Office of Research & Sponsored Programs

Grant Application Process

Please submit a draft of your grant proposal at least one week before the deadline date to allow the Associate Dean for Research time to review your proposal and work with you to ensure that all University and agency requirements are met. This time is also necessary to permit the Office of Business and Finance to ensure that the budget is fully in accord with UMDNJ policies.

Assuming that you have located a funding source and have begun to write your proposal, please begin budget development as early as possible, before any formal submission of paperwork to ORSP. You can use a budget template worksheet to develop your budget. Please be aware, however, the agency you are submitting your proposal to will require their own specific budget forms. If you need budget assistance, please contact the Office of Business and Finance.

Assuming that your proposal is either a final draft or completed, here are the last steps that you will need to take:

• Ensure that your detailed budget is submitted to the Office of Business and Finance for final review, even if you are using a modular budget format from that Office.
• Obtain a GAFA form and a Financial Disclosure Form (FDF) from ORSP or the Office of Business and Finance.
• As Principal Investigator (PI), fill out and sign the GAFA form and obtain your Department Chairperson's signature on the GAFA form. University policy also requires an FDF to be filled out for anyone listed on the budget of a grant, subcontract, or clinical trial agreement, whether or not they will be receiving money if the grant proposal is successful. Make certain that the FDF is complete.
• If there are co-investigators who are non-SPH, then their Department Chairpersons must also sign the GAFA and FDF.
• Bring the COMPLETE PROPOSAL, including the GAFA and FDF forms, the funding agency's cover page, text, budget, and any appendices to the Office of Business and Finance for review. The Office of Business and Finance will carry the proposal, budget, agency cover page, and GAFA to the UMDNJ Grants and Contracts Office for final budgetary review, approval, and signature by the appropriate UMDNJ official. Grant applications without a detailed budget reviewed and approved by the UMDNJ Grants and Contracts Office cannot be submitted to the funding agency.
• After obtaining the Grants and Contracts Office signature, the Office of Business and Finance will forward the proposal to ORSP for the final SPH signature.
• ORSP will ensure that one copy of the completed GAFA form is retained by ORSP, one by the Principal Investigator, and one is forwarded to the UMDNJ Office of Grants and Contracts. The Principal Investigator is responsible for providing one complete final copy of the full proposal, including the agency cover page, for filing in the SPH Office of Business and Finance; this step can be done after the proposal has been sent to the funding agency.
• The Principal Investigator submits the required number of copies of the proposal to the funding agency. The Principal Investigator, and not ORSP, is responsible for all copying and postal charges and for submitting the proposal on time to the correct agency address.

A few granting agencies now require electronic submission of proposals; more will in the future. A completed and signed GAFA form and a Financial Disclosure Form are still required by UMDNJ and SPH policy in such cases, and a printed copy of the actual proposal must also be provided to the Office of Business and Finance. The Office of Business and Finance and the UMDNJ Grants and Contracts Office also need to approve a detailed budget before a proposal is submitted electronically. ORSP has experience with electronic submission of proposals and will work with each PI to ensure that the specific electronic and other requirements of the various funding agencies are met.

A similar procedure, including the GAFA and FDF forms and a budget approval by the UMDNJ Office of Grants and Contracts, must be followed if proposals are submitted to UMDNJ funding sources, such as the Foundation of UMDNJ, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, etc. This is also true for research proposals submitted to outside funding sources such as private foundations, individuals, and other potential sources.

Letters of inquiry or letters of intent, which are submitted in advance of a formal proposal, are exempt from this process. However, ORSP staff and the Associate Dean for Research are able to provide advice and editorial assistance to PIs preparing such letters.