Putting Together a Grant Proposal
The Basics
(what every MSU faculty member needs to know when begining a grant proposal)
Typical Timeline for Proposal Development
12 - 10 weeks before deadline
- Contact the CNS Office of Research Support
- Provide solicitation number or link (RFA, RFP, BAA, etc.)
- Determine grant submission timeline
- Identify potential internal reviewers
- Identify Potential Issues
- Registration requirements for funding agency, on-line submission (see items below).
- Financial Conflict of Interest Disclosure
- Patent, Copyright, Intellectual Property, Publication Restrictions, Ownership of data, deliverables (Contact CGA or MSU Business Connect for these items).
- Export Control Certifications
- Regulatory Affairs: Human subjects, Vertebrate animal, Human Blood/ materials/fluids, Radioisotopes, Recombinant DNA, Pathogens/biohazards, Hazardous/regulated chemicals
- Required Cost share, Match or other University Commitments (Work with your chair to initiate request to CNS associate dean)
- Space: On campus or off campus space, renovations or alterations
- Indirect Cost (Overhead, F&A) limitations
- Office of International Development
- Limited Submission
- Specific Data Requirements (Training grants)
6 - 10 weeks before deadline
- Contact colleagues
- Assign and draft various parts of proposal
- Address potential issues
4 - 6 weeks before deadline
- Seek input from internal reviewers
- Follow up and resolve issues
- Collect required documents and information
- Begin drafting budget & justification
2 - 4 weeks before deadline
- Time to finalize and assemble the proposal
- Route e-Transmittal
1 week before deadline
- Proposal is submitted to CNS Office of Research Support. We submit it to CGA for review and submission
Funding Agency Submission Requirements
- Grants.gov - Registration is not required as it is completed at the university level. Be sure to download the application package for each solicitation!
- Fastlane – Registration is needed, contact ORS or NSF@osp.msu.edu
- NSF – Registration is not needed (see Fastlane)
- NIH – You must be set up with Commons account, user name and password. Contact ORS or NIH@osp.msu.edu
Proposal Budgets
Elements of Direct Costs
- Salaries and wages – calculated in person months
- Faculty: AN, AY and Summer
- Graduate Students
- Undergraduate Students/hourly labor
- Postdoctoral Research Associates
- Technical and Clerical Support, as justified
- Fringe Benefits
- SI Fringe
- Graduate Student
- Equipment (Cost of stand-alone item must be greater than $5,000)
- Travel (Domestic and International)
- Participant Support Costs (Stipend, Travel, Subsistence, Other)
- Other Direct Costs
- Expendable supplies and materials
- Publications
- Consultant Services
- Subcontracts (Indirects are charged on the first $25,000 only)
- Other (Tuition and Fees)
Elements of Indirect Costs (53.5%)
- Negotiated with the federal government
- Supports the university infrastructure
- Reduced rates must be justified (provide documentation from funding agency)
- Total Direct Cost (TDC) vs Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC):
MTDC = TDC less equipment, participant support, tuition and fees and subcontract over the first $25,000
Budget Justification
The amounts requested for each budget line item should be documented and justified in the Budget Justification.
MSU eTransmittal
This is the internal MSU routing form for proposal tracking
- Must be completed before accout can be set up
- Award is to the University
- Must be reviewed and approved by Office of Sponsored Programs prior to grant submission
- Used for numerous reporting functions to track faculty, department and college research activity
- Required Attachments: Abstract, Final Budget & Budget Justification
- Log into the CGA web page portal to access
Overhead Credit Distribution
- Needs to equal 100%
- Should represent each investigators relative contribution to project
- If you have a significant intellectual or research contribution you should be on the Transmittal
- Each investigators overhead allocation is split between college(s) and department(s) by base appointment, faculty assigned space, and grant administration
- eTransmittal will calculate your allocation according to your base appointment
Additional Grant Support for CNS Faculty Proposals
CNS has a contract with Biotechnology Business Consultants (BBC) to provide grant-writing support to all CNS faculty.
BBC is available to:
- review previous grant submissions and summary statements,
- provide feedback, including advice, suggestions and strategies for improving grant submissions,
- assist with writing, editing and review of grant resubmissions and/or new submissions, and
- assist with post-submission issues.
BBC is available to assist in editing and review of grants in many areas, and they have expertise in group and center proposals as well. The cost of their service is split between CNS and the faculty's department. If interested, contact Theresa Young or Sekhar Chivukula.
