Proposal Submission Procedures

The Principal Investigator obtains Request for Proposal guidelines from the funding agency.

The Principal Investigator notifies the CIRES Proposal Team as soon as possible of intent to submit by logging into the Proposal Tool Application and adding a new proposal. (The same guidance applies to Step -1 proposals and LOIs as well)

The PI will be prompted to provide the following information on the Overview page:

1. Name of funding agency
2. Agency's announcement number and program
3. Submission due date
4. Proposal title
5. Project period of performance
6. Estimate of expenses (salary, travel, equipment, etc.) to be included in the project budget
7. Cost-sharing requirements, if any
8. Names and contact information for Co-Principal Investigators and collaborating institutions
9. Names and contact information for any subcontractors, PI and Admin contacts, budgeted amounts.

The Proposal Team leads, Ted and April, will assign a Proposal Analyst to the proposal, who will work with the Principal Investigator to prepare the proposal budget and gather additional information needed to submit the proposal. The Proposal Budget, Budget Justification, and signed PSR are to be completed no later than 5 business days prior to the submission deadline. This will allow the Proposal Team adequate time to review, make necessary changes, approve, and submit the proposal by the submission deadline.

When working on a proposal with another CU department, CIRES requires separate budgets. Each department will receive 100% of ICR on their own budget, except when tenure track faculty is involved, which requires the split for their home department. If CU/CIRES is not the lead on the proposal, the assigned CIRES Proposal Analyst will be responsible for submitting the final proposal documentation to the external entity. The Proposals team must review and approve all proposal documentation prior to submission in order to ensure compliance with the solicitation requirements. Certain administrative documents are also required to be included with all proposal submissions to external entities, therefore only a CU Authorized Organizational Representative is allowed to submit proposal documentation directly to the external entity on behalf of CU/CIRES.

All CIRES Prinicipal Investigators housed in DSRC will need a letter of support from their Division Director (or the person who has authority to commit resources) prior to the proposal submission. This letter should be addressed to CIRES Director Waleed Abdalati, and the text of the letter should contain some version of the following: in the event that the proposed research is funded, the NOAA/[Lab/Center name] will provide general office space, administrative support and technical support needed for CIRES staff associated with [Lab/Center name] to successfully complete the proposed activity.

1. All PI's and Co-PI's submitting proposals need to have certified their DEPA before it can be submitted by the University. Please click here for details on that process, DEPA.

Access the Proposal tool here: https://insidecires.colorado.edu/proposals/index.php
Access the how-to video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TraNmlQjqpk