College of Humanities and Sciences

Faculty and Staff Resources

Timeline and Milestones Prior to Sponsor's Deadline

6 to 12 Months

  1. Develop an idea.
  2. Find a funding opportunity.

The associate dean for research and operations is available for discussion on specific topic areas of interest and associated research/scholarship activities and will help develop a list of potential funding opportunities.

  • Develop an elevator speech for your research and scholarship activities that can be shared with the GWD and project officers.
  • Start drafting a concept paper or abstract to share with the GWD, project officers and colleagues.
  • Set-up a profile on Pivot and create a saved search that will alert you of any new opportunities.
  • Talk to colleagues about where they have received funding.
  • Check the acknowledgements page of publications from your field.

2 to 3 Months

  1. Draft specific aims, project summary or letter of intent (LOI).
  2. Sketch out a rough budget.
  • Peer review: The associate dean of research is available to review and provide faculty with feedback on their draft specific aims, project summary or LOI.
  • Email chsresearch@vcu.edu to request assistance with the following:
    • Budget development: Request to meet with a research administrator to discuss the costs associated with the project.
    • Coordination with external collaborators: Provide contact information and an overview of the collaboration so CHS-SPO can initiate the administrative processes.
    • Large-scale proposal support: Request support with coordinating the grant development, writing and submission process for complex proposals (e.g., center grants).
  • Email project officer and set-up a time to discuss your idea.
  • Circulate specific aims, project summary or LOI among colleagues (internal and external to VCU).
  • Firm up relationships with collaborators.
  • Contact/meet with CHS-SPO to obtain a complete list of all sections and documents required for your submission.
  • Aim to have a complete rough draft of the science ready to share with colleagues two months out.
  • Email collaborators and request biosketches. Offer to write the narrative portion and to help with formatting.

1 Month

  1. Notify CHS-SPO of intent to submit a proposal 15 business days before the sponsor deadline if your proposal does not include external subawards, and 20 business days if your proposal does include subawards.
  2. Submit final budget and all documents* 10 business days before deadline.
  3. Route proposal in RAMS-SPOT 7 business days before deadline.
  4. Submit any revised, final documents* 3 business days before deadline. Examples of documents include biosketch, abstract project summary, specific aims, research strategy, project description, research plan, project narrative, human subjects, references, evaluation plan, work plan, logic model, facilities and other resources, statement of work, current and pending support, data management plan, etc.

Faculty must, at minimum, notify the CHS-SPO of their intent to submit three weeks or 15 business days in advance of the sponsor deadline, if your proposal does not include external subawards, and 20 business days, if your proposal does include subawards. At the three-week mark CHS-SPO anticipates that the proposal is nearing completion. If this is not the case then careful consideration will be given to whether or not the proposal can move forward or should be delayed until the next available due date. Please review this short presentation providing an overview of the CHS-SPO proposal submission procedures [PDF].

  • Budget development.
  • Obtain cost share authorizations.
  • Coordinate letters of support.
  • Complete sponsor forms.
  • Review and edit proposal documents.
  • Write non-technical portions of proposals.

For all requests related to these topics please email chsresearch@vcu.edu.