Preparing a Coversheet

The coversheet of a proposal summarizes key information for a sponsor and provides the required institutional signatures. It may, at the sponsor's request, also include the PI's, or his or her chair's signatures.

Many sponsors provide coversheets, either pre-printed or available in electronic format. Care should be taken to ensure that the most current version of the sponsor cover sheet is used.

The basic information for all coversheets for proposals from Duke should be entered as noted below:

• The name of the applicant or the recipient is simply "Duke University", not the PI or any unit of the University. (The University, represented by the Office of Research Support, is the entity which will receive and accept responsibility for the award.)
• The contact for the applicant, or award recipient, is the Director of ORS, Judith Dillon
• The applicant's address and phone number are those of the Office of Research Support: 2200 W. Main St., Ste. 710, Durham, NC 27705; phone: 919/684-3030; fax: 919/684-2418; email: ors-grant@duke.edu [3].

If a coversheet is not provided by the sponsor, the PI will be asked to prepare a coversheet for the proposal. That coversheet can be generated by SPS, or an investigator can create their own coversheet which should include the following information:

• Sponsor's name
• Applicant's name: Duke University
• Applicant's address and contact information: Office of Research Support, 2200 W. Main St., Ste. 710, Durham, NC 27708; phone: 919/684-3030; fax: 919/684-2418; ors-grant@duke.edu [3]
• Applicant's contact or award recipient: Judith Dillon, Director, Office of Research Support
• Title of proposed project
• Name, title and contact information of the PI
• Period of performance
• Annual and cumulative budget totals
• Signatures of the PI and the authorizing official

A sample coversheet is provided in Forms [1].

Application coversheets and forms often ask for a wide variety of ID, Code, and Assurance numbers. Those numbers and other information for inclusion in proposals can be found on the Facts for Forms and Applications [2].

PIs, chairs, deans and others can not sign a proposal coversheet. Only authorized signing officials may sign a proposal for Duke. Please See Signing Off on Your Proposal [4].