Limited Submissions

• The internal proposal should be accessible to a general scientific audience. Members of the internal review panel will have differing levels of familiarity with your specific area of research. Define significant technical terms and avoid using a lot of "jargon."
• Read and adhere to all the internal submission requirements, including page limits and content requirements. Proofread and check for typos.
• Read the sponsor's solicitation and research the sponsor. What is the sponsor's mission? What and who does it aim to fund? Align your proposal with the program goals and priorities. Do not recycle internal proposals from different competitions - reviewers can tell and will comment on it.
• If a letter of nomination is required for the internal submission, it should be specific to the program.
• Clearly state the problem/need that your proposed project will address. Clearly describe the project objectives, methods, innovation, and impact. Address the "big picture." If you succeed, what difference will it make? What will be the impact?

The RAC has developed recommendations for Chairs writing nomination letters for internal competitions, which can be downloaded as a pdf file: Tips for writing letters of nominations (Cornell netID login is required for access).

• Prospective applicants/nominees for limited submissions must first apply to an internal competition (unless otherwise stated in an announcement). Each competition announcement includes an internal submission deadline, program summary, link and/or pdf file for the sponsor's program guidelines and requirements, and a list of materials required for the internal review process.
  • For internal review, applicants typically must submit a cover page listing all key personnel, a two- to three-page project description, and a biosketch or CV for the lead PI. For some competitions other materials, such as a nomination letter from a Department Chair, are also required. Internal application requirements vary depending on the program. It is the submitters responsibility to review the internal competition announcement to learn what specific materials are required.
  • Internal competition timelines: While every effort is made to provide ample time for internal application preparation and submission, sometimes the sponsor’s timeline necessitates a short internal timeline. In rare cases, a sponsor's timeline precludes an internal competition altogether - for such opportunities, applicants typically must submit a Letter of Interest and are approved to submit on a rolling/"first come, first served" basis until all slots are filled. 
• The Faculty Senate's Research Advisory Committee (RAC) reviews the submitted internal applications. For some competitions, an ad hoc review panel may be convened and/or senior leadership may participate in the internal review. The review panel then selects to move forward the submission(s) that has the best opportunity for success based on its responsiveness to the sponsor's solicitation and program objectives, and its scientific and scholarly strength. Internal applicants are promptly notified of the outcome.
  • Note: There are some limited submissions program (e.g., Sloan Research Fellowships) where internal selection is coordinated by a department or college rather than the central Limited Submissions team. This information is included in the announcement that is disseminated to campus.
• The selected candidate then works with their unit pre-award specialist/grant coordinator and Grant & Contract Officer (GCO) to prepare and submit the materials required by the sponsor, according to each sponsor's specific instructions and guidelines. Sponsors' requirements vary (e.g., it may be a Letter of Intent, Concept Paper or pre-proposal, or a full proposal). Note: Materials submitted for an internal competition differ from funders' own submission requirements.

Internal competitions and other limited submission opportunities are regularly announced via a weekly digest email, on this website, and/or on InfoReady (Cornell's third-party, web-based internal competition platform). To receive timely communications about limited submissions, subscribe to the CU-RES-ADMIN-L listserv here. 

Unless otherwise stated in a competition announcement, internal application materials must be submitted via Cornell's internal competition platform (InfoReady): https://cornell.infoready4.com/#osp

Internal applications must be submitted by the internal submission deadline noted in a competition announcement.

Contact Cornell Limited Submissions if you missed an internal competition deadline. If the submission slot(s) were not already filled, you may still be able to apply to the funding opportunity. In these situations, approvals to submit to the funder are typically granted on a rolling/first-come, first-served basis.

If a selected candidate decides not to submit to the sponsor, they must notify Cornell Limited Submissions as soon as possible. Internal competitions are highly competitive and, where possible, we want to allow another applicant to be selected to submit.

Contact the Limited Submissions team if you need help with the InfoReady application platform.

If faculty, students, or staff become aware of a limited submission opportunity that is not currently listed on this webpage or the Cornell InfoReady website, please notify Cornell Limited Submissions before any applications/LOIs/Concept Notes/etc. are submitted to the sponsor.

We do our best to identify and announce limited submission opportunities, but cannot guarantee that we find them all. If there is any question about submission limits for a solicitation, please contact us.

If you are a WCM investigator, do not apply to competitions listed on this webpage. Weill Cornell Medicine has its own internal competitions for limited submission funding opportunities. WCM investigators must contact Florencia Marcucci in the WCM Office of the Research Dean.