WHO WE ARE
The Pre-Award team is a division of the Office of Extramural Support (OES), a central service area within the Semel Institute. Our team provides local contract and grant proposal support, ensures department policy compliance and coordinates institutional approval prior to submission to the sponsor.
CONTACTS
| Office Name & Contacts | Pre-Award Role | Contacts |
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Department Office Semel Institute OES Pre-Award Team
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First contact for general proposal questions, access requests and intent to submit notices Pre-reviews all proposals before submission to institutional office for final approval Submits NIH proposals with annual budgets less than $500K direct costs and JIT requests |
General Inquiries: Team Supervisor Pre-Award Manager Clinical Trial Consultant Pre-Award Analyst |
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UCLA Institutional/Central Offices
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Submits non-industry sponsored proposals (Federal, State, Non-profit sponsors) Submits NIH proposals with annual budgets greater than $500K direct costs & JIT |
Grant, Cooperative Agreement, Contract and Incoming Subaward Assignments |
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Submits industry-sponsored non-clinical trial contract and grant agreements Reviews material transfer agreements (MTAs) except those used in industry-sponsored human clinical trial testing Online MTA Website |
Industry sponsored research and MTA Staff |
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Submits industry-sponsored, UCLA defined clinical trial contracts. Reviews material transfer agreements from industry sponsors that will be used in testing in a clinical trial on humans. |
CTC & SR Contract Assignments |
PROPOSAL PREPARATION AND REVIEW POLICY
The Semel Institute Proposal Preparation and Review Policy details procedural expectations for our investigators and administrators to ensure successful submissions. Defined procedural expectations help to mitigate the challenges of coordinating a proposal.
Semel Institute Proposal Preparation and Review Policy v. 2021
REVIEW STEPS AND TIMELINE
Because awards are made to UCLA and not an individual PI, investigators must comply with the review process and timeline below. Sufficient time is necessary to verify a proposal’s compliance with UCLA & Sponsor policy and troubleshoot challenges that are beyond the control of UCLA such as technical issues with submission portals. Non-compliant proposals risk rejection, award processing delays and non-acceptance.
| STEP 1: Alert the Department of your Intent to Submit |
The OES Pre-Award Team will then add the proposal to the department’s review calendar and provide a review schedule with internal due dates and a list of required documents. |
| STEP 2: Submit your Proposal Materials to the Department |
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Eight-business days prior to the sponsor deadline, email proposal materials for Dept Review |
| STEP 3: Department sends your proposal to a UCLA Central Office |
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Five-business days prior to the sponsor deadline, the Department will forward the proposal to the Central UCLA contract and grant office for final review and submission to the sponsor |
TOOLS FOR CREATING COMPLETE AND COMPLIANT PROPOSALS
A complete proposal includes Institutional (UCLA) and Sponsor required components. This website provides helpful hyperlinks, checklists, tip sheets and videos – aka “tools” for creating complete and compliant proposals. Tools are organized below by Institutional vs. Sponsor; sponsor tools are further delineated by sponsor type: Federal, Non-Profit, State or Industry.
INSTITUTIONAL FORMS
Also known as “internal forms” these UCLA-required documents are completed by the PI and submitted along with the sponsor-required components for review.
NAMES AND DESCRIPTIONS |
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| EPASS “Extramural Proposal & Submission Summary” | |
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The EPASS form is an administrative, regulatory and budgetary snapshot of the proposal. PI and Chair sign electronically. |
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| Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) Disclosures | |
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| Principal Investigator (PI) Exception | |
| Employees with titles that do not meet UCLA Policy 900 eligibility requirements must obtain exceptional approval to serve as PI, Co-PI or Multi-PI. |
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| Subrecipient Forms | |
| UCLA proposals that include subrecipients must obtain a subaward package from each entity. |
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E-SYSTEMS & ACCESS
Proposals are regularly submitted through sponsor web platforms. Request forms and training resources for common e-systems are provided below.
| System | Access Forms | Training Resources |
|---|---|---|
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Cayuse / S2S Grants UCLA’s custom portal for Federal Proposals |
Cayuse Access Request Form* | UCLA OCGA Training Slides |
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eRA Commons NIH communication platform with applicants and awardees |
eRA Account Request Form* |
eRA Commons User Guides eRA Commons Video Training Linking ORCID ID & eRA |
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ASSIST System for submitting NIH Center Grants and Supplements |
No Form; Access to proposals in ASSIST granted within system |
NIH ASSIST User Guide NIH ASSIST Video Training |
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Proposal Central A web platform used by some non-profits and government entities to accept proposals and track awards |
No Form; Create login directly from Proposal Central website |
UCLA OCGA delegations |
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UCLA Other Support Tool UCLA created an interim tool in the ORA portal to help investigators comply with updated OS formats |
No Form; Access is approved by the Chair on a case by case basis. Email preaward@mednet.ucla.edu to request access |
UCLA OS Tool Overview Approved users may access UCLA OS Tools via the Pre-Award tab of the ORA Portal |
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DocuSign for Other Support UCLA Investigators use DocuSign to certify Other Support and should work with their home department to obtain a DocuSign Account |
Submit a DocuSign Access Request Form to Semel IT to obtain a DocuSign Account | Once you have an account, follow these steps to certify your Other Support using DocuSign |
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SciENcv SciENcv is a utility within myNCBI to help researchers assemble professional information for their Biosketch and (soon) Other Support documents |
Access SciENcv via the NCBI’s My NCBI portal, or by going to PubMed and selecting the “Sign into NCBI” link at the top right of the screen. Use your eRA Commons credentials to login. If you do not have an eRA Commons account, please request one first by completing an eRA Request Form |
Create SciENcv Biosketches Create and manage Delegates SciENcv FAQs NCBI SciENcv Video |
* Cayuse and eRA Commons require a UCLA official to provide system access
FEDERAL SPONSORS
Tools are provided below to assist PI’s and preparers with preparing applications to
Common federal sponsors.
| NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH) |
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| Salary Cap: Yes UCLA F & A Agreement |
COI Format: UCLA eDGE e-System: Cayuse or ASSIST |
| Common NIH Proposal Policies: | |
| Research Project (R-Series) Proposals: | |
| Career Development (K-Series) Proposals: | |
| Fellowship (F-Series) Proposals: | |
| Administrative Supplements: | |
| Just-In-Time, Other Support, Data Agreements: | |
| Substance Abuse Mental Health Service Agency (SAMHSA) | |
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| Department of Defense (CMDR) |
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| National Science Foundation (NSF) |
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State/Local Government
Coming Soon!
Non-Profit
Submitting a Proposal to a Non-Profit, Non-Government Sponsor?
Non-profits have their own guidelines, budget requirements and submission methods.
Step 1: Determine Eligibility per Sponsor Guidelines
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- Principal Investigator Eligibility: Does PI hold the required level of education, degree, experience, and UCLA academic title described by the sponsor?
- UCLA Eligibility: Does the sponsor have any institutional eligibility requirements? UCLA is a public, nonprofit, educational institution exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code.
Step 2: Figure out the Who/What/When of proposal submission
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- If submission is required through a sponsor website:
- PI must request access to the system
- Log in right away, review the submission screens and compare screens to the guidelines. Some sponsors include additional instructions in their e-system that are not included in the guidelines.
- Who needs to submit the application through the website? The PI or an Authorized Institutional Official? If the guidelines are unclear, review the application screens to determine who has the authority to submit. Email preaward@mednet.ucla.edu if submission by Authorized Institutional official is required.
- Confirm due date and time:
- If due date is on a holiday, does the sponsor allow next-business day submission?
- If proposal must be submitted by an Authorized Institutional Official, the deadline will be 5pm PST regardless of the sponsor due time (UCLA closes at 5pm).
- If submission is required through a sponsor website:
Step 3: Create Proposal following Sponsor Policy
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- Formatting Requirements and/or Sponsor Templates
- Budget Policies: Does the sponsor specify an annual cost limit, salary cap, indirect cost policy, allowable / unallowable costs?
- Detailed Budget and Justification: Per UCLA policy, prepare a detailed budget and budget justification even if the sponsor does not require you to do so.
Industry Clinical Trial
Coming Soon!
Industry Non-Clinical Trial
Coming Soon!
Outgoing Subawards
Including a subaward on your UCLA proposal?
- In order to include a subaward on your UCLA application, you must provide a complete Subaward Package for each proposed subrecipient.
- It is the responsibility of the UCLA PI/Preparer to work with the subrecipient to obtain a complete package.
- The subaward package will be provided to the OES preaward team with your application for review (preaward@mednet.ucla.edu).
How to prepare the subaward package
STEP 1: Review the List of Subaward Form Requirements to determine what documents are needed and who is responsible for completing them
STEP 2: UCLA PI completes, signs and dates the UCLA Subrecipient vs. Contractor form
- If proposed entity meets the criteria for a subaward, move to STEP 3
- If proposed entity meets the criteria for a contractor/vendor do not collect a subaward package
STEP 3: Set timeline to receive completed subaward package
- It is recommended that subrecipients be given a deadline of 2 weeks prior to the sponsor deadline. This will allow the UCLA PI/Preparer to incorporate the subaward package into the overall proposal in time to meet the 8-business day deadline to the Semel Pre-Award Team (preaward@mednet.ucla.edu)
STEP 4: Communicate Subaward Package Information to Subrecipient PI
- UCLA PI/Preparer send email to Sub PI/Sub Preparer with instructions, timeline and form attachments. Include relevant proposal details such as: Sponsor Name, Funding Opportunity Announcement, Title of UCLA application, Project Period, List of required items from subrecipient for Subaward Package (see list in step 1) and any additional information (budget limits, salary cap reminders)
- Review Sample Email Language here
STEP 5: Manage Subaward Timeline and Review Subaward Package
- UCLA PI/Preparer must stay in regular communication with Sub PI/Sub Preparer in order to meet requested deadlines
- Send reminders, and review documents for correctness/completeness ASAP (edits may be required)
STEP 6: Before Sending Subaward Package for Review, organize files into a Single Subaward Package File
- UCLA Preparer will generate a single PDF of the Subaward Package (one PDF for each subrecipient) in the following order:
- UCLA Subrecipient vs. Contractor Form – signed by UCLA PI
- Subrecipient Commitment Form –signed by Subaward Institutional Official
- Scope of Work
- Detailed Budget and Justification
- Other requested documents
- Name each Subaward Package PDF File using the same naming convention (Subaward 1_Duke, Subaward 2_UCSD)
STEP 7: If UCLA Proposal is submitted via Cayuse Only:
- Upload Subaward Packages under the UCLA Proposal Summary / Supporting Documents section rather than the individual subaward Proposal Summary option. It is easier to review internal forms if they are housed in one place
Commonly Used Forms
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