FAQs, Manuals, and Tip Sheets

A Proposal Development (PD) document must be routed with the following documents:

• Sponsor guidelines, RFP, proposal announcement, etc.
• Project budget (include sponsor’s budget form, if required)
• Budget justification
• Narrative (This does not need to be final.  A draft statement of work, or draft narrative of specific aims is sufficient.)
• Forms which require an OSPA signature (transmittal letter, cover page, representations and certifications, etc.)
• For each subrecipient you will need to route a budget, budget justification, statement of work, and a letter from the subrecipient’s authorized official agreeing to participate in the project.

OSPA’s review is limited to the budget, budget justification, and any forms that require an institutional or OSPA signature.  The PI is responsible for reviewing the entire proposal.

Usually, OSPA staff will sign the final proposal.  Most hard copy proposals also require the PI’s signature.  Some electronic systems, however, will permit the PI to submit the final version of the proposal, which the PI should not submit without an OSPA authorization.  Contact your Pre-Award Administrator to determine who will need to be the final signer and submitter of the proposal.

Your departmental or center grant coordinator can usually assist you with developing your budget.

The Pre-Award Team in OSPA can assist you with interpreting proposal guidelines.

OSPA can assist with preparation of forms such as the cover sheet, representations and certifications, and certain other required forms. OSPA requests that PIs provide all needed forms and materials to the Pre-Award Team at least four days prior to the submission deadline.

OSPA does not need to see your complete proposal before approving the Proposal Development (PD) document.  If the PI is submitting the proposal to the sponsor, OSPA asks that a copy of the final submission be forwarded to your Pre-Award Administrator for our files.

Proposals that include any of the following must be processed by OSPA:

• Authorized university signature required
• Commitment of university resources
• Proposed deliverables (technical report, financial report, etc.)
• Itemized budget
• Subrecipients
• Human subjects, animal subjects, radiation, or biohazards

Contact the OSPA Pre-Award Team at ospa-proposals@iastate.edu if you have questions about whether your proposal should be submitted through OSPA.

ISU’s legal business name is Iowa State University of Science and Technology.

The University’s Tax Identification Number or TIN (also known as an EIN) is 42-6004224.

ISU’s DUNS # is 005309844.

ISU’s SAM UEI # is DQDBM7FGJPC5

Other frequently requested institutional information is available at: http://www.ospa.iastate.edu/proposal/institutional.html.

PIs should include salary and fringe benefits in their proposal for the effort they will apply to the project.  The salary can be paid by the sponsor or can be donated by the university (cost sharing).  PIs typically must obtain chair and dean approval for cost sharing of salary.

Fringe benefits are the costs of retirement plans, medical insurance and other employee benefit costs.  Employer costs for social security and workers compensation are also included in fringe benefits.

ISU normally uses a fringe benefit rate when developing proposal budgets that include salaries and/or wages.  See www.ospa.iastate.edu/proposal/preparation/benefits for more information.

ISU uses the fringe benefit rate when developing budgets but charges actual costs to project accounts.  The actual cost for fringe benefits depends on the employee’s salary and job classification, and the types of benefits selected by the employee.

Yes, you should include fringe benefits corresponding to the salary requested in your budget regardless of whether the salary is for summer, academic, or calendar months.

The term “Facilities and Administrative costs” (F&A costs) is used interchangeably with “indirect costs”, “IDC” or “overhead”.  These terms are defined in OMB Regulations as “…those expenses which cannot be specifically identified as solely benefiting one particular project, but instead are incurred in support of common or joint expenses which are derived from the administration and maintenance of the sponsored activities.”  In universities, F&A costs are incurred for general university operational support and management of the mission-related research/teaching/outreach enterprise.  Examples of F&A costs are library costs, utility costs, facilities operations and maintenance costs, sponsored programs administration costs, and departmental and university administration costs.

ISU negotiates a Facilities and Administrative rate agreement every three to five years.  This agreement provides the rate to be charged depending on the type of sponsored project.  ISU’s current F&A rate agreement can be found at: https://www.ospa.iastate.edu/proposal/institutional/#Rate_Agreement.

Yes, generally F&A should be applied to all sponsored projects.  There are, however, a couple of exceptions to this rule.

If the sponsor has a written policy that restricts the F&A rate to a lower percentage than ISU’s negotiated F&A rate, please notify OSPA.  OSPA will review the sponsor’s policy and make a determination on the use of the sponsor’s rate.

If the project meets the university’s waiver criteria, the PI may forward a waiver/reduction request to the Vice President for Research after obtaining endorsement by the department and college.
See http://www.vpresearch.iastate.edu/facilities-administrative-costs/ for more information

Yes, the Vice President for Research may waive F&A pursuant to the F&A waiver policy – http://www.vpresearch.iastate.edu/facilities-administrative-costs/.

OSPA encourages PIs to work with their departmental or college grant coordinators to develop their budgets.

In most cases, OSPA will review your budget prior to submission to the sponsor to ensure compliance with sponsor and ISU requirements.

Cost sharing is the contribution of internal university or third party funds or resources to support a sponsored project.  Most sponsors do not require cost sharing.  If it is not required, you should not include cost sharing as part of your budget.

Costs that can be used to satisfy sponsors’ cost sharing requirements may include the following:

• Direct costs for the project that will not be charged to the sponsored project account.
• F&A costs related to not receiving the full F&A rate from the sponsor, or F&A costs related to direct costs identified above.
• Third party cash or in-kind contributions.

Typically, PIs will provide cost sharing by pledging effort for their time (personnel costs).  PIs must be cautious not to over-commit their effort.  Faculty members are not permitted to commit more than 100% of their time.  All cost shared effort committed to sponsored activity must fit into the 100% available.

Faculty on A-base and B-base appointments may cost share a portion of their effort if they are not 100% committed to teaching and other academic duties.  Other budget categories may also be available for cost share.  PIs should work with their grant coordinators to determine the best way to meet cost share requirements.  In addition, third parties can provide cost sharing which must be supported by commitment documentation from the third party.  The commitment documentation should be on the third party’s letterhead, signed by an authorized official, and indicate the amount of cost sharing that will be provided by the third party.  The PI can also request funds for cost sharing from the department, college, and VPR.  Typically cost sharing assistance will be provided by VPR only for large institutional proposals with mandatory cost share requirements.

Refer to the sponsor’s proposal guidelines for specific instructions.  Generally speaking, you should refer to subrecipients by name and describe their activities in your statement of work, and list them in your budget under Subrecipients.  You will need to obtain the following from each of your subrecipients: a budget, budget justification, statement of work, and a letter from the subrecipient’s authorized official indicating their willingness to participate in the project.

You will need a statement of work and budget to document the reasonableness of their proposed costs.  Depending on the sponsor and the nature of the award, you may need to obtain detailed costing information from the subrecipient.  This is particularly true in the case of subcontracts under prime contract agreements with Federal Acquisition Regulation clauses.

A contractor/vendor provides similar goods or services to many different purchasers.  A subrecipient, on the other hand, participates in the sponsored project activities and has responsibility for carrying out a portion of the proposed work.  A subrecipient is a participant and collaborator in the project, unlike a contractor/vendor.  PIs working with industry partners should also review Guidelines for Industry Partners.

No, all proposals to external sponsors and funding agencies must be reviewed and authorized by OSPA before they can be submitted to a sponsor.

A Proposal Development (PD) document must be routed with the following documents:

• Sponsor guidelines, RFP, proposal announcement, etc.
• Project budget (include sponsor’s budget form, if required)
• Budget justification
• Narrative (This does not need to be final.  A draft statement of work, or draft narrative of specific aims is sufficient.)
• Forms which require an OSPA signature (transmittal letter, cover page, representations and certifications, etc.)
• For each subrecipient you will need to route a budget, budget justification, statement of work, and a letter from the subrecipient’s authorized official agreeing to participate in the project.

OSPA’s review is limited to the budget, budget justification, and any forms that require an institutional or OSPA signature.  The PI is responsible for reviewing the entire proposal.

Usually, OSPA staff will sign the final proposal.  Most hard copy proposals also require the PI’s signature.  Some electronic systems, however, will permit the PI to submit the final version of the proposal, which the PI should not submit without an OSPA authorization.  Contact your Pre-Award Administrator to determine who will need to be the final signer and submitter of the proposal.

It depends on the sponsor.  Different sponsors use different electronic systems.  Most systems require data and files related to the proposal to be uploaded into the sponsor’s system, either through use of a sponsor-created software package, or an on-line system. Your OSPA Pre-Award Administrator will assist you with the submission.

Your chair and dean are required to sign off on the proposal so that they are aware of and approve the research and sponsored activity taking place in the department and college.  Their signatures are obtained via the Proposal Development (PD) document routing process.  Additionally, the chair and the dean are permitted to commit university resources to the proposal if required.  Their signatures authorizing such commitments are necessary for record documentation purposes.

Most department chairs and deans delegate signature authority when they are out of the office.  If a designee is not available, discuss the situation with your OSPA Pre-Award Administrator.

Initiate and route a Proposal Development (PD) document and attach a copy of the proposal, budget, budget justification and award.  OSPA will review the submission for compliance with university rules.  If the proposal is not compliant, OSPA will contact the sponsor to make any necessary revisions to the proposal in coordination with the PI.

The staff in the Office for Responsible Research can provide that determination.  Their website is http://www.compliance.iastate.edu/

Contact ISU’s Conflict of Interest Administrator at coi@iastate.edu and ask for assistance.  The University’s Conflict of Interest and Commitment Policy can be viewed at: http://policy.iastate.edu/policy/conflict/. The Office of Responsible Research has additional information on their website at: http://www.compliance.iastate.edu.

“Export control” is a term that describes the application of the export control regulations.

Knowledge of export regulations is important if you:

• Send data, technology, intellectual property or tangible items (like equipment) out of the country;
• Employ non-U.S. citizens in your laboratory and you perform applied research in sensitive area or you work with a third party’s data, technology, intellectual property, or equipment, especially if the third party is a corporation;
• Work with embargoed countries such as Afghanistan, Angola, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Rwanda, Sudan, Syria, or the Western Balkans (Serbia and Montenegro).

The university’s export control website is https://compliance.iastate.edu/ethical-research-conduct/export-controls/

If, as a part of a sponsored project, you intend to transmit or ship anything outside the U.S. or if you anticipate performing non-fundamental research with non-U.S. citizens, please let your OSPA contacts know. OSPA will notify the Office of Responsible Research, which will review the export related aspects of your project for compliance with federal law and regulation.