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Office of Research

Purdue University Federal Appropriation Request Process

2023-24 Annual Schedule

  • Request for applications will be announced in early August.
  • An informational one-hour webinar took place on August 29, providing an overview of the federal appropriations process.
  • Applications are due Friday, September 15, 2023, by 5:00 p.m. ET
  • Selection will be made and PIs notified by October 15, 2023.
  • Initial Hill briefings and feedback to applicants will occur in January 2024.
  • Hill visits to respond to the President’s budget request and congressional deadlines will occur in February or March.

Program Overview Webinar

We will be hosting a one-hour webinar to briefly address the background and goals of the Federal Appropriation Request Process. Within the webinar, we will outline strategies to make application submissions more compelling and answer questions from the Purdue research community. The webinar will be held on August 29, 2023, from 2:00 – 3:00pm.
Register for the webinar here

Background and Purpose

The federal appropriation process is long and complex. As part of this process, individual Members of Congress, including House Representatives and Senators, solicit requests from constituents, such as Purdue University, to help shape future budgets and funding priorities for the federal government. Legislators have an opportunity to direct funds to specific initiatives and projects that advance the priorities of their constituents and help the state’s economy. Purdue follows an annual process to solicit appropriations requests and then select and advance the most competitive ideas based on Purdue strategic priorities, alignment with federal government investments, and Indiana congressional delegation topics of interest.

Purdue submits appropriations requests to foster a collaborative and sustainable relationship with our congressional delegation and federal agencies and to develop pathways that allow for Purdue strengths to help solve national and state problems. Specifically, the benefits of developing and submitting appropriations requests include opportunities to secure federally-directed spending through alignment with federal priorities, to inform and influence appropriation language that dictates policy and program implementation, and to engage with federal agencies during policy and program adoption.

General Guidelines

  • Proposed projects shall request no less than $1 million and have a suggested ceiling of approximately $20 million; however, requests above this amount will be considered if there is a strong justification for the need.
  • Requests should not replicate what is typically funded through federal competitive grant processes and existing funding solicitations.
  • Requests are often multifaceted, collaborative, interdisciplinary, and multi-institutional (e.g., partnerships with other institutions of higher education, national laboratories, industry, state agencies, and/or community organizations). Accordingly, partnerships with entities outside of Purdue can often be beneficial as with more partners involved, Purdue is able to engage with additional congressional delegations, thus strengthening the application.
  • Requests should have the support of a federal agency and, if possible, a federal program manager should be identified as a point of contact if you have one.
  • Requests should be aligned with federal agency priorities and investment areas. Requests can accelerate existing activities or provide supplementary funding to fill critical gaps and needs.
  • Throughout the process Congress will be in communication with the relevant agency and PIs should be communicating with those agencies to familiarize them with what Purdue is thinking because after the appropriations process, we will need to work to ensure the funding actually comes to Purdue.

Program Eligibility, Requirements and Expectations

The competition limits eligibility to faculty (tenure-track/tenured, research, clinical) principal investigators (PIs) on all campuses. Only one application is allowed per principal investigator. However, investigators are allowed to partner on an unlimited number of applications as co-investigators.

An applicant must complete an application per the instructions below. If the application is accepted and it advances as a Purdue appropriation request, the applicant may be required to:

  • Participate in federal agency and congressional delegation meetings and briefings in-person and/or via Zoom throughout the year;
  • Work with Purdue’s Office of Research and federal affairs team to develop the appropriation request to present the proposal in the most impactful way possible;
  • Respond quickly to requests for information from Purdue, Congress, and/or federal agencies;
  • If necessary, participate in training prior to briefings and other public outreach events.

Appropriation Request Details

The details below should be included in your application. The main body of the application must use Arial 11-point font with 1-inch margins and single line spacing, and must include all sections defined in the application template. The components listed below are required. Combine all documents into a single PDF file to upload within the InfoReady application portal.

Application Content, Preparation and Submission Process

Applications must be submitted before 5:00 pm ET on September 15, 2023, via the online submission portal at the following link: https://purdue.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1910727

To apply via InfoReady at the link above, you must create a profile if you have not done so already. Please make sure to set one of the Purdue campuses as your primary organization, otherwise you will not be allowed to apply.

Incomplete applications or late applications will be returned without review.

The application process involves three components:

  • Appropriation request application
  • Supplemental materials to demonstrate history in proposed research space and capabilities
  • Budget
Appropriation Request Application

As explained in the template, the following components are required, and the suggested word limits are highlighted in parentheses. This piece of the application should be no longer than two pages.

  • Title
  • Single sentence request
  • Summary of the project: a lay abstract that connects the specific request for funding to the significance of the problem and the current Purdue capabilities to solve the problem (200 words or less)
  • Appropriation target (agency/bill/account): this can be left blank if not familiar with the appropriation process, but investigators are welcome to provide suggestions based on their knowledge
  • Background: Current work in this space connected to the broader significance or background of the project (250 words or less)
  • Project Description: Description of the work to be conducted if funded, which can include links to external sources of information that support the request such as websites highlighting current work in this space (250 words or less)
  • Purdue expertise: Why Purdue is uniquely equipped to do this
  • National benefit: A brief description of how the proposed work will help address national needs and priorities (150 words or less)
  • State benefit: A brief description of how the proposed work will help address state needs and priorities (150 words or less)
  • Year one agenda: A description of what will be accomplished within the first year of research (250 words or less)
Supplemental Material

This section should include material to demonstrate history in the proposed research space and the team’s capabilities. This document should be no longer than two pages. Examples of content to provide include the following:

  • Description of team’s funding record in the space proposed with an emphasis on federal funding
  • Description of team’s agency contacts that can be potential avenues for connection during the appropriation process
  • Description of the current Purdue infrastructure and history that supports the proposed activities and will enable the project to be successful
  • Description of partnerships outside of Purdue that support this work, including other universities, industry partners, and nonprofits
  • Any other relevant information that may help the proposal be successful
Budget

Please provide a rough order of magnitude budget that addresses the funding needed for the overall project, whether it is a one-time or multi-year appropriation request. For multi-year requests, include proposed future year’s budgets and planned scope. The budget should be submitted within the template provided and should also include a brief budget justification. This section has no page limit.

Please be prepared to work with pre-award services at a later date to develop a more detailed budget if your application is selected to move forward. However, there is no need to engage pre-award services during the initial submission.

Review Criteria and Process

Appropriation requests will be reviewed by a committee selected by the Executive Vice President of Research. All applications will be reviewed confidentially until they must necessarily become public. Requests will be reviewed based on their alignment to Purdue strategic priorities, federal government investments, and Indiana congressional delegation topics of interest.

Contact Information

Please contact Bryan Boudouris (boudouris@purdue.edu) for programmatic questions and Emily Stevenson (steve201@purdue.edu) for application process questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Should indirect costs be included in my budget?

A: Yes, please budget using Purdue’s standard negotiated indirect cost rate.

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