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Office of Research

Strategic Interdisciplinary Research (SIR) Pre-Award Team

Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Team

The Strategic Interdisciplinary Research (SIR) Pre-Award team's core function is to provide strategic, coordinated efforts to support proposal development and preparation for large, complex submissions (i.e., for centers whose total expenditures may range from $10M to over $100M during the award period). As such, the team is part of the critical infrastructure that enables funding and research implementation and enables researchers to submit exceptional proposals to external funding entities, supporting mission-critical aspects of the university.

Mission:

Our mission is to deliver exceptional pre-award administrative support for the development and management of large, complex proposals, as well as those identified as university priorities. We ensure that the needs of Principal Investigators (PIs) and research teams are met with efficiency, accuracy, and professionalism. Through clear communication, timely responses, and a customer-focused approach, we strive to build strong, collaborative relationships, empowering our researchers to submit well-prepared proposals that align with their goals and meet all sponsor requirements.

Key Functions:

  • Proposal Development and Management: provide comprehensive pre-award administrative support throughout the proposal process, ensuring that the needs of PIs are met.
  • Collaboration with Stakeholders: facilitate communication between various individuals, departments and teams to ensure all aspects of the proposal align with institutional goals and funding requirements.

Support Provided by the SIR Pre-Award Team:

In addition to standard pre-award services provided to all faculty on campus, the SIR Pre-Award team offers additional enhanced support services as follows:

  • Early Engagement: SIR Pre-Award Specialists begin working with project teams 3 to 4 months ahead of proposal submission to ensure thorough preparation and a smooth submission process.
  • Enhanced Team Collaboration: Specialists serve as part of a cross-functional team with individuals from the project's scientific team, the SIR team within the Office of Research, and Sponsored Programs contacts across institutions. This collaborative mindset amplifies the effectiveness of the scientific team in proposal development, ensuring alignment and optimization of resources.
  • Dedicated Expertise and Support: Specialists will provide proposal management and oversight, working closely with teams to ensure the proposal's success. This includes a direct line to the SIR team within the Office of Research providing consultation on strategy, connections to grant writers, leadership, federal relations, and agency consultants as available.
  • Enhanced Timeline and Checklist Creation: Specialists collaborate with project teams to develop customized proposal checklists and timelines that go beyond standard templates—incorporating sponsor-specific requirements, milestone tracking, and proactive deadline management to ensure every step is completed efficiently.
  • Regular Team Meetings: Specialists attend regularly scheduled meetings to stay aligned with proposal needs and to address any challenges the team may face as they arise.
  • Budget Oversight: Proposal budgets are closely managed with additional oversight from the Office of Research, as well as in collaboration with finance staff, to ensure that large center budgets are appropriately costed and that the team has the necessary financial resources and staffing to complete the scope of work.
  • Connections with Key Units: The SIR Pre-award team facilitates connections across campus with contracting, legal counsel, research securitiy and export control, facilities managers, and administrative operations to address all aspects of the proposal requirements.

The SIR Pre‐Award team may not be able to perform all services listed above if notice of the proposal is received late in development. Research teams that work with the SIR Pre-Award team will be expected to follow the timeline established in the SIR Pre-Award Service Level Agreement and shown below. However, revised timelines may be communicated on a case‐by‐case basis due to the specific needs of the proposal team.

Proposal Processing Timeline:

To take full advantage of SIR Pre‐Award's services and qualify for priority proposal processing, a PI must follow the timelines listed in the table below.

Processing Timeline Due to Pre‐Award
1. Initial notification/initial budget request 12-16 weeks in advance or as soon as possible
2. Final budget, justification, and draft proposal/statement of work 2 weeks (10 business days) in advance
3. Final ancillary documents 1 week (5 business days) in advance
4. Final documents for submission (excl. final statement of work) 2 business days (16 hours) in advance
5. Final statement of work/project description/research strategy 1 business day (8 hours) in advance

In the cases where proposals are due outside normal business hours (8 a.m. ‐ 5 p.m.), 5 p.m. EST of the day of the deadline should be considered the official submission deadline. If a PI is unable to meet the processing timeline, every effort will be made by Pre‐Award to submit a PI's proposal to the sponsor by the stated deadline. However, Pre‐Award may not be able to perform all services listed under our Service‐Level Agreement in the shortened timeframe. Proposals processed within the expected timeline will take precedence over those that are outside the expected timeline and will be handled on a first‐come first‐served basis.

Proposal Selection:

SIR Pre-Award support is considered when a PERA SmartForm is submitted or when a team starts working with the Office of Research SIR team via the intake form located here. Multiple factors are used to determine eligibility for support by the SIR Pre-Award team, including the following:

  • Estimated award value
  • Institutional priority
  • Number and type of subcontracts (university, industry, non-profits, etc.)
  • Cost sharing requirements
  • Special focus (construction/renovation, infrastructure, new degree program, etc.)
  • Cost volume difficulty
  • Unique regulatory or contracting needs

SIR Pre-Award support is subject to availability with early notification taking priority. Proposals that qualify for support but do not fit into the team's workload will be assigned to another qualified specialist.

Our Team:

Last modified: Nov 19, 2025

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