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Proposal Deadlines

As stated in a letter dated 3/22/2021 from Vice Chancellor Scott Brandt, effective April 15, 2021, any proposal submitted all or in part after an established deadline without an approved exception will no longer be accepted or processed.

In order to ensure a manageable workload for our staff, superior quality of service for our faculty and researchers, and a streamlined process, deadlines have been revised and a simple online approval process for exceptions has been instituted, which will only be allowed in limited circumstances. The new policy for late proposals is as follows:

Exceptions: Limited exceptions are possible if the PI accepts the consequences of the reduced processing time up to and including the possibility of non-submission or sponsor rejection without review.

  1. Technical narratives in final submittable form with zero other changes will be accepted up to 8 business hours prior to the sponsor deadline. Please use the Exception to UCSC Internal Deadline for Technical Narrative Submission form to request exception to 8-hour deadline for technical narrative. 

  2. Other exceptions may be requested by PIs with the support of their Dean and will be granted by the VCR when 1a) the delays are due to circumstances outside of the PI’s control OR 1b) the VCR determines that the proposal is of strategic importance to the campus, AND 2) handling of the proposal is feasible given proposal workload. Please use the Exception to UCSC Internal Deadline for Proposal Submission form to request exception to other internal deadlines.

  

UCSC Deadlines for Proposal Submission

UCSC Deadlines for Proposal Submission

Action

Standard Proposal
(No complicating elements) 

Complex Proposal
(w/complicating elements) 

Very Large Proposal
(Direct costs >$10M/year, Some DARPA - contact OSP) 

Construction Grants
Initiate proposal w/OSP and provide:
  1. Link to the RFP, RFQ, etc.
  2. Budgetary info 
  3. Where appropriate
    1. ETP request to serve as PI
    2. Cost sharing or IDC waiver request
    3. Sub-awardee information
 10 work days 20 work days 2 months 5 months
Proposal materials compliant 
(All documents in submittable form, except technical narrative)		 5 work days 5 work days Determined by OSP at initiation Determined by OSP at initiation
Technical narrative compliant
(In submittable form w/zero changes to other materials)		 2 work days 2 work days
Complicating Elements: ⧫ Direct costs between $2M and $10M per year; ⧫ Cost sharing or IDC waiver requested; ⧫ Multi-institutional collaboration, including sub-awards where we are prime or sub-awardee; ⧫ Construction grants; ⧫ Required additional space; ⧫ A foreign sponsor; or ⧫ The proposal is for a contract or the sponsor’s funding opportunity announcement states that the resulting award may be a contract.

NOTES

  1. Missed deadlines: Any proposal submitted all or in part after an established deadline without an approved exception will not be accepted or processed. Limited exceptions are possible if the PI accepts the consequences of the reduced processing time up to and including the possibility of non-submission or sponsor rejection without review.
    1. Technical narratives in final submittable form with zero other changes will be accepted up to 8 business hours prior to the sponsor deadline with approval. See 1.c. for the request form.
    2. Other exceptions may be requested by PIs with the support of their Dean and will be granted by the VCR when 1a) the delays are due to circumstances outside of the PI’s control OR 1b) The VCR determines that the proposal is of strategic importance to the campus, AND 2) processing the proposal is feasible given the current proposal workload.
    3. Exception requests must be submitted online: Use the exception for technical narrative submission form or the form for other deadline exceptions for these requests.  
  2. Cost sharing requests: Use this form to begin the cost share request process.
  3. IDC waiver requests: Use the indirect cost exception form for all requests other than indirect exceptions based on non-profit sponsor policy.
  4. ETP requests: Use this form to request exception to policy to act as PI.
  5. Limited submission opportunities may have additional deadlines to enable down-selection.

Construction Grant Notes

  1. Processing a construction grant proposal can take 5+ months due to the required involvement of multiple campus units* in the process, as well as Chancellor approval, before OSP can submit the proposal.
  2. Once PPC/PPDO/CPSM are brought into the process, $5,000** will be charged immediately to the PI and the full cost can be $90,000+ depending on the complexity of the project.
*Physical Planning & Construction (PPC), Physical Planning, Development & Operations (PPDO) & Capital Planning & Space Management (CPSM)
**This is the minimum recharge rate for PPDO

**The Proposal Deadline Calculator is a helpful tool to determine exactly when the proposal components are due, as it takes holidays and weekends into account.