Helpful Hint Lists for Proposal Preparation : Frequently Asked Questions

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FAQs ON PROPOSAL REVIEW IN THE GRANTS OFFICE FAQs ABOUT THE PAF FAQ ABOUT BUDGETS (GENERAL) FAQs ABOUT NIH PROPOSALS (GENERAL) FAQs ABOUT NIH MODULAR PROPOSALS FAQs REGARDING NIH K AWARDS

FAQs ON PROPOSAL REVIEW IN THE GRANTS OFFICE

When should I turn in my proposal to the grants office?
The Grants office requests proposals 7 working days prior to proposal deadlines.They review the proposals as quickly as possible in the order that they are received.

Follow this link for the official policy.

What do I need to turn in with my proposal to the Grants office?
You should submit the original and a copy of all of the administrative paper work.If you have a copy of the instructions or a link where they are available on line, those should also be submitted.

For more specific components we need to review, please see the Web site that details out “parts” for particular types of submissions.

What are the "control points" on a grant submitted to the Grants office? In other words, what does the Grants Office require to be resolved in order to release?

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FAQs ABOUT THE PAF

Who's eligible to hold a PAF?
Anyone that has an independent faculty appointment as dictated in the Standard Practice Guide. At the Med School, we routinely recognize anyone with one of the following titles:

Professor Clinical Professor Research Scientist
Associate Professor Clinical Associate Professor Associate Research Scientist
Assistant Professor Clinical Assistant Professor Assistant Research Scientist


Research Investigator

For the possibility of a Lecturer, please call the Grants Office for help.

What units need to sign a Medical School PAF?

PAF Page 2 – Yes/No questions:
a.What info should be included with the yes/no questions on the PAF?
All the boxes under activities section of the PAF must be checked yes or no (page 2). If the answer is yes, the corresponding question at the right must be filled in.The Conflict of Interest statement should be answered yes or no and checked by the PI, not computer generated, and the signature must always be included.
b. When do human approvals expire?
Human approvals expire one year after the approval date
c. When do animal approvals expire?
Animal approvals expire three years after the approval date

Conflict of Interest issues:
a. When does conflict of interest exist?
A conflict of interest may arise when a faculty member at the University has significant financial or personal interest in the company that is funding the sponsored project. If they or anyone participating on their project has significant interest they are obligated to check yes on the conflict of interest statement on page two of the PAF. The PI answers the question on behalf of all participants, so they should check with others on their status before signing.

Also, any project that involves participation from an outside company or entity that is owned by a member of the University faculty inherently has a statutory conflict of interest under the State of Michigan law. Even though the PI or participating faculty does not have a direct conflict of interest, the PAF should still be marked Yes.

b. What does the Grants Office do if the conflict of interest is marked “Yes”?
If a proposal comes through the Medical School grants office with conflict of interest checked Yes, we add a statement that reads, “ A copy of this proposal has been sent for conflict of interest review and a management plan must be in place before an award can be made,” to the second page of the PAF. The entire proposal is then be copied and sent over to the Conflict of Interest Review Board so that they are notified.

What kind of space is listed on a PAF and who is authorized to sign for which kinds of spaces?
All lab/research space is required to be listed on the PAF. If all of the research is done in an office instead of a lab, than that office space should be listed on a PAF. Only the designated space signers that are responsible for the space may sign.The list of authorized Medical School signers other schools may be found in the Blue Pages:

Hospital space used is authorized by the clinical administrator of the department occupying the space. The hospital administration has given signature authority only to the administrators.

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FAQ ABOUT BUDGETS (GENERAL)

What considerations are there for a GSRA appearing in a budget?
Under the University negotiated contract, a GSRA may have only 0.5 FTE effort to do research, while the other 0.5 FTE is assumed to be spent in course work. The university HR system will show the GSRA employment FTE as 0.5. Therefore, if 0.5 FTE is spent on research, then the research is considered 100% of the university appointment. When entering salary in detailed budget pages, list the stipend (University Compensation Rate), along with 100% University effort or 6 calendar months.

If only a portion of the GSRA’s time is spent on the project, divide the dedicated FTE (for instance 0.3 FTE on a project) by 0.5 for the effort % to represent or multiply the FTE spent by 12 months for the calendar months.

The salary requested on the budget format may appear incorrect, even when it is accurate. The following sentence may be added to the justification for clarification:
“GSRAs have a .5 FTE appointment at the University and the base salary reflects the reduced appointment.”

In addition to this statement, if the PI feels compelled to explain the employment arrangement in the justification, there are a few options that are approved by the Medical School:

“X will devote 100% of her appointment to this project. Under University of Michigan policy, GSRAs are contracted appointments of 6 calendar months.”

“X will devote 6 calendar months, which is equal to full time research effort for a GSRA.”

“X will spend his full university appointment, which, under GSRA contract, is 6 calendar months.”

Additionally, tuition is required when the GSRA has a .2 FTE or 40% of their university appointment dedicated to a project. If the GSRA is on multiple projects, then tuition may be shared in proportion to the effort spent between the projects.

How does it affect your F&A calculation?
Tuition for the GSRA must be excluded from you F&A calculation

If a subcontract exists, what paperwork is submitted to UM for review?
We need a signature for their institutional commitment - this may be in the form of an NIH face page or a letter of agreement. We need to see their detailed budget pages, and any administrative pages submitted on their behalf. These may include biosketches for Key Personnel, resources, or checklist.

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FAQs ABOUT NIH PROPOSALS (GENERAL)

Where can I find the earliest possible start dates for an NIH grant?
This is listed on the NIH Web site.

February 1, June 1, and October 1 are all proposals new?
No, all program projects and center grants are due on Feb 1: whether they are new, continuations, or revised. See review and receipt schedule link above.

Where can I find a copy of the NIH research proposal directions and form pages?
NIH Web site

What are the standard answers on the NIH face page?
3f. Major Subdivision: Medical School
4b. Human Subjects Assurance No.: FWA00004969
5b. Animal Welfare Assurance No.: A3114-01
Applicant Organization: The Regents of the University of Michigan
Type of Organization: State
Entity ID: 1-386006309-A1
Duns No.: 073133571
Cong. Dist.: 15
Administrative Official: Terri Maxwell
Official Signer: James R. Randolph (ORSP can always change if Jim isn't there to sign or it is also acceptable to leave blank.)

Other common required information is available on the ORSP website.

What is the significance of the answers in 3e and 3f on an NIH face page?
These answers directly affect the Medical School ranking in the NIH rankings. 3f should always be Medical School for our faculty. 3e should be the PI’s primary department even if they are submitting through the university on a center/unranked department organization code or department ID.

Which NIH face page numbers have to match the internal PAF?
The sections on the face page that must match the PAF are:
1. Title of Project
3a. Name- The name listed for NIH should be the project investigator. If the person is eligible to hold a PAF under the SPG definition, then the name would be the same on the PAF. If they are not eligible to hold a PAF under the SPG, then the PI on the PAF would be a mentor, sponsor, or supervisor of the applicant.
4. Human Subjects, yes or no
5. Vertebrate Animals, yes or no
5a. If yes, the IACUC approval date should match the PAF
6. Dates of support
8.Costs Requested For Proposed Period of Support, should match the sponsor column on the PAF

When the Grants office initially reviews the face page, which answers have to wait to be checked until the rest of the grant is checked?
When initially reviewing the face page, you cannot check the proposal costs until you have checked the budget and the checklist.

Does an abstract need to be submitted to the Grants office?
Although a draft of the abstract is preferable, we will accept the abstract page completed with Performance Site and Key Personnel along with either a draft of the science OR a separate document with a couple sentences explaining the scope and intent of the project. We are interested in retaining a record of the proposed science (at least in overview) to be completed, not in the actual box being completed on the form page.

How much info should be listed for performance site on the abstract page?
NIH asks for is Organization, City and State.
Example:
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI

What is the definition of Key Personnel for the NIH Abstract Page?
Participants are considered Key Personnel if they contribute substantially to the science of the proposal, whether they are paid or unpaid. If the person is replaceable with someone else doing the same job, they shouldn’t be considered key personnel. If the individual is important to the science because of their knowledge or expertise, then they should be key personnel.As of December 2003, in their newly issued Grant Policy Statement, NIH changed their policy. NIH now specifically states that if a person is unefforted they should not appear as Key Personnel.

In response to this change of policy, UM is aware that NIH will be (eventually) adding a category of Other Significant Contributor as a place to add these participants that are significant to the execution of the project but that are unefforted. We recommend that investigators use this terminology even now in order to be in compliance with the December GPS.

If a proposal has a person with no effort listed on the abstract page, the Medical School Grants Office will point that out in review, but it will be at the discretion of the PI if they change it -- at least until NIH has formally announced the new category.

Example:
Key Personnel
Lichter, Allen, University of Michigan, Principal Investigator
Woolliscroft, Jim, University of Michigan Co-Investigator

Other Significant Contributors:
Bloom, David, University of Michigan Consultant

Where Drs. Lichter and Woolliscroft have assigned effort and Dr. Bloom is a 0% consultant.

Which titles does NIH not recognize?
NIH doesn’t recognize the titles collaborator or Co-PI. NIH requires one person to have overall responsibility for the project as stated in their Grant Policy Statement; therefore, Co-PI is unrecognized. Only one person should be labeled the PI.

To replace the term Collaborator, NIH would like either "consultant" or "co-investigator" to be used, depending on the level of input into the science, not necessarily the level of effort. Generally a participant may be labeled a co-investigator with 0% effort if they significantly impact the direction of the science. Similarly, a participant may be labeled a consultant with stated effort, if they are contributing expertise that they would use on any other project and not significantly impacting the direction of the research.

Biosketches—Who needs one? How many pages? What should be included?

More information.

When is Other Support submitted to NIH?
For unsolicited research proposals, other support is not submitted. There is a possibility that in response to a particular RFA, the instructions may ask for it specifically. All other times are when directly requested by NIH.

More information.

Resources--what does the Grants office look for and what do they compare it to?
On the resources page we look for any commitment of space. We double-check that it is appropriate and that the proper signatures have been obtained for the PAF. We make sure that is clinical space is cited, that the clinical space signature has been obtained. We check to see if ULAM is mentioned and make sure that animals have been included in the budget and Yes/No disclosures.

Science--do we need it? Or, better yet, when do we need it?
We only need to see the draft of the science if the abstract box is blank and that is what they are using for their statement of work.

What are three standard answers on the checklist?

What are the standard Federal exclusions from the Facility & Administrative (indirect cost) calculation?

What is the rule about treating subcontracts in our F&A calculation?
Any costs (direct and F&A) over $25,000 are excluded through the life of the project.That means UM only collects F&A on the first $25,000 of each subcontract, not the first $25,000 each year.

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FAQs ABOUT NIH MODULAR PROPOSALS

What kinds of proposals qualify to be submitted in modular format?
Proposals that are R01, R03, R21 and have direct costs that request $250,000 or less in every year. Also, it may be required on proposals in which the particular RFA announcement asks for a modular budget.
More information

What are a modular proposal’s general financial characteristics?
Modular budgets are $250,000 or less direct costs per year- requested in up to ten $25,000 modules. NIH expects proposals that have fairly consistent charges to average all 5 years to come up with a consistent module request for each of the 5 years. In some cases, exceptional purchases (equipment, additional personnel, etc.) may cause proposed costs to spike and valley in particular years. In these cases, the number of modules requested may be different over the 5 years as long as it is addressed in the justification.

How are modulars different from traditional proposals?
Other than presentation of the budget forms and justification, all aspects of the submission are like the traditional NIH proposal.

What parts of a modular grant need to be submitted to the Grants office for review?

What form page do you use for a modular budget?
You should use the modular budget format page in the PHS 398 forms.

What do you put in a modular budget financial grid?
In each of the years that you are requesting funding you should reflect the dollars that you are requesting in $25,000 modules.

Name the categories that have to be justified and the details within each that must be included in the modular budget justification.

Since the grant is modular, and we provide no budget detail, how does the Grants Office know what the exclusions are?
On modular proposals, F&A (indirect cost) calculation exclusions should be listed under the notes section on the PAF so that the department, school, and ORSP (formerly DRDA) are aware of your cost considerations.

What places in the modular proposal do you cross check to make sure that appropriate exclusions have been captured?

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FAQs REGARDING NIH K AWARDS

How are K Awards different from Research submissions?
K Awards are part of the career award series, unlike a regular research award series (R). K Awards don’t require a checklist. The budget form is also different. K awards use the entire budget form (traditional form page 5), but only the total direct cost line of the budget is filled out. K awards require an institutional commitment letter. The biosketch for the candidate on K awards is modified compared to the regular biosketch. K awards require that other support is submitted for mentors at time of application, but regular research awards use just-in-time concepts for other support. More information

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