Miami University Proposal Submission Guidance

Effective July 1, 2024

This guidance document defines the expected timeline for submitting a proposal for external funding to the Office of Research and Innovation (ORI) in advance of the funding agency deadline. This guidance will apply to all proposals for external funding (including grants, contracts, subawards, fellowships) regardless of funding source (federal, state, foundation, business), who submits (principal investigator or ORI consultant) or submission method (sponsor website, Cayuse, email). The university reserves the right to not submit a proposal if extensive revision and/or additions would be required prior to submission.

Rationale for Timeline

As an organization submitting proposals for external funding, Miami is subject to numerous sponsor requirements, including but not limited to those set forth in specific solicitations, sponsor guidelines, and the Office of Management and Budget Uniform Guidance, in addition to Miami institutional policy. Sufficient time is necessary to verify a proposal’s compliance with those requirements, to protect principal investigators (PIs) from last-minute technical challenges that prevent submission, and to provide an overall level of quality assurance prior to the application deadline.

New Requirements for Fiscal Year 2025

1. Federal regulations and Miami policy require a Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI Disclosure) be completed by all individuals listed on a proposal to a federal agency prior to submission. These individuals include principal and co-principal investigators, all listed senior personnel or other key personnel, research associates/assistants, postdoctoral fellows, named graduate students or undergraduate students, and the same list of individuals for each subrecipient organization (unless they are following their own federally approved FCOI policy). Proposals to federal funders will not be submitted unless this requirement is met. The same individuals must also complete the CITI COI-PHS-Basic Course every four years. This does not have to be done at proposal time, but must be done prior to award set up.
2. As described in the following section, F&A to PI, department/office, and college/unit will be withheld when the 5-day intermediate deadline is not met. Missing a 10-day intermediate deadline will necessitate an email from the department chair/supervisor.
3. Proposals on which Miami is a subawardee is added as a special proposal type. The intermediate deadlines will be set based on the lead organization’s deadline for us to submit materials to them.

Deviations from the Timeline

To practice equity and to provide adequate review of the application, ORI reserves the right to withhold a submission that deviates from the timeline below at any step and may withhold PI, department, or college F&A portion. The following requirements apply to missed intermediate deadlines:

• At the 10-day deadline (or 15-day for special proposal types): an email from the department chair/supervisor to the appropriate research administrator acknowledging that F&A and/or submission may be withheld if the 5- or 3-day deadlines are missed, with a commitment to ensure that the PI meets future deadlines
• At the 5-day deadline (F&A portions to PI, department/office, and college/unit will be withheld): an email from the dean/unit head to the appropriate administrator acknowledging that F&A will be withheld and submission may be withheld if the 3-day deadline is missed, with a commitment to ensure that the PI meets the 3-day deadline
• At the 3-day deadline (F&A portions to PI, department/office, and college/unit will be withheld; submission will be withheld unless circumstances are deemed extenuating by the Vice President for Research and Innovation): an email from the chair/supervisor to the Vice President for Research and Innovation (copied to the appropriate research administrator) explaining the extenuating circumstances that prevented the PI from meeting this deadline.

All final decisions regarding allowability of submission will be made by the Vice President for Research and Innovation.