Submitting Your Proposal

Hardcopy Submissions
There are two very important guidelines to check when mailing your proposal: due dates and number of copies if the submission is to be hard-copy rather than electronic.

1. Due Dates and Delivery
   •   "Target Date" means the proposal should be received by the sponsor with one to two weeks of the stated target date.
   •   "Post Date" means the deadline is the day the proposal package is sent to the sponsor. That is, the postmark date on the package must be the deadline date or earlier.
   •   "Receipt Date" means the deadline is the day proposal package is received by the sponsor.
   •   For security reasons some sponsors do not allow hand delivery, call and check if you are planning to hand deliver a proposal.
2. Number of Copies
   •   Do send the exact number of copies requested in addition to the original - no more and no less. Always be sure to send the original.
   •   Do include a cover letter unless directed otherwise. If you are submiting to a foundation, corporation or non-profit organization, ORS will provide an endorsement cover letter. The PI may add a second, more specific cover letter if desired.
   •   Do not copy pages that are to be submitted in the original only, such as the PI information page in an NIH or NSF proposal.

Electronic Submissions
Grants.duke submissions are done by the PI. After ORS has reviewed and approved the proposal in SPS, your ORS contact will change the proposal status to "Awaiting Submission." The PI can then submit the application at their convenience, although ORS strongly recommends submitting the proposal as early as possible to avoid the inevitable slowdowns that occur on the due date.

In other cases, final submission of an electronic proposal can only be done by an authorized official in ORS. The submission is equivalent to the University's institutional signature on the proposal. In order to be sure we do not miss a deadline, ORS asks that the PI

• have the proposal complete and ready for submission a day ahead of time if possible or at least several hours ahead of time in order to avoid the last minute system slowdowns and crashes that can occur;
• remember that our business hours are 8:30 to 5:00, and we do not stay in the office until midnight for proposals with a midnight deadline time;
• stay by a telephone until we confirm successful submission - just in case a problem arises.

Copies to ORS
Typically ORS requires two copies of the final version of the proposal for the file. Since many federal agencies have started accepting proposals electronically, ORS may not request two copies of the proposal at the time of submission. This is particularly true if the entire proposal is available to ORS within the electronic submission system.

For federal agencies non-federal agencies, corporations and foundations that do not accept proposal submissions electronically or that do not provide ORS access to proposals after they have been submitted electronically, ORS still requests that the department provide two hard copies of the full and final proposal. However, in all cases ORS recommends sending copies of the full proposal to all department managers who have a faculty member named on the proposal.

It is important to remember that having copies at ORS will greatly improve the ability of ORS to process the award in a timely manner.

Submitted Status in SPS
In many instances, ORS does not know when the proposal is actually submitted. After you have routed the proposal in SPS for approvals and ORS has marked the entry as "Awaiting Submission, remember to change the status of the proposal to "Submitted" and enter the date that the proposal was actually sent out. This will complete the SPS record and give ORS more accurate data to report to the Dean's and Provost's Offices. The proposal will remain in the submitted state until we get word from the sponsor indicating whether or not the proposal will be funded.