still need approval from two areas above you (i.e., for department chairs, your school/college and Academic Affairs).
To allow Sponsored Programs adequate time for review and final approval, you must complete all required fields in AGrants, attach all final and complete proposal materials in the system, and obtain all required internal approvals no later than five business days before your sponsor's submission deadline.
Please note: If you submit a proposal before receiving all required internal approvals, the University reserves the right to withdraw the proposal or not accept an award if, upon review, the proposal is found to contain terms with which the University cannot comply.
Enter your campus username and password when prompted.
To allow Sponsored Programs adequate time for review and final approval, you must complete all required fields in AGrants, attached all final and complete proposal materials in the system, and obtain all required approvals no later than five business days before your sponsor's submission deadline.
See below for a description of the training sessions and a place to register for one. If there is no time that fits your schedule, but you have at least three people who would like a training session at a certain time, please contact Yingqi Wang at wangy5@appstate.edu or (828) 262-2165.
For Administrators: http://workshops.appstate.edu/detail.aspx?key=576
If you would like to become familiar with AGrants without initiating an actual proposal, you may do so by logging into the AGrants test site.
Submitted proposals in the test site will not be routed to chairs, deans, or Sponsored Programs, but the site is a useful tool for learning the AGrants system.
Please note: The test site does not contain accurate or current data and cannot be relied on to produce accurate reports.
Once you have obtained any required signatures from authorized representatives, received all required internal approvals of your proposal via the AGrants system, and received the message from that system telling you that your proposal has been approved, you may proceed with submission to the sponsor. How do you this?
Different sponsors have different submission methods, which will be outlined in the sponsor's guidelines/RFP (Request for Proposals).
AGrants is the system by which you route proposals for all required internal approvals prior to submission to the sponsor.
Some sponsors, especially foundations and both non-profit and for-profit organizations, do not use electronic submission systems. Unless the sponsor requires it, you may submit your proposal yourself as outlined below—but only after receiving all required internal approvals of your proposal via the AGrants system and the message from that system telling you your proposal has been approved and that you may proceed with submission to the sponsor. Or, you may ask your contact person in Sponsored Programs to do this for you.
Basic, applied and translational research about:
Each grant announcement includes an Activity Code; these codes stand for different types of grants. R15, R03 or R21 are the research grants most likely to be pursued by smaller institutions like Appalachian:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/submissionschedule.htm
The table shows standard due dates for competing applications (note that all AIDS and AIDS-related applications share the same deadlines regardless of activity code).
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/parent_announcements.htm
Electronic grant applications must be submitted in response to a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), and new packages are provided with each new FOA. NIH has developed standard Parent announcements, however, for use by applicants who wish to submit what were formerly termed investigator-initiated or 'unsolicited' applications. Apply using the electronic application package for your chosen mechanism listed in the table at the link above.
New feature - NIH Parent Application Packages: Find application packages pre-populated with Appalachian's institutional data for the following Parent announcements: R01, R03, R15, and R21 (PDF).
You may also find the following NIH Regional Seminar presentation helpful: "Interacting Electronically with NIH" (PDF, ASU login required).
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms_page_limits.htm
The standard page limits for most activity codes (award mechanism, i.e., R15 or R01) are listed at the link above. Please note the instructions contained in the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) always supersede these standard page limits; therefore, be sure to check the FOA for exceptions.
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/SF424_RR_Guide_General_VerC.pdf (PDF)
You may also find the following NIH Regional Seminar presentation helpful: "Budget Building Blocks for Investigators" (ASU login required).
The National Research Council (NRC) has published a lits of agencies that have officially adopted the Public Health Service (PHS) regulations of the Final Rule on COI in their award terms. The list can be found on the NRC webpage at: http://nrc59.nas.edu/pub/fcoi_agencies_phs_regs.html
You may also find the following NIH Regional Seminar presentation helpful: "Financial Conflict of Interest" (PDF, ASU login required).
Sometimes sponsors require applicants to submit a letter of intent (may also be called a preliminary proposal or pre-proposal) in order to be eligible to apply for a program. Letters of intent which commit specific University resources such as personnel or space, or which request funding for specific project costs, are official requests for external funding. As such they must receive all required internal approvals via AGrants prior to submission to the sponsor—just like a full grant proposal.
When letters of intent or pre-proposals are required by the National Science Foundation (NSF), they must be submitted through its electronic submission system, Fastlane, by an Authorized Research Administrator. To do this, you will need to:
Limited submissions are programs or sponsors that restrict the number of proposals Appalachian can submit each year. If we submit more proposals than a program allows, the sponsor can reject all proposals from our university without review. If you are interested in a program that limits submissions, see the Limited Submissions section of the Grants Resources & Services website.
Generally, proposals include items such as a cover sheet; abstract or project summary; project narrative/project description; biographical information on key personnel; budget and budget justification; letters of commitment and/or support; and required federal forms. Additionally, before submission to the sponsor, certifications from all project personnel and all required internal approvals must be completed via AGrants.
Download a detailed proposal checklist (DOC)
Note: All items on the checklist may or may not apply to your particular proposal. Always read and double-check the sponsor's guidelines/RFP (Request for Proposals) for your individual submission!