University Provides Special Assistance for Project Directors Preparing Interdisciplinary Proposals

 

To make the task of preparing large interdisciplinary proposals a little less demanding, Sponsored Program Services and Business Manager staff are teaming up to provide a special level of support in the preparation of these proposals. Some examples of the assistance you can expect are:

• Developing reasonable timelines for all input and approvals
• Reviewing sponsor guidelines and identifying any unique requirements for the proposal
• Preparing the budget
• Following-up with subcontractors to obtain institutionally approved work statements and budgets
• Assistance with securing approvals for cost sharing commitments
• Securing approvals for a new center or institute (if necessary)

To initiate this assistance, simply contact the business manager for your department as soon as it is known that you will be preparing a proposal. We look forward to working with you!

Additional Information

 

- Principle Investigator Responsibilities

 

- Business Office Responsibilities

 

- Sponsored Program Services Responsibilities

 

- Planning Tool

 

 

- Principle Investigator Responsibilities

1. Identify key faculty members
2. Meet with key faculty members
3. Notify Department Business Manager of pending project and provide information to complete
   [Sample Letter (Printable PDF)] [Sample Letter (Interactive PDF)] to notify all interested parties.
4. Work with Departmental Business Manager to establish meetings with individuals above, as needed
5. Coordinate/Write Proposal
6. With the Business Manager and Sponsored Program Services, establish regular meetings and time frames Planning Tool
   1. Set deadlines for faculty members
   2. Lay out complete meeting schedule for the project effort
   3. Set due dates for all proposal sections
   4. Determine need or desire for outside subcontracts
   5. Determine if the project is a Center (consult with Business Manager)
7. Prepare request for cost sharing support (Department, School, Central)

   * The responsibilities identified above may be handled by a Facilitator/Outreach individual, if a school has an individual available, or by someone in the department (i.e., post doc, etc.)

- Business Office Responsibilities

The current trends in proposal processing are towards large, interdisciplinary proposals. These proposals may require substantial involvement with Purdue participants (that might include the President, Vice Presidents, Deans and Department Heads) and also with other Universities. To assist the Principal Investigator with the process, these responsibilities will help provide a transparent but effective process for the development of interdisciplinary proposals.

1. Upon notification from the PI that a interdisciplinary proposal is being planned, the primary business office contact should make sure the ["Notification of pending project letter"]["Interactive Notification of pending project letter"] has been sent to all parties.
2. Upon receipt of the above letter, the primary business office contact will initiate a meeting with the lead PI, the SPS contact, and other appropriate individuals, as needed in order to facilitate a discussion about the proposal process.
3. Go over the guidelines with the PI, paying special attention to unusual requirements and to submission deadlines. Advise PI of the lead time required by SPS remembering to keep in mind additional time needed for new centers, foundation requests, etc.
4. Develop timelines for all input and approvals
5. Obtain preliminary budget figures from lead PI and agree upon deadlines for final budget information
6. Develop proposal preparation timeline Planning Tool
7. Explain unlike circumstances and ask PI if they apply. If they do, explain that they need to be documented in the budget and in the budget justification
8. Ensure that the PI understands exactly what is needed from any subcontractors and establish deadlines for receiving the information
9. Ask PI to provide the SPS representative with the contact information for any subcontractors
10. Ask PI for an approximate level of cost sharing, if any. Ensure that PI understands the proper procedures and deadlines for requesting cost sharing documentation. These requests must be detailed and in writing. Ask the PI to keep you in the loop as requests for cost sharing are made. Ask them to copy you on any e-mail involving cost sharing. (Make sure to provide him/her with a copy of the procedures)
11. Contact all other business offices involved as soon as possible. Make sure they received the intent letter and advise them of any possible cost sharing requests that will be made of their department. Advise them of your procedures for running budgets (i.e. Do you run them for all departments or do you ask each area to run their own?)
12. Remain in contact with lead PI throughout the process and bring in others, such as SPS personnel or the School Business Manager, on an as-needed basis
13. Prepare Management summary of sponsor request Sample Management Sponsor and Cost Sharing Summary and cost sharing request Sample Managment Cost Sharing Summary to be attached with the routing of the proposal

- Sponsored Program Services Responsibilities

The current trends in proposal processing are towards large, interdisciplinary proposals. These proposals may require substantial involvement with Purdue participants (that might include the President, Vice Presidents, Deans and Department Heads) and also with other Universities. To assist the Principal Investigator with the process, these responsibilities will help provide a transparent but effective process for the development of interdisciplinary proposals.

1. Obtain program guidelines, if applicable, and identify key issues
   1. Communicate issues and establish meeting with Lead Department Business Manager
2. If a Center will be established and requires approval per Executive Memo C-6 http://www.purdue.edu/oop/policies/pages/teach_res_outreach/c_6.html, coordinate the process to obtain internal approvals
3. If central cost sharing support is being sought, coordinate the process to obtain approval for the cost sharing with the Assistant Vice President for Research
4. If there are subcontract, the Principal Investigator will identify the subcontractors. The Account Manager will contact our counterparts at the institution(s) and identify the information needed, due dates, and follow up with the individual to assure all items are received by the due date. A-133 certifications should also be obtained from the institution(s).
5. Serve as a resource on all financial issues
6. Prepare Executive Summary to route with proposal when there are central cost sharing &/or center issues Executive Summary