Sponsor Requests Prior to the Award

The period of time between submission of a proposal and receipt of an award varies greatly. With federal agencies in particular, it can easily take nine to twelve months before we learn whether a proposal will be funded or not.

During this time, however, several things might happen. For instance, the sponsor may request additional supporting documentation or institutional information. Any additional items submitted to a sponsor should be reviewed and signed by your authorized official in OSP.  The countersignature indicates institutional concurrence with the information being provided.

Revising the Proposed Budget for the Sponsor

When sponsors decide to fund a project below or above the requested budget level, there are several possibilities:

• Some sponsors will simply make the award at the new amount and expect the PI to make any necessary adjustments. The PI must prepare a revised budget and submit it to OSP before the award can be processed and spending initiated.

• Some sponsors will prepare a revised line item budget and make it part of the award.

• Most often, the sponsor will contact OSP or the PI and request a revised budget for the new amount before making the award. This revised budget must be reviewed and approved by OSP before submission to the sponsor.

If the reduction is significant, the PI may not be able to carry out the project as originally intended. If this is the case, it is appropriate to submit a revised statement of work to the sponsor along with the revised budget figures.

Updated Documents

Many changes can take place between the time a proposal is submitted and a sponsor reaches a funding decision. Often, sponsors will come back to the University and request updated documents before issuing an award. NSF, for instance, may request that updated documents be uploaded into FastLane to address such changes. On the other hand, NIH uses a "just-in-time" procedure to collect documents not submitted with the original proposal but that they require prior to issuing the award. These documents will include other support (current and pending), certification of IRB approval, verification of IACUC approval, and evidence of compliance with the education in the protection of human subjects requirements.

At that point, the PIs will need to log onto the agency specific systems, such as FastLane at NSF or eCommons at NIH to check the proposal status. If the sponsor does not have or does not allow access to an on-line system, the PI will have to initiate an inquiry about the status of the proposal directly with the sponsor.