Sponsor Guidelines

Navigating the complex web of sponsor guidelines can be confusing. Many sponsors such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have several sets of guidelines that must be considered in addition to specific guidelines mentioned in a solicitation. Below are some tips to help make the proposal development process easier:

• Review the OPAS Sponsor-Specific Resources for specialized guidance on NIH, NSF, DOD, Commonwealth of MA, non-profits, and other sponsors.
• Begin planning early on. Check in with pre-award support staff in your department or college for help.
• R&E also provides Proposal Preparation Services if department or school/college support is unavailable. 
• Carefully review the most recent applicable guidelines. In addition to the solicitation, you will want to review the sponsor’s general instructions. For NIH, this is called the General Instructions for NIH and Other PHS Agencies. Please note that NIH has several sets of instructions based on the type of proposal. For example, R01 proposals follow the ‘Research’ instructions, while F32 fellowship proposals follow the ‘Fellowship’ instructions. For NSF, you should review the NSF Proposal & Award Policies and Procedures Guide.
• Compare the instructions in the solicitation to the general guidelines. The solicitation always takes precedence when the two diverge. If the solicitation is unclear on the content of a specific document, refer to the general guidelines.
• Be sure to click all links in the solicitation, to view additional instructions, templates, or guidelines. The sponsor's website may also contain valuable information including webinars and FAQs. Sometimes guidance is only accessible after logging in to the application portal so be sure to get access early.
• Pay special attention to attachment format. These directions often apply to all proposals submitted to that sponsor and contain information regarding acceptable font type, size, color, margin size, file naming conventions, citations, and other formatting rules. These instructions will also discuss whether things like images, videos, URLs, headers, pages numbers, etc. are required, allowed, or should be excluded.
• Double check that you have included all required documents. After reviewing the general guidelines and the solicitation, you should have a good sense of which documents you are required to include. Put together a checklist if the sponsor does not provide one to be sure you have everything covered.
• Try using Proposal Development Tools and view other proposal resources.
• Don't forget to load the relevant sponsor guidelines to the Kuali record before routing!
• If you are unclear about any requirements, please contact the OPAS staff person assigned to that sponsor, contact the R&E Help Desk, or email @email.