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• Answers to common questions can be found here: Kuali Research FAQs
  The Help Icon in Kuali brings you to the Kuali Knowledge Base
• Kuali Knowledge Base Field Definitions by Tab

BASICS SECTION

See Kuali Knowledge Base Proposal Details

• TIP: Use Wildcard asterisk (*before and after*) to assist with searching for sponsors, people, etc. in Kuali.
• Proposal Details: If UMass is a subrecipient, indicate entity submitting proposal in the Sponsor section. You will then add the Prime Sponsor to the Prime Sponsor Code field. Ex. UMass is a proposed subrecipient to Harvard (Sponsor) on a NSF (Prime Sponsor) proposal. Keywords are being used to identify special designations for reporting purposes. (I.e. PRTs, COVID Special Funding, etc.)
• Proposal Delivery Information: Insert relevant URL, User Name, & Password for non-S2S proposals with independent submission portals in the Submission description field. Other important submission information that you would like the OPAS-Reviewers to be aware of can be added here as well.
• Proposal Sponsor & Program Information: UMass requires that all proposals be tagged with an NSF Science Code even if the proposal is not to NSF. This will assist with campus-wide reporting.
• Proposal Organization & Location: Only add subrecipient organizations to the Other Organizations tab.

KEY PERSONNEL

NOTE: For S2S proposals ONLY, you must add all subrecipient PI’s and Co-I’s to the Key Personnel Screen as a Non- Employee. If their name is not already in the system, you must add them to the system via the Add New Address Book button. Do not add non-employees as Co-PIs or PIs, instead add them as Key Person and add an appropriate role.

• Proposal Personnel
  • Proposal Role: (PI/Contact, Co-Investigator, Multi-PI, or Key Person). All roles EXCEPT Key Person will be automatically added to the RTF and Intellectual Credit Distributions. If this is an NIH Multi-PI proposal with the sub as a Multi-PI, add them in as a Key-Person first, then go back and change their designation to Multi-PI and add 000001 UMass Amherst to their Unit Details (see below). 
  • eRA Commons User Name: For all S2S Proposals add the PI’s eRA/NIH Commons User ID.
• Organization: Go to the bottom of the screen and add in the faculty Percent of Effort for the effort calculated in the First Year of the budget (Calendar, Academic, & Summer). If the percent effort is zero, leave the field blank. This data will assist with annual Effort Certification. The Total Effort field will ALWAYS be left blank.
• Extended Detail: This tab is not normally used for UMass Amherst Employees. However, for S2S proposals, you will need to add the subrecipient Co-Investigator’s Directory Department (aka their School/Department).
• Degrees: This tab is NOT currently being used by UMass Amherst.
• Unit Details: This is where you can add Centers & Institutes for routing, RTF distribution, and future reporting.
• Click the blue Lookup/Add Multiple Lines link and do a Wildcard asterisk (*before and after*) for the Center/Institute that you would like to add in the Unit Name field. Keep in mind, that often names are truncated or abbreviated in the system, therefore, do not get discouraged if you do not locate the center on your initial search. Note: UMass cannot retroactively assign proposal to Centers and Institutes after the proposal is submitted to the sponsor. 
• Person Training Details: This tab is NOT currently being used for Proposal Development.
• Proposal Person Certification – PI’s and Co-PI’s have to complete the certification questions themselves either before or during the proposal routing process.

CREDIT ALLOCATION

• Proposal Credit Allocation: This section is where you indicate both the RTF and Intellectual Credit distribution.
• RTF Distribution:- The aggregate Investigator(s) Total should equal 10% and the aggregate Unit Totals should equal 16%. Do not exceed the cumulative 26% even if a division of the RTF exceeds that amount and draws down a portion of the RTF (74%) that accrues to the central administrative indirect return. Load MOUs as needed for specially negotiated indirect cost rate returns to the Internal Attachments section of the Kuali record. Also, please make sure that any center or institute approved RTF return from the 26% is distributed accordingly.
• Intellectual credit: This should aggregate to 100% in the Faculty Name lines.
  • IMPORTANT: Regardless of how many PIs you have on the file or how the Intellectual Credit is split up, each PI/Co-PI must have 100 listed in their department line. (If a PI reports to more than one department, all of the departments associated with that PI must add up to 100.)
  • Note: We do not use the college line for Intellectual Credit because the reporting structure automatically rolls up departments into colleges as appropriate.

COMPLIANCE

• Proposal Compliance: Choices to add in the Compliance Section are: Human Subjects, Animal Usage, Institutional Biosafety Committee, Conflict of Interest, Clinical Trial, Dual Use Biologics, Custom Antibodies, Biological Substances, or Select Agents.
• Adding entries here are IN ADDITION TO the items on the Questionnaire.
• S2S Supported Forms: Adding entries here maps to GRANTS.GOV required field and forms.
• In most cases, it is typical to select Pending in the Approval Status.
• Leave this screen blank if none apply to your proposal.
• The NIH PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form is uploaded under the “Human Subjects” compliance entry in the “Human Study Attachment” field.

Continuation

Noncompeting continuation proposals request the next year’s funding within a multi-year grant. A continuation application does not represent new or supplemental funds requested from the sponsor. Continued support is usually dependent on satisfactory work progress and the availability of funds. Generally, these consist of a progress report, budget as applicable, and other relevant materials such as research results, reprints, vitae for new personnel, etc. They sometimes include a financial status report showing the unobligated balance for the current year. These include NIH progress reports, also known as Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPR). Noncompeting continuation proposals are routed through Kuali and submitted to the sponsor by the Office of Pre-Award Services (OPAS). Basics > Proposal Details > Award ID field must be populated with the existing Kuali Award ID number (use the root number ending with "-00001").

Internal (No Submission)

Internal proposals are routed through Kuali and processed internally by OPAS, but they are not submitted externally because the proposal was submitted to the sponsor prior to an OPAS review. Do not use either P&A or Continuation for this type of action.

When the UMass Proposal Submission process is by-passed, award set-up is often delayed. The proposal will still need to follow the same internal review process, which requires routing the proposal in Kuali for internal approvals. OPAS will review the proposal and submit any additional documents required by the sponsor prior to award. This step is required prior to an award being accepted by the university. If anything is out of compliance with university policies, the university may not be able to accept the award. If the budget is inadequate in terms of required costs, the PI may need to cover required costs from other funds. 

Tips: Load the following to the Attachments > Internal section of the Kuali proposal record:

• Final proposal submitted to the sponsor.
• Sponsor guidelines.
• Other relevant documentation including an explanation describing why the proposal was not originally submitted through OPAS.
• If the sponsor has already made the award, load the award document and any other relevant sponsor correspondence. This applies for newly awarded and for additional funds issued to an existing account.

Once OPAS completes processing of an internal proposal, the award will either be processed by OPAM, or UMII (if funded solely by industry).  If additional funding on this project will be funded in the future under the same account, do not use “Continuation.” Continue to use “Internal (No Submission).” Be sure to populate the Award ID field (see Basics > Proposal Details > Award ID) with the existing Kuali Award ID number (use the root number ending in "-00001".

Letter of Intent

A Letter of Intent (LOI) is usually a brief one to three page proposal statement describing the proposed project to the sponsor. In some cases, an LOI may more closely resemble a pre-proposal and may include a budget or other commitments. OPAS would need to review and submit these types of LOIs. See also: Pre-proposals and Letters of Intent

It is not necessary to route an LOI for institutional approval if it:

• Includes a total cost estimate without a detailed budget
• Is not expected to result directly in an award without a full detailed proposal or pre-proposal
• Does not require an authorized signature

Some sponsors such as NSF require the submission of an LOI by an authorized official (OPAS) despite not including a budget. OPAS can submit these types of LOIs without the need for a Kuali record.

New

A proposal that requests new funding that does not qualify as any of the other proposal types (renewal, continuation, supplement, etc.).

P&A (Unrestricted Award)

P&A stands for “Proposal and Award” and generally consists of unrestricted grants where a sponsor provides an award letter and a check (or evidence of wire transfer), bench fees, or fellowship institutional allowance awards where there is no proposal.

Use the Kuali Build form "Unrestricted Grant Processing Request" to process unrestricted grants that meet specific requirements (see form for details). Otherwise, route a Kuali P&A record. P&A’s do not generally get processed by OPAS. Instead, they are directly assigned to the award administrator for that sponsor, either in OPAM or in UMII (if solely funded by industry).

Load the following to the Attachments > Internal section of the Kuali proposal record as applicable:

• Award documentation and award check – redact the routing and account numbers from the copy
• Indirect cost rate should be 10% or at sponsor-mandated rate
• Be sure the proper F&A rate type is selected in Budget Settings even if a Summary Budget – select Unrestricted Grant or sponsor rate

Pre Proposal

A pre-proposal (sometimes called a white paper, letter proposal, preliminary proposal, pre-application, or concept paper) is a short description of the proposed project. Usually, the purpose of a pre-proposal is to inform and interest the potential sponsor in the project, resulting in a request for a more detailed formal/full proposal.

A pre-proposal must be routed to OPAS through Kuali and will be subject to the university proposal requirements and procedures when they include any of the following:

• A commitment of university resources (including, but not limited to: PI time/effort, staff time, space, facilities use, project completion, students, and/ or post-doc participation/time, etc.)
• A detailed budget
• A detailed cost sharing commitment or any commitment by a party outside the university
• Any exception to the standard university F&A Cost rates
• Certifications, representations, or assurances signed by an institutional representative
• A requirement for an authorized signature or submission in a portal by an institutional official
• Acceptance of terms and conditions

It is not necessary to route a pre-proposal for institutional approval if it:

• Includes a total cost estimate without a detailed budget; and
• Is not expected to result directly in an award without a full detailed proposal; and
• The university is not bound in any way by the content of the pre-proposal

See also: Pre-proposals and Letters of Intent. Please contact the R&E Help Desk if you have any questions about whether or not to route a pre-proposal.

Renewal

A competing renewal proposal (also called a competing continuation) is a request for continued funding of a project for which the funding or project period is about to terminate. Such proposals are similar to "new" proposals and must be routed and approved in the same manner as new proposals.

Tips:

• Only use this proposal type when the sponsor requires it, e.g. for the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Energy when submitting an application for a new round of funding for an existing project; otherwise use the proposal type “New”.
• Typically the Renewal retains the same sponsor grant number as the existing award, but will receive a new UMass account number and does not need to be linked to the current award. Therefore, you will not need to populate the Award ID field in the Basics > Proposal Details screen of the proposal record in Kuali.
• Not to be confused with “Continuation”.

Resubmission

Use this proposal type only with National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposals or as required by other Grants.gov based submissions as applicable – see sponsor guidelines.

Revised Budget

When a sponsor wants to fund a proposed project at an amount different from that originally proposed, the sponsor asks the investigator to submit a "revised" budget supporting the amount to be funded. Be sure to complete the Original Institutional Proposal ID field in Basics > Proposal Details so that the Revised Budget will be linked to the originally submitted proposal.

If the revision amounts to 25% or greater from the original proposal, a revised budget must be routed through the university proposal routing process to document the signatories’ approval of the budget revisions. See Revised Budget Questionnaire in the Kuali proposal record.

If the sponsor reduces the budget, the investigator must determine whether the originally proposed scope and objectives of the project can be met under the revised budget. If not, the investigator and sponsor must redefine the scope and objectives in writing and this revised scope of work will be submitted to the sponsor along with other items requested by the sponsor. Note: if a budget modification is being made to an award, this does not get routed in Kuali. Contact the Office of Post-Award Management (OPAM) for instructions.

Suggestions:

• Save as an Excel Workbook when multiple award records appear in order to hone in on the correct version. Delete columns as needed and add a filter to help with the sort and search process.
• Identify the correct award - Always select the so-called “Parent” or root award – the suffix is always “-00001”
• Note: To confirm linkage with the correct legacy award record:
  • In Kuali, select Medusa in the “-00001” record.
  • In the list that appears, select any award record except for the “-00001” Parent (the legacy data does not reside in the “Parent” record).
  • Select Open Award.

STEP 6 - Centers and Institutes will be added to the Credit Allocation page. Assign the appropriate amount of RTF, if required.

NOTE: RTF credit allocation is an optional entry. For example no RTF allocations are needed for IALS related centers (Models to Medicine, Center for Bioactive Deliver and Center for Personalized Health Monitoring). RTF allocations for IALS will be taken care of at the time of setting up an award.

IMPORTANT: Regardless of how many PIs you have on the file or how the Intellectual Merit is split up, make sure that each PI has 100 listed next to their department line.

STEP 7- This step is ONLY for Center and Institutes that require to be added to the proposal for routing and approvals.

Ensure that all relevant personnel are in the routing log. For all IALS (Models to Medicine, Center for Bioactive Delivery and Center for Personalized Health Monitoring) related questions, please reach out to @email.

Overview: Kuali can transmit files directly to Grants.gov as a System-to-System (S2S) submission. However, there are some key steps to take to be sure that files transmit correctly and without generating errors. Tips on attaching files for other submissions are presented as well. See also Kuali Zendesk Proposal Attachments.

Attaching Files in Kuali – S2S Submissions

• Navigate to the Attachments section.
• Load all PDF attachments (NOT fillable PDF forms) to the Proposal and Personnel tabs (and occasionally the Abstract tab) when submitting S2S/Grants.gov based proposals (best practice is not to use the Proposal or Personnel tabs for non-Grants.gov proposals).
• A couple of exceptions—the Human Study Record attachment and the R&R Subaward Budget attachments—will be explained below.
• To avoid Grants.gov errors, print files to PDF before uploading to be sure that they are "flat," keep file names less than 50 characters, and avoid using spaces or special characters in the file name.
• Go to the Proposal tab to upload non-personnel related documents.
• Select the +Add button or Drag and Drop to upload multiple attachments. Let go of the mouse (drop) when +copy appears – do not drop when → move shows. Hover over the blue tab Upload and Add.
• Make sure to select an Attachment Type to associate with your file. It is critical to select the correct Attachment Type. The Attachment types are very specific and map to the appropriate section of the sponsor proposal. If the document gets linked to the wrong attachment type, it will not be positioned in the correct location within the final synthesized proposal. This could create grounds for a proposal to be rejected by the sponsor.
• Select Status and choose either Final or Draft. Shortcut: Instead of picking from the Status drop down for each document, click the Select option at the right of the screen, select Final for example, and then select Set All Statuses. Then go back and reselect the Status options for the individual documents that should for example be in Draft form. The Science/Technical documents can be routed in draft form, with the final documents to be loaded and updated and status set to Final within 48 hours of the proposal deadline.
• Some sponsors include a requirement to use a form called an Attachments Form. Documents that must map to this form are still loaded through the Proposal tab. Select the Attachment Type of Other and be sure to type a unique filename in the Description field. The text entered in the Description field will map as the filename into the Grants.gov proposal.  Be sure to observe sponsor driven filename conventions. Any additional text in the Description field will be counted as part of the filename. More details.
• Once done loading to the Proposal folder, select the Personnel tab to upload Biosketches and other personnel documents required by the sponsor. Remember, only load mandatory attachment types.

Save the completed Study Record, and upload it to the Human Subjects Pending entry you created in the Compliance tab. You do not need to upload the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form from which the Study Record is extracted – that form will be generated automatically by Kuali based on your answers to the Questionnaire and entry in the Compliance tab.

Subaward Budgets in System-to-System Proposals

When developing a proposal with subawards, Kuali makes it easy to include the subaward budget by simply uploading the subrecipient’s completed RR Budget. Just open the Kuali budget, and click Subawards on the left side of the screen. On the Subawards screen, you will see an Add Subaward button on the right, click it. Be sure to also add the subrecipient organization in the Other Organizations tab and check Yes, this proposal includes subawards on the Sponsor & Program Information screen (see the Subaward guide for additional information).