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  1. OSP Teams
  2. Federal Contract
  3. Prepare Proposals

Proposal Review Process

PI Eligibility

Because of the diversity in type and purpose of various award mechanisms, the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) strongly encourages close review of the eligibility requirements in the solicitation, as well as close collaboration with your dean’s office to ensure the Principal Investigator (PI) is an appropriate candidate for the award. The PI should also be able to meet the requirements of University Policy RI 08: Responsibilities of Sponsored Research Investigators.

Proposal Submission Responsibility

PI and Department Administrators

The PI bears the primary responsibility for the preparation of the detailed technical proposal / research plan and corresponding budget. Department research administrators should work closely with the PI to prepare the MyFunding Funding Proposal record (FP record) for submission and to obtain all of the necessary documents required for OSP proposal review. Unless the proposer’s authorized official is required to submit via a government system (for example, a system-to-system proposal), the PI is typically responsible for submitting the proposal to the sponsor after the FP record has been approved by OSP.

Department Reviewers

The chair or designee for each department is responsible for the review and endorsement of the FP record at the Department Review stage. The chair is also instrumental in making the PI eligibility determination.

School Reviewers

The dean or designee for each school is responsible for the review and endorsement of the FP record at the School Review stage. Please note that School Review may not apply to a FP record if the school does not have separate Department Reviewers and School Reviewers.

Office of Sponsored Programs

All proposals submitted by University personnel must be submitted to OSP for review via MyFunding prior to submission to the sponsor to ensure adherence to all external and internal policies and requirements. The Vice Chancellor for Sponsored Programs and Research Operations serves as the Authorized University Official responsible for endorsing research proposals. Proposals received by the Federal Contract Services team will be reviewed in accordance with our standard proposal review guidelines.

Each department has a dedicated Federal Contracts Officer or Analyst responsible for the review of every proposal that could result in federal contract or Other Transaction funding. You can identify your OSP federal contracts contact here.

If your proposal may result in federal contract or Other Transaction funding, please notify the FC Team by emailing a copy of the solicitation or request for proposal and the due date to fedcon@pitt.edu.