Communicate Your Intent to Apply

When you have found an appropriate funding source for your project, you need to begin communicating with others about your interest in applying for support.

Talk with your department chair first. The chair may suggest that you meet with the dean of your college if your project has broader implications or will involve personnel in more than one department or college, especially if personnel from other colleges will be co-investigators.
Find out what parts of the application package your chair and dean expect to review. In some cases, they may need just the abstract and budget; in other cases, they may need to see the complete proposal.
Discuss your budget in detail with your department chair and dean as needed. Issues such as course reassignment time, the use of indirect costs for the project, and cost sharing require their approval. If you have not prepared a grant budget before, call the Office of Research for assistance.
Inform your department chair of your proposal deadline and ask about the chair’s availability to review and sign documents before the due date.
Unless the program’s guidelines explicitly discourage it, you should always speak with the appropriate program officer at the foundation or agency about your plans and ask for guidance.
If your application includes a subaward, keep in mind that the other institution may have an internal deadline that your subaward PI must adhere to. Please notify your designated Pre-Award Manager of your plan to have a subaward so that the other institution can be contacted as soon as possible.
After discussing your project with your department and college, please notify the Office of Research of your intention to apply for external funding by completing an “Intent to Submit” form as soon as possible. An Office of Research staff member will contact you to discuss how the office can support your proposal. In most cases, the next step is to review program guidelines and develop a timeline for completing and submitting the proposal.