To better assist all investigators with submitting high quality proposals that comply with sponsor, university and college or unit policies, ERIK Sponsored Programs is formalizing its proposal submission deadlines and intake process. The process follows successful procedures already implemented by several units on campus, including Engineering and Medicine.
Effective for proposals due to sponsors after September 15, 2025, researchers planning to submit a proposal for external funding must alert the sponsored program team of their intent via a new Sponsored Programs Proposal Intake Form, or if available, their college/unit proposal intake system at least two weeks prior to the proposal due date. To avoid duplication for researchers, information from established unit intake systems will be transmitted to Sponsored Programs.
The proposal submission intake process does not replace the Authorization to Seek Off-Campus Funds (ePA-005), which is also required once full details on the proposal are completed.
For those using the ERIK intake form, researchers will answer about 10 general questions about the proposal and have the option to upload relevant documents, including final proposal budget. Once submitted, the notification triggers subsequent deadlines for receipt of various parts of the proposal with the timeline depending on whether the proposal is considered standard or complex.
These deadlines provide sufficient time for Sponsored Programs to identify and resolve submission problems and submit high-quality proposals while providing uniformly-applied levels of service across the university.
With only limited case-by-case exceptions, any proposal that does not meet the submission deadlines will not be submitted to the sponsor. Sponsored Programs will defer to college or unit timelines that are longer than ERIK’s and will honor those entities’ decisions to deny submission when unit timelines have not been met.
Proposals not meeting the complex criteria are considered standard proposals. Complex proposals are typically defined as having an annual budget of more than $1 million or a total budget of more than $5 million; or involve five or more collaborating entities.
General deadlines before the sponsor due date for standard and complex proposals are as follows.
| Proposal Items | Standard Proposals | Complex Proposals |
| PI notification in proposal intake system | 2 weeks | 3 months |
| Subaward documents | 7 business days | 4 weeks |
| Budget documents when cost share or voluntary reduction of indirects proposed* | 6 business days | 3 weeks |
| Final budget and administrative documents | 4 business days | 2 weeks |
| Research documents | 2 business days | 7 business days |
| ePA-005 routed for approvals* | 3 business days | 5 business days |
| Proposal complete/ready for SPO review | 2 business days | 3 business days |
*If budget includes cost share or a voluntary reduction in indirect costs, budget documents and PA-005 must be submitted at least 6 business days in advance of proposal deadline to allow time for review.
Additional information and the link to the form will be made available by mid August. Questions about the process can be directed to ORhelpdesk@osu.edu.