Psychology Grant Submission How-To's:
The Proposal Support team from Sponsored Projects can assist with Pre-award items only and include the following:
- Review and interpretation of sponsor guidelines;
- Budget consultation and preparation, including new funding or contracts;
- Identify possible compliance issues;
- Creating a proposal in the system of record at the University of Arizona;
- Answer questions from the SPS Pre-award team;
- Create the submission application for the corresponding sponsor portal.
- Assist with pre-award information like Just In Time Requests, post submission materials and any action that is requested before the award is in place.
Submitting Grants Through UA Psychology:
NOTE For our team to provide as much support as possible, please submit a request for assistance at least 15 business days before the sponsor’s deadline to guarantee time for assistance. For more information on the Proposal Support team, please visit their website.
(Note regarding Postdoc and Student submissions at bottom of entry.)
Step 1: Know Your Deadlines
Internal Deadlines:
- Request for assistance for a new application must be submitted via SPS Proposal Support Smartsheet at least 15 business days prior to the sponsor’s application due date. This will allow time to complete internal routing and finalize the proposal by SPS 3-day deadline (3-day deadline quick facts). The Proposal Support team will work with Preaward Services at Sponsored Projects to coordinate the final submission to the sponsor. Please note Preaward at SPS must receive the proposal in final form (completely routed and approved and ready for submission to the sponsoring agency) 3 full business days prior to the funding-agency deadline. Proposals routed outside of the 3-Day Deadline run the risk of not being submitted to the sponsor.
- Once the Smartsheet request is submitted, Angela Valencia, our Proposal Support representative from Sponsored Projects will follow up with next steps. Please note proposal resources below:
- Proposal Routing Sheet – please complete and send to Proposal Support with your budget, budget justification and project summary.
- Preliminary budgets can be completed using the budget template. Examples of these are included in the forms section under specific grant types.
- Detailed information relating to proposal development and requirements from the Sponsored Projects and Contracting Services office can be reviewed here: https://research.arizona.edu/research-support-home
External Deadlines:
- NSF Deadlines: See NSF due dates including contacts for cognition and neural focused grants
- NIH R01/R21/R03 deadlines: See NIH due dates
- NRSA deadlines: F31 (graduate students) and F32 (postdocs) See NRSA due dates
- NSF GRFP deadlines: See NSF GRFP due dates
Step 2: Plan Your Submission
- See previous funded grant examples Psy-Grant Sharepoint Site (Site requires Microsoft sign-in with UA email/password)
- NIH and NSF encourage you to reach out to a program officer (NIH) or program director (NSF) before submitting. You are encouraged to send your specific aims (NIH) or broader impacts page (NSF). The relevant contacts can be found here through some of the web tools / websites listed below:
- NIH: NIH reporter
- NSF (psychology): Contact
- All persons responsible for the design, conduct, and/or reporting of research are required by University policy to complete the Conflict of Interest Required Disclosure Training Certification according to the following schedule:
- Prior to proposal submission for all Investigators receiving funding from any federal source, including sub-federal awards; or
- Prior to participating in the Conduct of Research for all other Investigators; and
- Every 4 years thereafter, or as directed by the University when either of the following applies:
- The University revisits the training requirements; and/or
- When the University determines that the Investigator is found to be noncompliant with this Policy or any management plan related to an identified FCOI.
Step 3: Work On Your Grant
...and submit the complete grant to Angela Valencia ASAP!
For Students/Postdocs
- Please follow the steps above for submitting grants (i.e., reach out to Angela Valencia and follow steps 1-3). However, you will only need to send her the Proposal Routing Sheet and project summary (an abstract of your grant). Angela will work with you on your budget as most NRSAs/NSFs are modular (i.e., set up a specific way by the funding agency).
- Please also see the “Departmental grants examples” (Psy-Grant Sharepoint Site) where you can download some sample NRSA and NSF grants.
Departmental Grants Examples:
- For grant examples, application boilerplate and other Psychology Department resources, please see Psy-Grant Sharepoint Site
- Note: Site requires Microsoft sign-in with UA email/password
Questions? Contact:
Angela Valencia, Sponsored Projects
angelav@arizona.edu
Updated: 06/06/24
UA/University-Level Resources:
- UA Research Administration Resources Page (UA login credential required)
- UA Proposal development guidance (UA login credential required)
Links to Guidelines for Funding Agents
- NSF: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappg20_1/index.jsp
- NIH: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/how-to-apply-application-guide.html and download .pdf for “R” grants
- NRSA: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/how-to-apply-application-guide.html and download .pdf for “F” grants
- NSF GRFP: https://www.nsfgrfp.org/applicants/grfp-application-overview-presentation/
Updated: 04/09/24
| Sample | Description | NIH Institute or Center |
|---|---|---|
| Sample Plan A | Clinical and/or MRI data from human research participants | NIMH |
| Sample Plan B | Genomic data from human research participants | NIMH |
| Sample Plan C | Genomic data from a non-human source | NIMH |
| Sample Plan D | Secondary data analysis | NIMH |
| Sample Plan E | Human genomic data | NHGRI |
| Sample Plan F | Technology development | NHGRI |
| Sample Plan G | Human clinical and genomics data | NICHD |
| Sample Plan H | Gene expression analysis data from non-human model organism (zebrafish) | NICHD |
| Sample Plan I | Human survey data | NICHD |
Updated: 06/02/23
CoSSAC Professional Development Grant
The College of Science Staff Advisory Council (CoSSAC) offers grants at different times throughout the academic year to assist with fees related to professional development. This includes funding for training and travel.
Deadlines:
Applications are due every:
- March 15th - for events occurring between Jan 1 and May 31
- July 15th - for events occurring between May 1 and Sept 30
- November 15th - for events occurring between Sept 1 and Jan 31
Eligibility:
To apply for this grant, you will need to meet the following requirements:
- Must be a UA Staff member (Students, faculty, and post-docs are not eligible for this particular award.)
- Employed for at least 6 months in the College of Science
- Have not already yet received a grant award within the same academic year
Award Amount:
- Ranges between $50 - $400
More Information:
CoSSAC Professional Development page
Updated: 03/04/24
Faculty Pilot Grant - Request for Proposals (RFPs)
Purpose and Research Objectives
The Department of Psychology invites proposals for pilot research projects designed to generate essential preliminary data in support of new applications for externally funded federal grants (e.g., NIH, NSF, DoD, DARPA, DOJ). The overarching aim of this mechanism is to facilitate competitive submissions within 18 months of the pilot award’s start date.
Funding Mechanism
One grant of up to $10,000 in direct costs will be made available for a one-year funding period. Funds must be used to support data collection activities critical to the development of a competitive external grant application.
Eligibility & Application Criteria
All full-time Psychology Department faculty members, regardless of rank, are eligible to apply. *Post-doctoral fellows and graduate students are not eligible for this funding mechanism.
- Individual proposals will be limited to $10,000 for the costs needed to collect key pilot data to support the submission of a competitive externally funded federal grant application within 18 months of the start of pilot grant award.
- Pilot grant funds cannot be used for faculty salary or course buyouts.
- Submitting multiple applications as PI or Co-PI during the same grant submission cycle is strongly discouraged - but serving as a Co-Investigator on one or more additional proposals may be allowed, provided the aims and goals of the applications are substantially different.
- Pilot grants that support programs of research that help to advance collaborations among Psychology Department faculty are especially encouraged.
- Recipients must agree to incorporate the grant application feedback provided by the Psychology Research Committee prior to submitting the associated external federal grant.
- At least 75% of the indirect costs should be allocated for the federal grant submission to the Psychology Department.
Submit your Proposal - Application Procedures:
The proposals should include the following (using standard 11- or 12-point Arial or Times New Roman font and 0.5-inch margins throughout the application):
Face Page:
PI
Application title
Grant mechanism (i.e., Faculty Pilot Grant Award)
List of Senior/Key personnel/collaborators
Project performance sites
Project summary/abstract (abstract length limited to 30 lines or less)
Budget: limited to up to $10,000 in direct costs with no indirect costs allowed
For providing the Detailed Budget - use PHS 398 NIH fillable form from “Form Page 4: Detailed Budget for Initial Budget Period”: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html
Budget Justification
Biographical Sketches for Key Personnel:
Use the NIH Biosketch Format: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm
Research Plan including the following (limited to 5 pages):
- Specific Aims (up to one page)
- Research Strategy - including Significance, Innovation, and Approach Sections
- Plan for Submission of External Federal Grant Application
- Timeline
- References Cited:
- Format: All materials should be combined into a single pdf document for submission.
- Naming: The combined pdf should be named with the PIs last name, grant mechanism (i.e., Faculty Pilot Grant Award), and date of submission.
- Uploading: The named pdf should be uploaded by the deadline (provided in email communications) using the Psychology Research Committee website link for the “Faculty Pilot Grant Submission”:
https://psychology.arizona.edu/psychology-department-faculty-pilot-grant
Application Review:
Proposals will be reviewed for both scientific and technical merit. Proposals will be reviewed and rated based on significance, innovation, approach, potential for applicant to submit a subsequent federal grant proposal, and likelihood the proposed pilot grant will lead to a successful externally funded federal grant application.
Final award decisions and notifications of award will be made by the Psychology Research Committee.
*NOTE: Funds MUST be utilized within the performance period, as carryovers will not be permitted. Funded applicants will be expected to submit a Final Progress Report to the committee within 18 months after the start of the award.
Questions?
If you have any difficulties with the submission process (or have any other questions), please contact Arne Ekstrom:
*Questions will be shared with the research committee as deemed necessary.
Updated: 06/01/26