Pre-Award Administration
The Engineering Pre-Award Team supports faculty with proposals, including budget development, and handles submissions to sponsors. The Pre-Award Team can also assist with just-in-time requests, incoming grant transfers, or proposal revisions.
How to Submit a Proposal
Effective September 1, 2026, the SEAS Pre-Award office will implement the Proposal Request Intake Form, which will replace the current proposal request submission process via email. Please note that the form link may take a moment to load after you click it.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we transition to this new process. Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions.
SEAS Proposal Deadline Policy
The final Administrative Components of a grant application are due to SEAS Pre-Award ([email protected]) no less than five business days prior to the sponsor’s deadline. The final Technical Components of the application are then due no less than one business day prior to the sponsor’s deadline. These components are described below.
Compliance with this policy assumes that all submitted Components are final and complete except for changes requested by Pre-Award staff.
To request an exception for submitting a late proposal, the PI shall send an email to the Director of Engineering Research Administration, Stephen Cornelison, copying the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs, Brian Smith, his/her department chair and OPRA ([email protected]). The Subject Line shall read: “URGENT: Late Proposal Exception Needed.” In the body of the email, please provide a detailed justification for the request for an exception along with a brief description of the proposal (title, sponsor, amount requested, importance, list of participants). Generally, exceptions will be granted for extraordinary circumstances, such as illness or family emergencies.
Effective October 1st, the Proposal Request Intake Form must be submitted to Pre-Award a minimum of 10 business days before the proposal deadline. Forms submitted fewer than 10 business days before the deadline will automatically trigger an exception request and require additional information for approval.
- Title (Final)
- Project Summary Overview or Abstract (Draft)
- Detailed budget and justification (Final)
- Biosketches
- Current & Pending (if applicable)
- Collaborators and Other Affiliations Template (NSF Specific)
- Appropriate Administrative documents for all external participating institutions:
- Consortium Agreement signed by the Consortium Institution’s Authorized Official
- Statement of Work
- Budget
- Budget Justification
- Institutional Letters of Support
- Completed, approved UVA Proposal Routing Form (in ResearchUVA Powered by Huron )
- Completed sponsor application package (except for the Technical Components defined below)
- Final Project Summary / Abstract
- Complete Final Project Description / Research Plan
- Complete Final References
- Any additional specific technical sections for the particular program (for example, some require a 1 slide technical overview)
Proposal Compliance Requirements
Requirements for Senior/Key Personnel
| Compliance Item | Proposal Stage Required? | Award Stage Required? | Access Portal | Notes / Common Practice |
| COI Disclosure | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | in Huron, Administrator clicks "Send to COI" | Must be current at proposal and award; typically renewed annually or upon changes. |
| Research Security Training | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | CITI Training | Compliance & Training | Required at proposal stage; typically renewed annually |
| NIH Other Support Training | ❌ No | ✅ Yes For NIH award setup | in workday | UVA requires it to support accurate disclosure. One time training. |
| COI Training | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | CITI Training | Compliance & Training | Required prior to award setup; renewal typically every 4 years (institutional). |
| RCR (Responsible Conduct of Research) Training | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | CITI Training | Compliance & Training | |
| Patent Policy / IP Acknowledgement | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | Engagement Request Form • UVA Licensing & Ventures Group | Required prior to award activation to ensure Bayh-Dole/IP compliance. |
When should Letters of Intent/Pre-Proposals be sent to SEAS Pre-Award?
Letters of Intent and Pre-Proposals
For clarification, Letters of Intent and Pre-Proposals that have the following characteristics should always be sent to SEAS Pre-Award ([email protected]) in advance of being sent to the sponsor:
- if institutional signature is required
- if there is a budget required
- if there are potential COI or IP issues
- if the sponsor is a new foreign organization, which may require more vetting
- if cost share is required
Limited Submission
If you are interested in pursuing a proposal opportunity that only allows for limited submissions per institution, please notify VPR's limited submission office immediately so they can launch and manage through their normal limited submission process:
https://research.virginia.edu/research-development/Limited-Submission-Opportunities
Just-In-Time/Proposal Revisions
Please contact [email protected] for any just-in-time requests or proposal revisions.
SciENcv
Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae
SciENcv is a researcher profile system for individuals applying for, receiving, or associated with research investments from federal agencies. Available through My NCBI, SciENcv is essential for developing Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending for both National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institute of Health (NIH) proposal submissions. Other sponsors are increasingly adopting SciENcv requirements as well.
How to Use SciENcv:
1. Create a SciENcv Account and Login to your account
2. Delegate Access to Preaward Team member:
- Go to Account Settings.
- Scroll down to Delegates.
- Add Seas Preaward team member as your delegate.
- SEAS Preaward team member will receive an email from SciENcv (NCBI) to accept the delegation.
- SEAS Preaward team member will update your Current and Pending (Other Support) accordingly
- Once documents are completed, Preaward team member will notify you;
- You will need to review, certify, and generate a PDF of each document. This certification is now required by NIH and NSF.
For any questions about SciENcv, please contact [email protected]
Cost Share
What is Cost Share or Matching Funds? The portion of a sponsored project's costs that are not borne by sponsors.
| Cost Share Type | Description | Requirements |
| Mandatory | Required by sponsor solicitation, RFP, or terms and conditions Proposed by university; once awarded | Documented/tracked/ reported |
| Voluntary -- Committed | Proposed by university; once awarded, included as binding term in award agreement | Documented/tracked/ reported |
| Voluntary -- Uncommitted | Not proposed; provided after-the-fact | Documented, Not tracked or reported |
UVA Policy FIN-051: https://uvapolicy.virginia.edu/policy/FIN-051
The University generally discourages but does not prohibit voluntary committed cost sharing. Requirements have been established to comply with University expectations on committing to share research costs. The SEAS cost share approval matrix is available at this link (accessing the document requires NetBadge login).
Meet Our Team
Na Ren
Patricia Ashley
Jodi Frederiksen
Katelyn Moore
Raynor Sebring
Denise Winchester
Liz Kitchin
Frequently Asked Questions
Please reach out to your post-award administrator for support in gathering the required compliance documents and developing the required justification. Minimum requirements are: sponsor confirmation of forthcoming award and backup non-sponsored worktags.
Grants and contracts are typically agreements between UVA and the sponsoring agency or foundation. OSP is the authorized unit to sign off on behalf of the university for any agreements related to research. If you are unsure about whether you can sign a document, please reach out to [email protected].
UVA's Policy on Signature Authority for Contracts
https://uvapolicy.virginia.edu/policy/FIN-036
UVA’s policy on distinguishing gifts from sponsored projects is here: https://uvapolicy.virginia.edu/policy/FIN-001 If you’ve received funding and aren’t sure if it’s a grant, a gift, or some other type of funding mechanism please reach out to [email protected] and we will assist in making a determination.
Please contact your post-award administrator with a copy of the NOA. They will follow up with OSP to confirm when worktags will be available, and will send a new award overview message to the PI and department manager once it has been activated in Huron and Workday.
Sponsors have different processes for transferring grants between institutions. Please contact [email protected] as soon as possible to discuss the grant transfer process. We look forward to assisting you with this process.
The UVA Health Sciences Library has a great repository of resources relating to the NIH Data Management Plan requirements.