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Proposal Submission

Award Lifecycle

Image Map: The Award Lifecycle

Concept & Funding Proposal Creation Proposal Submission Award Negotiation Award Setup Award Management Project Closeout

Sections:  RAMSeS IPF | Industry Sponsored Submissions | Central Office Review | Deadlines | Sponsor Reviews | Post-Submission Requests

Proposal Submission

Proposal Submission covers the period of University proposal review, submission to the sponsor, and any activities required before the notice of funding. Proposals are submitted for internal review through the Research Administration Management System & eSubmission (RAMSeS) used at the University. Departmental and Central Office reviews are conducted within RAMSeS. For industry sponsors, the proposal is also required to be submitted using ALICE or Clinical Research Management System (CRMS) for review from the OSP Industry Contracting (IC) team.

See OSP Operating Standard 200.07

RAMSeS Internal Processing Form (IPF)

An IPF is an internal record for University proposals. Every proposed grant, contract, and the cooperative agreement is required to have an IPF record.

Please consult with your Sponsored Projects Specialist (SPS) for further details on the IPF submission requirements for sponsored programs.

See OSP Operating Standard 300.03 Procedure 1

Industry Sponsored Submissions

There are several systems used at UNC to submit and monitor research agreements, Research Administration Management System & eSubmission (RAMSeS), Clinical Research Management System (CRMS), and ALICE. Different types of research agreements require submittals via different systems to ensure that they are processed by the correct OSP Research Administration team. For processing of industry agreements by our Industry Contracting (IC) team, the following are applicable:

  • CRMS Submittals: A confidentiality agreement for information shared in advance of a specific clinical trial, clinical trial agreement, or amendment to a clinical trial agreement. CRMS will collect the information, and at the submission of the agreement in CRMS, the submitter will be redirected to ALICE for completion of the submission process.
  • RAMSeS Submittals: All other funded agreements require an IPF, once it is approved by your department’s Sponsored Projects Specialist (SPS), it will be sent to OSP’s IC team to negotiate.
    • IPFs should include budget, the scope of work, draft agreement (if you have one), external contact for negotiations, and any other relevant information
  • ALICE Submittals: Unfunded agreements, such as Data Use Agreements (DUAs), Confidential Disclosure Agreements/Non-Disclosure Agreements (CDAs/NDAs), master agreements, and amendments with no change in funding. Please see New Agreements via ALICE Instructions for more information.
  • Recharge Service Center Agreements – email this form to OSPContracting@unc.edu.

Non-Clinical Industry Agreements

Once the proposal is reviewed and approved by OSP via RAMSeS, IC will be notified and the agreement will be entered into ALICE, and assigned to one of the Contract Managers. Given the range of project and agreement types, your department’s Contract Manager will likely contact you to discuss your project or various provisions of the agreement to make sure your interests, in addition to UNC’s, are best served.

Industry Master Agreements can be negotiated prior to having a set project and budget. If you are requesting a new Master Agreement without a project or budget determined, you can request review in ALICE. If you have determined a project and budget with the sponsor, you will need to submit an eIPF in RAMSeS for OSP to review. You can upload the draft Master Agreement (which will include a Task Order/Work Order for this first project) to RAMSeS. You can submit a CRMS record that includes both the Master and the task order in the same record.

Clinical Industry Agreements

Industry clinical trials are research studies in which one or more human subjects are prospectively assigned to one or more interventions (placebo and/or control) to evaluate the effects of those interventions on health‐related biomedical and behavioral outcomes and are funded by private, for-profit entities.

All industry clinical trials should be submitted in ALICE and/or CRMS.

ALICE

Login to ALICE and select Submit New Non-CTA for Review, go to the Industry/Contracting Party section, which is the company with whom we are working on this agreement. If the industry/contracting party name you are looking for is not listed, you can click on Sponsor Not Listed and manually add the new industry/contracting party.

Under the Personnel section enter the following in the order provided:

  • Enter the name of the UNC PD/PI
  • Enter the external contact for the industry/contracting party. This is the person IC will contact with edits or corrections to the agreement. We must have an email address at minimum.
  • Enter the name of the department administrator. This is the person other than the PI that IC might contact with questions. This is not required, but it is helpful information for IC to have.

In Submission Notes provide any additional details or information you think may assist us in while processing and negotiating your agreement.

Central Office Review

To expedite the review process of proposals that include Intellectual PropertyIntellectual Property means a work or invention that is the result of creativity, such as a manuscript or design, to which one has rights and for which one may apply for a patent, copyright, or trademark. issues, an advance copy of the agreement should be sent to OSP who will forward it to the appropriate office (i.e., University Counsel, Office of Technology Commercialization) for review and identification of issues requiring negotiation with the sponsor. Upon completion of the negotiations and legal review, OSP will provide copies of the agreement to the Development Office when appropriate and fulfill its reporting requirements to UNC General Administration.

Proposals are to be submitted with all required documentation. Please refer to the appropriate office’s guidelines:

  • If a proposal budget is revised after it has been submitted to the sponsor and the proposal is still pending final action by the sponsor, please alert the SPS to determine the course of action.
  • If the department receives an agreement from the sponsor in response to a submitted proposal, the agreement should be forwarded to SponsoredPrograms@unc.edu for further processing.

If changes have occurred since the proposal was submitted to the sponsor, please include updated documentation for OSP.

Should there be any question regarding the routing of a proposal or contract for signature, contact the SPS for your department.

Shared Responsibility for Proposal Review

Responsibility for Proposal Review is distributed across three Central Offices. The Sponsored Programs Office (SPO) provides School of Medicine proposal review for most NIH grants and select other agencies. The Office of Clinical Trials (OCT) serves as the central office for non-Federal clinical trials proposals. The Office of Sponsored Programs administers the pre-award administration not provided by other offices and all post-award administration. See OSP Roles and Responsibility Matrix.

See OSP Operating Standard 300.01

Deadlines & Submission

Internal University Deadlines

The applicable Central Office must receive finalized proposals for review five business days before the sponsor’s due date. All routing and lower level approvals must be completed before the 5-day deadline.

It is imperative that submissions are received in advance to ensure that the University has sufficient time to review all proposals.

Principal Investigators (PD/PI) and Departmental Administrators are responsible for incorporating the Internal University Deadline into their submission process. Submissions that are received after the 5-day deadline are documented in RAMSeS.

See OSP Operating Standard 300.03

Sponsor Deadlines

Each program announcement and sponsor utilize specific due dates for proposals. This deadline is in addition to any Internal University Deadlines.

Deadlines are included in the individual funding announcement. Please consult with your SPS if there are questions on the exact submission deadline.

Select Sponsor Application Schedules

See OSP Operating Standard 300.03

Sponsor Reviews

Sponsors employ unique methods of selecting projects for funding. The criteria that are used are generally provided either in the proposal announcement or other sponsor guidelines. It is very important to incorporate the merit review criteria into forming a proposal to ensure that all requirements are met.

Select Agency Review Criteria

NIH Review and Award Cycle

Click the image to access more information on NIH’s deadlines.

Post-Submission Requests

General Sponsor Requests

Occasionally, sponsors will request revisions or addendums to be submitted with proposals when reviewing them for possible funding. This can come in the form of more budgetary detail or regulatory compliance information (i.e., Research Subjects ProtocolsThe detailed account of procedures and interaction being completed by a researcher in connection with animal or human subjects. The protocol must be assessed by the appropriate institutional committee.). All formal communications with sponsors must be submitted through the appropriate Central Office for the proposal.

Types of Post Submission Materials

  • Current & Pending or Other SupportThe disclosure of all financial sources-whether Federal, non-Federal, commercial-available in direct support of an individual’s research endeavors, including but not limited to research grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, and institutional awards. Funding for training awards, prizes, and gifts are not required to be included.
  • Research Subjects approvals
  • Certification of Human Subjects Education (CITI)
  • Revised Budget and Budget Justification
  • Biographical Sketch Information
  • University Signing Official approval

Pre-Award Spending

Departmental Administrators can request an advanced ConnectCarolina Project ID if there is a delay in receiving funding. Pre-Award SpendingAny cost incurred prior to the beginning date of the project period or the initial budget period of a competitive segment (under a multi-year award), in anticipation of the award and at the applicant’s own risk, for otherwise allowable costs. is requested in the RAMSeS IPF through a Financial Guarantee. This allows the University to leverage funds in advance of the award. The administering department is responsible for all expenses if project funding is not secured.

Pre-Award Spending may require sponsor prior approval; please speak with your department’s SPS. The usual period for Pre-Award Spending is 90 days before the funding date. Additional time may be requested in select circumstances such as prolonged agreement negotiations.

See OSP Operating Standard 400.06