Proposal & Grant Support

While each grant submission is different, below are general guidelines used for commonly requested actions that span all agencies. Please contact Joe Stafura JZS48@pitt.edu in Fiscal Services regarding all submissions.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

All Faculty, Research Associates and Postdoctoral Associates must complete the annual COI form through MyDisclosures. In order to access MyDisclosures, please contact Kyle Davison, Director of Administration, for assistance. The MyDisclosures COI form must be completed annually by April 15th.

In addition to the MyDisclosure Conflict of Interest form, all faculty and staff researchers with the role of PI, Co-PI, Co-Investigator and/or considered key personnel must complete the following training modules:

  • COI Training Module
  • Responsible Conduct of Research Module
  • CITI Human Subjects Module (if applicable)
  • CITI Animal Subject Modules (if applicable)

Agency Registration/Affiliation

In order to submit (or to set up electronically) a grant you typically must register with the agency and affiliate yourself with the University. While not all agencies have this requirement, below are links to the University's registration sites for the most commonly submitted-to agencies that do have this requirement:

Web site is now: www.osp.pitt.edu for both NSF and NIH

NSF for registration with Research.gov/Fastlane

NIH for registration with eRA Commons

Proposal Submission

ALL PROPOSALS must be coordinated and submitted through the LRDC Grants Manager. Please work with Joe Stafura JZS48@pitt.edu in Fiscal Services for all grants and contract submissions and inform him as early as possible regarding new submissions. He will help you build your budget, review sponsor guidelines, and give you general advice and assistance with your particular submission. In addition, he will coordinate the final submission through the PERIS system and the Office of Sponsored Programs.

Deadlines:

Internal
All proposals must be submitted to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) through the PERIS system for review, 5 business days prior to the agency deadline. Please note that late proposals will not receive adequate review by the Office of Sponsored Research that could lead to errors with electronic submissions. If we do not have sufficient time to correct the errors, the proposal may not reach the agency by the deadline.

External
NIH Deadlines: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/dates.htm
NSF Deadlines: (varies per program) http://www.nsf.gov/

Submission of Subcontracts (External Institutions)

Should you wish to include a subcontract on your grant submission, the following documentation must be received from the subawardee institution prior to the submission being sent through our Office of Sponsored Programs:

  • A detailed budget outlining their costs
  • A budget justification
  • A statement of work
  • A commitment letter (Letter of Intent) outlining the fact that their institution agrees to enter into the subcontract on your grant, should it be awarded, at the budget that is outlined. This should be signed by their institutional authorized representative with the authority to sign contracts and agreements.

Submission of Subawards (Internal Departments within Pitt/UMPC)

Should you wish to include an internal subaward for collaborators within Pitt and/or UPMC, the following documentation is required from the non-LRDC department:

  • A detailed budget outlining their costs
  • A budget justification
  • Abstract

Consultants (Pre-award)

Should you wish to include a specific consultant on the grant submission, the following documentation must be received from the consultant prior to the submission being sent through the Office of Research:

  • A detailed budget outlining their costs (rate of pay)
  • A statement of work
  • A letter outlining the fact that they agree to work on your grant, should it be awarded, at the budget that is outlined. This should be signed only by them. We are essentially contracting them to perform a specialized job and will eventually cut them a check for services rendered. There are no taxes taken from the check and they will receive an IRS Form 1099 at the end of the year in order for them to include this income on their taxes.

* If you are requesting a consultant, but do not know who it will be, the consultant may be listed on the budget as TBD and the above does not apply.

Consultants

* If a proposal is currently funded, a contracted services agreement will need to be established in order for the consultant to receive payment. Please contact Joe Stafura in fiscal services at JZS48@pitt.edu and he will advise you on the next steps and will send the forms that need to be completed.

* Please note that if you wish to use a previous Pitt employee as a consultant, they must be a non-Pitt employee for at least one year before they are eligible to be paid. If they have not been a non-Pitt employee for one year, they must be hired through the AllTemps agency within Pitt. If hiring through AllTemps, you will be responsible for paying an additional 19.6% of their salary for service fees and fringe benefit charges, which will cover liability insurance, workers' compensation and employer contribution to Social Security.

No-Cost Extensions

In order to request a no-cost extension of a current project, please provide the following documentation and send to Joe Stafura JZS48@pitt.edu in Fiscal Services.

  • Length of the extension
  • Detailed reason for the extension (explain why work was not completed)
  • What work will be done during the extension
  • How remaining funds (if any) will be expended

Participant Payments

All study participant payments will be issued through the Vincent system. Participants will receive a plastic debit card that is loaded with the amount of money received for payment as a study participant. The card is issued with a PIN that is required in order to use the card.

In order to compensate subjects, a designee must have taken the Vincent training course. Please email Joe Stafura for the Vincent access registration forms and he will coordinate the registration process for you. In order to set up or modify a project and/or study, please complete the Vincent Group Study Request Form and submit it to Joe Stafura in Fiscal Services. Note, undergraduate students are not permitted to use the Vincent system. All users must have a valid Pitt ID as well.

Proposal Preparation and Maintenance

Information for Proposal Preparation: www.osp.pitt.edu
NSF Fastlane: https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/fastlane.jsp
NIH eRA Commons: https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/
Grants.Gov: http://www.grants.gov/
U.S. Department of Education: www.G5.gov

Federal Sponsors

National Science Foundation: http://www.nsf.gov/
National Institutes of Health: http://www.nih.gov/