Limited submission programs are restricted by sponsors in terms of the number of proposals that may be submitted by a single institution.

Notification of intent to apply:

To apply to a limited submission program, first notify your Director or Dean that you intend to participate. Then contact the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) directly by email to UAF-OSP@alaska.edu.

Coordination within your Institute, College, or School:

In general, OSP will only accept a single pre-proposal from each unit (unless specifically notified for a particular proposal call). Directors and Deans and their designated staff are responsible for coordinating pre-proposals within their unit and deciding which pre-proposal will be submitted for university review. Applicants must work with unit personnel to ensure that internal pre-proposals are compliant with unit requirements as well as with institutional requirements. It is the PI’s responsibility to find out if their Institute, College, or School has set a review deadline.

The dean or director's office must send an e-mail of interest to the Office of Sponsored Programs on the last Thursday three months before the proposal is due to the agency. At this point, an internal competitive review process may be necessary to determine which applicants may apply to the solicitation if more than the allotted number of applicants are interested in applying. If an internal competitive review is necessary, faculty must be prepared to submit a limited submission solicitation pre-proposal by the second Thursday two months before the proposal is due to the agency. This allows the OSP time to contact reviewers, decide which proposal(s) may be submitted from the University to the funding competition, and notify PIs. 

Format for Limited Submission Solicitation Pre-Proposals

• Title page: Provide a title page with the name of the sponsor, the name of the program, and the title of the proposed project. Include the names, titles, departments, telephone numbers and email addresses of the UAF PI and co-PIs. If applicable, provide the same information for the PIs of partner organizations, along with their affiliations at the partner organizations. Provide the name, email address and telephone number of your Dean or Director and the date the internal pre-proposal is submitted for internal review.
• Project summary: Describe the proposed project. The summary may be up to three pages long, and should be in 12-point type (preferably Ariel or Helvetica) with minimum one-inch margins. Pay close attention to the program announcement documents being sure to clearly address the sponsor’s objectives and funding criteria. Depending upon the solicitation, the following should be included in the pre-proposal:
  • Research Projects: Carefully d escribe the scientific merit, design elements and research plan. Describe benefits of this research to the university and indicate potential for future funding should your proposal be successful.
  • Program or Center Development Proposals: For program development or center proposals you must include written support from your Dean or Director. Carefully outline how this new program or center will fit into the existing university structure and describe how this program can become self-sufficient. Note: Establishment of a Center requires Board of Regent approval. This is not required at the submission stage but will be necessary prior to accepting an award.
  • Instrumentation: Preference is given to proposals requesting instrumentation that benefits multiple faculty or multiple programs. Pre-proposal must include recent price quotes from the anticipated vendors. If applicable, you must identify the room or lab that will house the equipment and provide cost estimates for installation. Include assurances from appropriate university offices (e.g. EH&S or Physical Plant) that the laboratory/room can properly accommodate the proposed equipment.
  • Construction: Pre-proposals for construction grants must clearly indicate that the UAF Division of Design and Construction is involved in the programming, design, and budgeting of the proposed work.
• Curriculum vitae: Provide the UAF PI's and the UAF co-PIs' biosketch using the sponsor’s forms. If the sponsor does not have a standard form then use the two-page NSF biosketch form. Also provide biosketches of the PIs of external partners.
• Letters of support: Provide letters of support from any collaborators, partners, or planned sub-award recipients.

Submitting the internal pre-proposal for review:

Submit the internal pre-proposal by email attachment (PDF or Word format) to the Office of Sponsored Programs at UAF-OSP@alaska.edu. Pre-proposals must be received by 5:00 p.m. on or before the internal pre-proposal deadline. Late pre-proposals will be refused, as will incomplete or noncompliant pre-proposals. Multiple submissions from the same unit will be returned to the Dean or Director.

The standard review process:

In most cases, copies of the internal pre-proposals are submitted to internal reviewers, who then rank the pre-proposals according to the review criteria for a specific program. The reviewers will fax or email their evaluations to OSP, generally within five working days.

Special programs review process:

For certain large-scale programs attracting many internal applicants you or your designated co-PI will be invited to make a presentation about your project directly to the reviewers at a meeting. If a review meeting will be held for a certain program, that requirement will be included in the initial announcement to the Deans and Directors. For these programs, a deadline will be established for providing printed copies of your internal pre-proposals to the reviewers before the review meeting.

Notification of results:

Candidates will be contacted directly about review results. Candidates who have not heard any communication for seven or more days after submitting their internal pre-proposals should contact UAF-OSP@alaska.edu or call 474-5081. Once reported, the results are compiled and announced by email to the Research and OSP listserv, which includes all Deans, Directors, and fiscal staff of Institutes, Colleges, and Schools.