Research and Innovation

Proposal Process

The Office of Research and Innovation at Western Michigan University provides a number of resources to assist with the development of a strong external funding proposal. The principal investigator has primary responsibility for developing a proposal and a project budget that complies with applicable WMU and sponsor policies and regulations. The research office and research program officers are available for assistance and support throughout the process.

Researchers are urged to contact their research program officer as soon as a funding opportunity has been identified. It is never too early to consult with a proposal expert.

Proposal Development

Once a researcher has developed a project idea, identifies a funding opportunity, and consults with the department chair or unit director, the proposal is ready to take shape. The Research Program Officer will assist with reviewing the Request For Proposal (RFP), preparing the proposal budget, budget justification, and routing documents for approval before submission.

RFP: Eligibility

Sponsored project proposals are supported by the Office of Research and Innovation. Sponsors provide critical detail in the RFPs, including the funding mechanism, PI eligibility, and requisite proposal elements.

PIs should work with the assigned research program officer to review sponsor requirements and access sponsor systems, which often require commonly requested information about WMU. Some RFPs may require or recommend submission of an advance concept paper or pre-proposal via a separate system or method. Read about timeline tips in the next panel.

RFP: Timeline

Eligible PI/PDs must be mindful of the due date and time as well as the "7/5/2" internal deadlines. If the funding opportunity has a limitation for the number of applicants or principal investigators, researchers need to follow the Manage Funding Agency-Imposed Limits on Submissions Procedure. Note that ORI can help procure signatures required by an Authorized Organizational Representative, in accordance with WMU's policy on signature authority.

Proposal Components

RFPs for federal sponsors often require similar elements: budget and budget justification, abstract, technical narrative, personnel and collaborator information, site capacity, compliance, etc. It is imperative that all elements of the proposal demonstrate a good fit with the sponsor's objectives and program review criteria. All proposal elements must also comply with specifications of the RFP including content type, page limits, formatting, budget categories and more. Altogether the proposal needs to clearly convey how the project will meet the sponsor's needs.

Creating a Budget

The budget is the translation of the work plan into dollars and usually consists of a spreadsheet or table with the budget detailed as line items and a budget narrative (also known as a budget justification) that explains the various expenses. Preparing a budget can be very complex and should be started early in the grant process to avoid problems. Funding requests must be reasonable, allocable and allowable.

Consult a research program officer for assistance with the Excel templates included in the summary of links.

Budgeting Personnel

Senior and Other Personnel compensation must be attributable:
-institutional base salaries for faculty and staff (also see Research Staff Policy and Administrator Incentive Plan with calculator)
-graduate college rate schedule for research assistant appointments (also see ORI's Graduate Student Support on Externally-Funded Research Program)
-Campus and Student Employment Services procedures for hourly student wages
-Fringe benefits are also usually applicable for the rates in effect during the project period

Budgeting Equipment

Equipment valued above $5000 will need a sole source justification or the request will need to route through the procurement process. New equipment procurement can be costly and there are minimal funding opportunities that support equipment acquisition. Check first to see if you can access existing equipment on campus or other facilities like the HPCHub.

Budgeting Travel

Travel can be reimbursed for authorized lodging, meals, ground or air travel, etc. Per diem rates can be retrieved from the GSA.

Budgeting Other Direct Costs

Other Direct Costs such as materials and supplies, publication costs, consultants, computer services, and tuition must be well justified.

Proposed subawards must be reviewed for scope of work and commitment.

Budgeting Facilities and Administrative Costs

Facilities and Administrative costs are those that cannot be readily connected to the work of a particular sponsored project. F&A costs include infrastructure and operational costs, depending on the location of the project or project category. Because these are general costs associated with the project, the federal government implemented a process to negotiate an F&A rate (see agreement) with the university. It is WMU’s policy that the full F&A costs be recovered on every proposal to the extent allowable by the sponsor. Under certain circumstances, researchers can request an F&A rate waiver. The SRM Revenue Allocation Work Group F&A cost recoveries are: College 70%, Department 10%, Principal Investigator 10%, ORI 10%

Budgeting Cost Share

Cost share as matching funds may be requested in the RFP. It is the portion of the total project costs of a specific sponsored agreement that is borne by WMU rather than the sponsor. Cost share normally represents a reallocation of departmental or school resources to partially support an externally sponsored project. Whether mandatory or voluntary, it must be approved internally following the Propose and Request Cost Share for Externally Funded Proposals Procedure.

Summary of useful links

Don't Forget! ORI hosts Discovery Acceleration and other training events. Several Workshop recordings are accessible and others are available upon request. Many sponsors offer workshops so be sure to look for those as well.

Route and Submit

In most cases, the University—not the principal investigator—is considered to be the applicant on a proposal. Any proposal that will be submitted on behalf of the University or that involves a project that will be performed by a University employee as part of a University appointment or will use any University resources must be approved by the appropriate WMU officials prior to submission.

The approval is completed using Cayuse, which facilitates compliance with University and federal regulations and is also a record of the commitment of University resources necessary to carry out a project if it is funded. Route the proposal for review for any proposal (letter of intent, pre-proposal, full) involving external funding where budgetary or cost share information is requested. A research program officer will work with the principal investigator to submit the proposal to the sponsor once the Cayuse form is approved.

For access to sponsor systems (Grants.gov, Research.gov, ASSIST, NSPIRES, etc.) or to secure letters of support signed by authorized officials, consult a research program officer.

More Resources

Writing a Proposal

When writing a research or creative proposal to secure funding, carefully follow all format guidelines supplied by the granting agency. Research program officers and other staff in Western Michigan University's Office of Research and Innovation can assist faculty and staff in finding proposal editing and review services through a quality circle review or professional consultant. Expert feedback from a college dean or associate dean, a department chair and a few colleagues can prove invaluable to writing the proposal. If a proposal is declined, the evaluator's comment and critiques are especially helpful to recalibrate the proposal, as the review panel often show the true expectations of a sponsor and make the process less anonymous.

Try and Try Again

Biosketch

MyNCBI can generate sponsor-specific biographical sketches.

Use SciENcv

Data Management Plan

WMU researchers have access to a powerful tool for creating data management plans.

Cool Tool

Scope and Management

A project management plan is a means to ensure the grant's objectives are met in a timely manner, within the budget and according to a specified timeline. Grant funding agencies require a well-articulated plan.

View Samples

Support for Arts and Humanities

This speaker series was aimed at faculty and other researchers in those broad areas of inquiry who want to know how to obtain internal and external funding for their projects but don't know where to start. Featuring experts from outside the university and from WMU, the series is for faculty at any level who need inspiration and concrete advice on how to prepare, present, and compete for project grant support.

View the Replays