Submit a Proposal

Each principal investigator (PI) is assigned a grants specialist in the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) or a contract manager in the Contracting Department (Contracting) at HJF. Specialists generally cover a given department, research location or type of application. Due to the length of time required for the review process at USU or other sites and at HJF, it is very important that you contact your grants specialist or contract manager as soon as you know you will be submitting an application. If you do not know who your contact is, please contact OSP or Contracting.

Your HJF grants specialist or contract manager is available to assist you with:

Preparing the project budget;
Ensuring compliance with sponsor application guidelines;
Reviewing assurances and regulations; and
Acting as liaison with the sponsor.

Depending on your department, you may also have on-site department administrators available to assist you with grant preparation. Please contact your department chair to find out the name of your department administrator.

A Note About Terminology

As you prepare your proposal, you might find helpful our List of Commonly Used Acronyms in Research Administration.

Grants and Cooperative Agreements

HJF asks for 10 working days of lead time to review each grant proposal and to make any necessary changes. Applications are handled on a first-in, first-out basis.

USU Faculty Submissions

USU faculty must submit a copy of application documents simultaneously to the USU Office of Research Administration (REA) and to HJF's OSP. In addition to sending a copy of your proposal, you are required to submit the University's forms to REA. Once you submit your application, your specialist at HJF and your representative in REA will review it. Together, they will prepare a list of comments that they will send you by email within three to five days of receiving your application. You will be required to respond to these comments, make any necessary revisions and submit your revised application to both HJF and REA in order for your proposal to proceed through the remainder of the review process.

Once you have made any necessary changes and resubmitted your application, it will go to the director of REA, who may have additional comments. If no further changes are necessary, your application can proceed to a final review and receive "site approval" from USU. Site approval is a statement from USU to HJF affirming that your research may be conducted on-site. HJF must receive site approval before your proposal can be submitted.

Final HJF Review

Note that site approval is required from an authorized representative at all sites (both on- and off-campus) submitting an application. Following the receipt of site approval and the final original, signed application, HJF will give the application a final review. Once again, there may be additional comments at this stage, so it is imperative that you are available to respond quickly, as this final review often occurs only a few days before the grant submission deadline. When the final review process is completed, HJF will sign as the grantee organization for your application and submit the final version of the proposal.

Actions Greater Than $500,000

Please note that HJF has a Contract Review Board that reviews all actions including proposals, awards, modifications and subawards that have an annual amount greater than $500,000. This usually adds several days to the Foundation's review time.

You are welcome to contact your grants specialist at any point in the process to ascertain the status of your application's review. Our staff will work closely with you throughout the application process. They are available to answer questions and will assist you with each stage of the review.

Electronic Grant Submission

PureEdge – HJF will use the PureEdge interface for preparing proposals for electronic submission to Grants.gov until the February 2007 submission deadline. The following documents pertain to PureEdge:

PureEdge Application Sample (PDF)
Tips for using PureEdge (PDF)

Cayuse424 – HJF will use Cayuse424, the system–to–system interface for preparing proposals for electronic submission to Grants.gov, after the February 2007 submission deadline. The following documents pertain to using Cayuse424.

Useful Website Addresses

Grants.gov :: http://www.grants.gov/
Electronic submission of Grants Applications:: http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/
Electronic submission of Grants Applications FAQs :: http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/faq.htm
Commons address:: https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/
Commons & Grants.gov registration and NIH transition plans:: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-05-067.html
Parent PA R01:: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-07-070.html
Parent PA R21:: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-06-181.html
Parent PA R03:: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-06-180.html
Interim changes to PHS 398:: http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-06-056.html
Revised 398 forms:: http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html

HJF Contact information

USU Services: 301-295-2291
HJF OSP: 301-294-1276; ospnga@hjf.org

Contract Proposals

If you would like to respond to a competitive announcement, contact our contracting director to discuss deadlines, as well as any questions or concerns you may have.

Typically, government contracts, and some cooperative agreements, are won by submitting competitive proposals in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). The process is similar to grant writing, however, it is often more extensive. Because of the many steps involved in preparing a proposal, time is a critical factor and an early start will increase our chances for success.

Letters of Intent

Funding agencies sometimes request a letter of intent (LOI) or a pre-proposal as a means of determining whether the applicant should submit a full application. Usually, LOIs are not binding, nor are they a prerequisite for submitting a full proposal. Both LOIs and preproposals should be submitted to the funding agency through HJF. Your grants specialist or contract manager will forward the documents to the sponsor with a transmittal letter from HJF.