Grant Application Procedures
All grant applications, including Letters of Intent, must be reviewed and approved by the Office of Research Services. In order to sign grant applications on behalf of the University, the Office of Research Services requires the following:
Approval of:
- Department head (Arts, Science, Medicine)
- Dean or Director or Principal
Office of Research Services deadline:
Mandatory Institutional Review: The Office of Research Services (ORS) requires applications be received a minimum of 3 working days before the funding agency deadline for institutional review and signature. Appropriate Department Head, and Dean/or Associate Dean (Research) signatures for all applicants/co-applicants must be obtained prior to submission to ORS for Institutional review and signature. Departments/Schools/Units require applications to be received at least 1 day in advance of submission to ORS. Please check with your Department/School/Unit for any other restrictions.
Optional Comprehensive Review: The ORS provides researchers with the option of submitting applications a minimum of 10 working days prior to deadline for comprehensive review and institutional signoff. For some competitions where large numbers of application submissions are anticipated, notifications of requirements for longer review periods may be communicated. Comprehensive review allows for checks of application format and compliance with agency guidelines. To eliminate an overlap of services, only one comprehensive review to be provided either by the Office of Research Services or the Grants Facilitator/Research/Grants Officer in your Faculty. The Office of Research Services will be consulting with the Grants Facilitator/Research/Grants Officers as applications are received in order to avoid duplication.
Number of copies to be provided by applicant (for hardcopy submissions):
- Submission by Office of Research Services: Original PLUS number of copies required by Agency PLUS one copy for Office of Research Services.
- Submission by Applicant: Original only PLUS one copy for Office of Research Services. Signed application will be returned to applicant for copying and forwarding to Agency to meet deadline. Adjust deadlines noted above to accomodate needs for shipping as appropriate.
Certification for:
- Human Subjects
- Animals
- Bio-hazardous Materials
- Radioactive Materials
Or indicate protocol has been submitted to appropriate Committee for review APPLICATIONS SHOULD CONFORM TO AGENCY REGULATIONS.
Grants versus Contracts
There are some very important differences between grants and contracts. For your convenience, we have listed some key differences below:
A grant is financial support for an investigator or investigators conducting research in a particular subject area or field, without any formal detailed stipulation as to the direction of such research.
A contract is an agreement between two corporate bodies, namely the company and the university, to provide financial support for an investigator, or investigators, to conduct research in a particular subject area or field under specific stipulations and conditions.
Characteristics of grants:
- No direct or indirect remuneration to the principal investigator or co-investigators
- Objectives are defined in a general fashion
- No limitations on publication
- No specific transfer of results to the grantor; however a final report stating the results of the research is usually submitted to the grantor
- Payment to the university is generally made in advance of expenditures
For more information about research grants, contact Grants Co-ordinators Jessica McLachlan, 709-864-3805; Vicki Gill, 709-864-3045; or Kelley Santos, 709-864-4745.
