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Limited submission proposals procedure

Last Revised: March 16, 2007

Introduction

To an increasing extent granting agencies, especially NSF and NIH, are turning to limited submission as a means of restricting the number of proposals that may be submitted by a university in response to a given program announcement. In instances when more investigators wish to submit proposals than the agency limit allows the Office of the Vice Provost for Research has developed procedures designed to select the most competitive proposals as fairly and objectively as possible and to do this expeditiously in order to give investigators the maximum opportunity to prepare their proposal.

Procedures when the number of submissions per institution is limited

Step I - When the Proposal Preparation Section of KUCR determines that a program announcement involves a limit on the number of institutional submissions an announcement is sent out to all faculty, researchers, deans and center directors under the name of one of the Associate Vice Provosts for Research (AVPR) along with the URL from which the full program announcement can be obtained. This announcement requests pre-proposals of about three pages along with CVs and information about present funding. A deadline for receipt of pre-proposals is set after which the evaluation group is selected, if needed.

In each case it is necessary to determine whether KUMC and KU-L are considered "separate" universities. If the answer is that together we are allowed a single university limit, then the process of evaluation will be carried out in cooperation with KUMC research administration.

Step II - If the number of pre-proposals is no more than the number allowed, all investigators will be encouraged to proceed. The Associate Vice Provost for Research will offer to provide assistance to investigators in developing the most competitive proposal possible. If the number of pre-proposals exceeds the number allowed, then a committee usually consisting of three members is selected to review the pre-proposals and select those that will be endorsed for submission.

Step III - If the number of pre-proposals exceeds the number allowed, the panel meets to discuss the proposals, the members having previously provided written comments. The AVPR serves as the Chair of the committee, but does not vote on the final recommendation. The criteria used for evaluating the proposals reflect the criteria stated in the program announcement (additional information about criteria is provided is provided below). If a proposal has been submitted to the external funding agency the previous year and showed considerable promise, but was not funded, this consideration is weighed into the final decision.

Step IV - All investigators will be informed promptly of the panel's decision, and provided with brief written feedback from the panel. They will also be encouraged to contact the relevant Associate Vice Provost for Research for additional information about factors that influenced the panel's decision

Criteria for panel selection

The make up of the review panel will be determined by the relevant Associate Vice Provost for Research. If the limit on the number of submissions applies to KUMC and KU-L jointly then this decision will be made in consultation with representatives of KUMC and the panel will ordinarily include faculty from both campuses. Panelists will be selected from faculty with expertise necessary to evaluate quality of the proposed and experience with the criteria applied by national review panels. For proposals involving institutional issues, such as major instrumentation (mass spectrometers, NMR, and electron microscopy) the reviewers are often selected at the dean or center director level as this gives an opportunity to discuss infrastructure issues relevant to the university as a whole. To the extent possible panels will not include members from the same departments as the investigators submitting pre-proposals.

Investigators may with their pre-proposal include suggestions of faculty members whom they believe are especially well qualified to evaluate pre-proposals. They may also communicate to the relevant AVPR concerns they may have about potential panelists.

Criteria for evaluation of pre-proposals

In preparing pre-proposals the investigator(s) should pay careful attention the criteria used by the review panel. In each case the review panel seeks to determine whether the investigator is aware of the important issues that must be considered as expressed in the program announcement. Consequently investigators are advised to pay careful attention to the specific instructions provided by the funding agency. Nonetheless several general considerations can be elaborated that are commonly included in program announcements:

  1. What is the specific problem(s) to be addressed in the proposal?
  2. Why is this problem important and how would a resolution contribute to our overall understanding of the issues raised?
  3. Is there a clear implementation plan that proceeds logically toward the resolution of the identified issues?
  4. What will be the impact of the work derived from this support?

Other issues of varying importance depending on the funding source.

  1. The track record (publication/grant funding record) of the applicant(s).
  2. Involvement of students/minorities in the project
  3. Dissemination of knowledge gained from the project.
  4. Impact of funding on an individual investigator.
  5. Ability to engage individuals from diverse disciplines.
  6. A clear project management plan (especially for large projects)

Questions? Please contact:
Joshua L. Rosenbloom
Associate Vice Provost for Research, Office of the Vice Provost
Vice President, KUCR
785- 864-7448 | jrosenbloom@ku.edu

— or —

George S. Wilson
Associate Vice Provost for Research, Office of the Vice Provost
Vice President, KUCR
(785) 864-3567 | gwilson@ku.edu