Faculty Research Proposal Reviews

POLICY:

All faculty research proposals planned for submission to any funding agency (internal or external) must receive both scientific review and budget approval. Proposals that do not follow this policy are at risk of not being submitted to the funding agency. The purpose of this policy is to ensure the quality of research proposals submitted by faculty researchers from the School of Nursing.

PROCEDURE:

Core elements of procedures for submitting research grants are presented below.

1. 1. The Principal Investigator (PI) meets with the department Vice Chair for Research (VCR) preferably at least 2-3 months prior to the submission deadline to discuss the proposal, departmental processes of submission, required documents, development of the budget, and development of a timeline. The department grants analyst is notified of the planned submission. If the application is for an educational training grant (e.g. HRSA, ACIE, etc.), the Associate Dean for Clinical Education is notified and Policy 408B should be followed. If the application is being submitted by a student or postdoctoral fellow, Policy 408C should be followed.
2. The PI schedules an appointment with the department grants analyst to meet and discuss the submission process and begin development of the budget.
3. The PI and VCR will meet throughout the submission process.
4. The PI and VCR discuss the review process and the PI is responsible for identifying at least two reviewers who are then approved by the VCR. The reviewers should always be external to the project and for external submissions (external to the SON) the reviewers should always be external to the SON. If a reviewer will be external to Pitt, the PI and VCR should discuss the utility of a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA) with the reviewer. Find more information about initiating a CDA.
5. The PI emails the proposal for review to the VCR, the proposal and SON Scientific Review Form (or alternative review form) is emailed to reviewers who are asked to complete and return the review form and comments to the PI and VCR within an agreed upon timeframe.
6. Mock Reviews: an NIH style mock review is required for all Early Stage Investigators submitting an R-level or equivalent application. For all other investigators and application types, the mock review is optional. The reviewers identified and utilized in #4 and #5 above can serve as the reviewers for the mock review.
7. The VCR will discuss reviews with the PI and will
   1. If minor or no revisions are suggested by reviewers: provide scientific approval or
   2. If major revisions are suggested by a reviewer: Inform the PI that the application may require substantial revision and re-review.
8. The department chair where the PI resides is responsible for providing final approval of the budget and budget justification, with particular attention paid to the efforts proposed. The Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship will also review all budgets prior to submission.
9. Grants analysts should be 1) notified in writing that scientific and budget approval have been granted, and 2) receive final proposal documents from the PI at least 5 business days prior to the funding agency deadline. Proposals that do not meet this deadline are at risk of not being submitted by the funding agency deadline.

Attachments:
Scientific Review Form (PDF)
Proposal Acceptability Form (PDF)