Proposal Development, Review, and Submission

Your College

Department or unit research administrators can provide the appropriate forms and resources required to assemble and route your proposal for review and approval. They can help you with budget development, completing forms, compiling current and pending funding tables, and collecting biographical sketches.

• College of Engineering researchers are supported through the Pre-Award Research Operations (PRO) team. 
• CALS and CVM have specialized support offices to assist you. 
• All others: contact your department or college to learn about the research administrative support services available.

Central Research Development Services 

The Research Development team works with Cornell's research faculty and staff to submit highly competitive proposals. Our goal is to improve funding successes for large, extramural, multi-investigator grants and contracts, including multidisciplinary center and facility proposals, training grants, early career awards, and other major awards. Note: even if your project does not fit the criteria, a consultation with research development staff at the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research Development or CALS Office of Sponsored Research can be beneficial to you. 

If You're New to Cornell 

Cornell Research Concierge Service provides research-related assistance and resources for faculty new to Cornell University.

Submission

• CALS and CVM have offices to assist with submission. If you're in one of these colleges, contact the appropriate office. 
• For other units and departments, the Office of Sponsored Programs submits sponsored research proposals on behalf of Cornell. Grant and Contract Officers (GCOs) offer assistance, including clarifying sponsors' submission procedures and interpreting university policy. 
• For collaborations with Weill Cornell Medicine, a unified process includes a special form to use with submission and considerations for preparing the budget correctly. See the Academic Integration site for details. 

Tip: Your science/technical content does not have to be complete when you submit your proposal to OSP. You can keep working while OSP reviews the rest of the proposal. 

Tools

Rigor and reproducibility. Review Cornell's resources to help you address the topic of rigor and reproducibility (R&R) in research as you prepare your proposal.
Proposal submission systems. Use the following systems for the development and submission of a sponsored project proposal. You may choose the system, but in some cases an particular option is mandated by the sponsor. Your GCO can help choose the system, if you're unsure.

• RASS Cornell's Research Administration and Support System
• Grants.gov (use for Department of Defense and Department of Energy)
  • Register for a Grants.gov Workspace Account
• National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Register for an NSF FastLane/Research.gov Account
  • NSF Research.gov Home Page
  • NSF FastLane Home Page

Please Note: Research.gov will replace FastLane for all proposal submissions by January 2023. PIs are encouraged to use Research.gov for all proposal submissions where such functionality is present.

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
  • Register for an NIH eRA Commons/ASSIST Account
• NASA
  • Register for an NSPIRES account

Conflicts of Interest

• Before a proposal can be submitted, each person listed as PI, Co-PI or Key Personnel on the proposal must have a current, active COI report on file in the eCOI system. See more on the COI Considerations for Proposals and Awards page. 

Making your Budget

• The Budget Costs and Rates section includes rate information for Cornell and Weill Medical faculty, staff, and students and other information you can use for your proposal budget. 
• For collaborations with Weill Cornell Medicine, see the Academic Integration site for budget preparation considerations. 

Foreign Activities

• If your project includes foreign activities, including travel, collaboration with consultants or subcontractors (here or abroad), or overseas shipments, contact your GCO or the Export Controls Officer as early as possible. They'll help determine if additional steps need to be taken to ensure that the project is carried out as seamlessly as possible. More information is available in the Export Controls section. 

Data Planning

• Data management plans can have specific requirements from the funder or a research compliance committee such as the IRB. Plans may cover data types and sources, dissemination methods, public access and re-use, and more.
  • Cornell's Research Data Management Group can help you plan.
  • For questions about a specific funder's requirements, contact your GCO. 

Here is a condensed reference you can print about the proposal review and approval process.