Grant Proposal & Development

Faculty engaged in the development of new knowledge make important contributions to our community. Robert Morris University is committed to the full support of faculty engaged in research, scholarly and creative activity. Please click here for Guidelines for Faculty Grant Proposals & Contracts.

The Research & Grants Administration and Financial Operations both provide support to faculty engaged in research, scholarly and creative activity including assistance in seeking internal and external funding. Such support includes information, assistance with proposal development, and other help that may be needed by the faculty.

The Research & Grants Administration has administrative responsibility for relationships between sponsoring/ funding agencies and Robert Morris University. The Research & Grants Administration promotes the educational objectives of Robert Morris University by encouraging, facilitating and fostering research in the School of Business, School of Communications and Information Systems, School of Education and Social Sciences, School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science, School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Library and all other University programs. The Research & Grants Administration and Financial Operations provide the following services:

Pre-Award Services: Pre-Award services include:

  • Forwarding of announcements about Requests for Proposals (RFP)
  • Guidance for proposal preparation in accordance with RFP guidelines
  • Guidance for budget assistance
  • Guidance for proposal submission to sponsoring/funding agencies
  • Communication and negotiation with sponsoring/funding agencies when appropriate
  • Maintaining a faculty expertise database
  • Maintaining a website for faculty research and scholarly activities
  • Offering proposal development workshops

Post-Award Services: Post-Award Services include:

  • Service as the liaison between the sponsoring/ funding agency and individual principal investigator(s)
  • Project budget reports
  • Guidance for project related progress reports and final reports
  • Maintenance of a project database that includes project number, granting agency contact information, project milestones and deadlines
  • Other project related services as may be requested by sponsoring/funding agencies or faculty

Financial Operations: Financial Operations Services include:

  • Fiscal administration of projects
  • Establishment of accounts for financial transactions
  • Purchasing, personnel and payroll
  • Preparation of financial reports to sponsoring agencies
  • Compliance Verification

If you require any further assistance, please contact Sushil Acharya, Dr. Eng., Assistant Provost for Research & Graduate Studies, and Professor of Software Engineering at 412-397-4023.

Grant Proposal Development and Submission

The formal part of the University's internal process begins with submission of the draft proposal project budget and the research proposal process form to the Department Head and the Dean for review and approvals.[1] The documentation needed for this part of the process includes:

  • a copy of the request for proposal (including any guidelines that the proposal must follow, budget limitations, submission format and deadlines)
  • the draft proposal
  • a draft budget using the university budget preparation form
  • the grant proposal process form

Account descriptions are provided in Appendix B to guide with the budget preparation. Once approved by the Department Head and the Dean, all of the above documentation will be forwarded to the Research & Grants Administration for review. The Research & Grants Administration will forward the documentation to Financial Operations for review prior to final approvals. Financial Operations will review the proposed budget for:

  • Consistency of the proposed budget with the RFP
  • Reasonableness of assumptions
  • Correctness (the math works)
  • Consistency with the University’s internal policies (salaries and wages, fringe benefits, indirect cost rates)
  • Any University contributions (cash or in kind) have been approved by the appropriate people
  • Determination on whether we can we provide the financial information the granting agency wants, both in the application and in interim and financial reports

In order to provide adequate time for a quality review, and to facilitate comments and revisions, the proposal documentation needs to be submitted to the Research & Grants Administration at least three weeks before the submission deadline when the review will take place during the fall or spring semesters. In order to accommodate holiday and vacation work schedules, proposal documentation needs to be provided four weeks before the submission deadline when the review is take to place over holidays or the summer. Expedited review will be accommodated for grants under $5,000.

During the fall and spring semesters, Research & Grants Administration and Financial Operations will provide an initial review of the proposal and budget within a week of the initial submission. If the review occurs over the summer or during extended holidays, Research & Grants Administration and Financial Operations will provide an initial review within two weeks of the initial submission. Financial Operations will forward comments regarding the proposed budget to the principal investigator and to the Assistant Provost for Research & Graduate Studies.

The principal investigator will be responsible for making final changes to the proposal and the budget, for obtaining necessary final approvals from the Department Head, the Dean, the Assistant Provost for Research & Graduate Studies and the Financial Operations (evidenced by signatures on the Research Proposal Process Form) for submission at least one week before the deadline. Upon final approvals, the proposal will be submitted to the sponsoring/funding agency by an RMU designee.

In the case of award, Research & Grants Administration will forward copies of the award letter and any project related documents from the funding agency to the principal investigator(s), the Department Head, the Dean and Financial Operations. An initial project meeting will be arranged with the principal investigator, Assistant Provost for Research & Graduate Studies and the Financial Operations. During the initial project meeting, participants will establish a project schedule that meets the sponsoring/funding agency's conditions for progress reports, financial reports and audits.

[1] From time to time funding agencies require the submission of pre-proposals in order to screen projects for invitation to submit a full proposal. Pre-proposals shall be subject to all of the procedural and budget requirements set forth in these guidelines.

Grant Proposal Process

To print PDF version of the Submission Process Click Here.

The following describes the process for grant proposal development and submission:

  1. The prospective principal investigator (PI) informs the Department Head, the Dean and the Research & Grants Administration of plans. The Research & Grants Administration offers guidance for proposal preparation including the project budget and guidance for any required Institutional Review Board (IRB) process
  2. The PI prepares and submits the following documentation to the Department Head and the Dean for review and approvals:
    1. Grant Proposal Process Form
    2. Request for Proposal
    3. Grant Proposal
    4. Grant Proposal Budget
  3. The documentation is then forwarded to the Research & Grants Administration for review and approvals
  4. The Research & Grants Administration forwards documentation to Financial Operations for review of the proposed budget and to assess the University's ability to comply with funding agency requirements. At least three weeks is needed before the submission deadline for quality review and feedback. Expedited review will be accommodated for grants under $5,000.
  5. If the “Grant Proposal” is not exempt from “Human Subject Review”, the sponsoring/funding agency requires the proposed research to be approved by the “Institutional Review Board” prior to start of the project
  6. The documentation must be approved and signed by the following individuals in the following order:
    1. Department Head
    2. Dean
    3. Assistant Provost for Research & Graduate Studies
    4. Financial Operations
  7. The RMU designee submits the proposal to the funding agency on behalf of the University
  8. A copy of the final documentation will be provided to the PI, the Department Head and the Dean
  9. If the proposal is funded, the Research & Grants Administration will distribute a copy of the award notification letter to the principal investigator(s), the Department Heads, the Deans, and Financial Operations
  10. The Research & Grants Administration convenes the initial project meeting with the PI and Financial Operations
  11. Financial Operations creates accounts, tracks grant expenditures, indirect costs and salary release reimbursement allocations, and reports quarterly to PI on budget expenditures
  12. The PI prepares draft of progress reports and final reports and forwards them to the RMU designee for submission to the sponsoring/funding agency
  13. Financial Operations prepares financial reports and forwards them to the Vice Provost, the Department Head and the Dean
Grants Budget

Please click on the following link to download the RMU Grants Budget Template.

Proposal Checklist

Please consider the following prior to submitting a research proposal for submission to Dr. Sushil Acharya, Assistant Provost for Research & Graduate Studies:

  • Have you reviewed the sponsor’s most recent guidelines?
  • Are these terms and conditions that bind the university into an agreement at the proposal stage?
  • Will these terms and conditions result in a publication restriction?
  • Is the proposal a new, competitive renewal, progress report, resubmission, or revision (Supplement)?
  • Is the proposal being submitted electronically or hardcopy?
  • Have the PI and other key personnel been identified clearly?
  • Has current Conflict of Interest form been completed?
  • Have waivers for faculty/staff outside of the department submitting the proposal been obtained?
  • Has a level of effort according to sponsor guidelines been indicated for all key personnel? (Effort must be requested even if salary support is not requested.)
  • Are all budget costs allowable according to the sponsor’s guidelines?
  • Is cost sharing required? If so, has the proposal addressed this issue?
  • Are subcontractors included in the project?
  • Has a budget been included for each subcontract?
  • Has a signed Statement of Intent been completed for each subcontract?
  • Does the proposal require a signature from an authorized University official?

No grantee or proposal should be approached and/or submitted to a foundation without first checking with Institutional Advancement.