RESEARCH SUPPORT OFFICE Space Science and Engineering Center

• Identify an appropriate source of funding via an open Request For Proposal (RFP) or Notice Of Funding Opportunity (NOFO);
  Check your eligibility and commitment availability to submit as PI;
  Review any potential requirements or restrictions (ie: a Limited Submission, Career Requirements, Funding Floor/Ceiling, etc.)
  
  RSP: Identify Sources of Funding
  Linked are resources to find funding opportunities from various sponsors, including:
  NASA, NOAA, NSF, DOE, and more!
• Check Your Eligibility
  Review the RFP carefully for any restrictions on the submission. Some funding opportunities are only open to new career Principal Investigators while others have restrictions on the number of submissions per institution.
  If this is a limited submission, reach out to SSEC’s Award Office early with a detailed Scope Of Work and any other encouragement supporting notes for the sponsor.
• Complete/Update your Outside Activities Report (OAR)
  This form is to be completed and updated every year.
  RSP Overview; All faculty, regardless of appointment, all academic staff with 50% or greater appointment, and all individuals listed as participants on human subject protocols or on federal grants are required to fill out an annual OAR and update whenever new outside activities are undertaken.
  OAR Training
• Complete/Update your Conflict of Interest Training
  The University of Wisconsin–Madison Conflict of Interest Policy requires all investigators engaged in federally funded and/or human subjects research to receive training in financial conflict of interest. This conflict of interest training must be completed every four years.
  COI Training
• Request Limited PI Status
  For a new PI, filling out the “Request for Limited PI Status” Form allows researchers holding Academic Staff positions to be PIs for any given project once approved as Limited PI Status. The “Request for Limited PI Status” Form should be completed and uploaded to RAMP for each proposal. For more details and additional qualification guidelines, see the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s Research policy regarding Principal Investigator Status. The SSEC Award Office will assist with completing and uploading this form when required.
• Complete the Proposal Notification Form
  This form is required in order to raise awareness and establish a timeline to complete the rest of the checklist. Completion of this form will generate a summation email of the pending proposal you will be working on.

Proposal submission guidance begins with establishing a connection to our Award Office.
Email the SSEC Award Office (Angie, Tyler and Wenhua) via the Contact Form and one of our specialists will reach out to you.
Please include the Request for Proposal notice (RFP) or the link of the notice of funding announcement.

An SSEC Award Office team member will assist in coordinating the proposal according to the RFP requirements.
Working together, establish a timeline of the submission process, allowing for 5 days prior to the due date to be complete.

Begin with these basics:

• Prepare a Scope of Work;
• Discuss target budget amount and justifications, including researcher effort, materials,  travel, publication, and any capital equipment or other budget needs;
• Include any contact information for collaborators or sub-awardees;
• Discuss file inclusions mentioned in the RFP;

In preparing the proposal’s technical materials, consider the following:

• What will the scope of work be for the project? For each researcher or collaborator?
  
• What is the working title, period of performance, and budget requirements for the project?
• Are there any deliverables, sub-awards, collaborator contacts, or other resources required during the project?

Your admin specialist will coordinate the proposal submission in RAMP, the University of Wisconsin-Madison grant submission portal.
Additional RSP Resources for Proposal Preparation

Sponsor ‘System to System’ Submissions
Some sponsors have their own proposal routing vehicle systems in place. This is meant to standardize the presentation of proposal submissions to reviewers, allowing a more prompt and accurate review. Therefore, two records are required: an internal UW Madison RAMP Record with instructions, and a sponsor record on their proposal vehicle system; both records are submitted together to RSP for review. The PI will need to have an account with the sponsor’s system to submit proposals to our Authorized Organizational Representatives at RSP for completion. Details on how to set-up an account are provided below:

NSF: Research.gov – account set up

NASA: NSPIRES – account set up

Some sponsor system accounts require RSP Approval for role assignment & setup, please initiate early!

Most proposal submissions share common essentials. Listed below are standard documents that are typically required in most proposal submissions.
Note: Always reference the RFP for detailed requirements when preparing your proposals!

Main Technical Materials

• Title Page:
  • RFO/FFO number; PI full name, organization, and contact information
    (if the proposal includes more than one organization, list them all)
  • Period of Performance dates
  • Research Area of Emphasis listed in RFP (ie: Atmospheric, Geographic, etc.)
• Project Summary/Abstract (1 Page)
• Table of Contents
• Project Description (pay attention to page limit)
• Timeline/Management Plan – UW library can help with Data Management Plans
• Data Management Plan (2-page limit) – Requirements
• Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources
• PIER or other Inclusivity Statements, as required in RFP
• References & Citations

Key Personnel Supporting Documents

SciENcv Link for CV and C&P docs

• CV Curriculum Vitae Biosketch
  Include supporting references and publication citations most related to the proposal being submitted to.
• C&P Current and Pending Document
  Include: Title, Agency, Period of Performance, Role on Project, Amount, Annual Effort Level.
  Note: The SSEC Award Office will assist in preparing your Current & Pending document according to the RFP requirements.
• COA Collaborators and Other Affiliations (NSF Specific document)

Cost Proposal

• Detailed Budget Breakdown
• Narrative Justification of Costs, including any quotes and rate agreements
• Sub-awardee information, including their detailed budget, narrative justification, and fringe rate agreement (if available)

RSP Compliance Sources
**Additional information and requirements can be found in your Request For Proposal or Notice Of Funding Announcement

To submit your proposal, the Award Office team will collect and organize proposal documents in a dedicated proposal folder, gather any necessary pre-approvals, and track processes and changes to documents you’ve been working on.

Proposal Folder
The Award Office creates a shared folder to provide a central location containing all documents relevant to the proposal. Any member of the Award Office can quickly reference and assist should the need arise.

RAMP Record (formerly WISPER)
The Award Office will generate a record in RAMP, the new proposal and award management tool on campus, which is used for submitting and routing grants, proposals, and any other documents that require RSP approvals. They will complete all details for the proposal, upload any required documentation, and then send a request to the PI to certify, or approve, the proposal. Once the PI has certified the proposal, additional internal approvals are required prior to submission. We ask for proposals to be complete, and ready to submit, five days prior to the due date to allow time for the internal approvals.

Approvals:
Proposal Submission Process – All proposals for extramural support must be routed via the online routing tool, RAMP.
Your Research Administrator will upload all proposal documents to RAMP, and will then send for campus approvals as follows:

• PI must certify the RAMP Record
• Department Chair approval (Chelsea/Brad)
• External department approval if non-SSEC personnel or resources are included in the proposal
• Dean’s Office at OVCR
• AOR at RSP (signs and submits to sponsor on behalf of UW Madison)

Sponsor sources of information can be found on RSP Finding Funding website.
Additional sponsor notes to be aware of include:

NASA

• Submission via NSPIRES.
• Step 1 Proposals often require RSP to formally submit; review the RFP and submit early if needed.
• Proposals sometimes require Anonymized Applications; the Research Admin Team will review documents to ensure compliance with requirements.
  • Includes Redacted and Total Budget files.

NOAA

• Submission via RAMP.
• Capital equipment requests must include a recent quote.

NSF

• Submission via Research.gov.
• Two Month Limit for Senior Personnel effort (we will request a Waiver if exceeded).
• SciENcv Required for CV and C&P Documents.
• COA Template file is uploaded as an Excel list of collaborators.
• Proposals involving field work require a separate Safe/Inclusive Plan to be completed and uploaded to the RAMP record.

DOE

• May be limited submissions, reach out early to the Research Admin Team to determine if there are campus limitations to proposals.

DOD, ONR

• Requirements for Broad Agency Announcements (BAA’s) can vary greatly between proposal submissions.
• Specific document naming conventions and cover pages are often required.
• Submission is via RAMP.