Proposal Submission Assistance
What we do
- Serve as Liaison between applicant and Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP)
- Prepare and circulate Liberal Arts Grants Digest. Subscribe here!
- Assist with proposal preparation and submission
- Step External Fellowships through OSP
- Tailor assistance to PI and funding opportunity
- Build sponsor and university compliant budgets and budget narratives
- Monitor applications through and after submission
- Assist with budget and agreement revisions, etc.
- Partner with OVPR and UT Foundation Relations on PI application support
- Ensure PI and application are in compliance with current policies and procedures
How to Submit a Grant Proposal at UT
The following guidance is for COLA faculty and graduate students who are interested in applying for a grant from funders such as, but not limited to:
- National Institutes of Health
- National Science Foundation
- National Endowment for the Humanities
- Spencer Foundation
- Wenner-Gren Foundation
- American Council of Learned Societies
| Follow these general steps to ensure a successful proposal submission: | |
| 1. | Identify a funding opportunity |
| 2. |
Contact the appropriate COLA unit and research administrative staff below to assist with your proposal. Complete the unit's proposal intake form to begin the submission process or email with any questions:
|
| 3. | Follow proposal submission timeline (see below) |
| 4. | Communicate regularly with COLA unit research administrative staff who will interface with UT's Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP), the coordinating office for externally funded research, for proposal approval and submission. |
Proposal Submission Timeline
The proposal submission timeline allows sufficient time to assist faculty and graduate students with developing and submitting grant applications, while remaining available to other applicants. Each due date below leads to the grant application’s deadline established by the sponsor (funder).
| Business Days Prior to Sponsor/Funder Deadline | Action Items |
| 30 business days | Notify research administration if sponsor/funder limits the number of applications submitted from an institution. |
| 25 business days | Notify research administration if multi-institutional, subawards, or international sponsors are involved. |
| 20 business days | For all other submissions, notify research administration. |
| 15 business days | Begin drafting budget and budget justification, identify proposal components, collaborators, compliance considerations, and documents requiring institutional review. |
| 10 business days | Final drafts of budget, budget justification, and proposal documents due to unit research administration (except project narrative). |
| 6 business days | Final budget, budget justification, and proposal documents due to OSP (except project narrative). |
| 5–2 business days | OSP review, possible budget and other document updates. |
| 1 business day | OSP submission approval and final project narrative due. |
| Application deadline | Application submitted! |
Below is a calendar illustrating the proposal submission timeline. Go here to see a larger image.
Faculty External Fellowships
If you plan to apply for an external fellowship (e.g., Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Standford Humanities Center, American Council of Learned Societies, etc.), the following steps are required by COLA:
- Notify your department chair - Release from teaching is typically necessary for applicants to accept a fellowship award. Faculty must consult with their chair to coordinate the potential reassignment of teaching duties.
- Notify COLA RSO by completing the Intent to Submit Form - This serves as the official notification and allows our office to review and share important terms and conditiions should the fellowship be awarded.
- If awarded the fellowship and funds are to be processed through UT, submit the COLA External Fellowship Setup Request Form, and COLA RSO will work with OSP to setup the account for your award.
Related to External Fellowships:
Contracts and Agreements
If you have a contract, agreement, data user agreement, material transfer request, or another type of agreement needing a UT institutional signature, please complete the External Agreement Intake Form, and the COLA Research Support Office will be in touch to assist you.
Questions? Contact the COLA Research Support Office at laresearch@austin.utexas.edu.