Route & Submit Proposal

Overview

In this phase, while you are developing your proposal, you create an electronic record for the proposal --a Proposal Approval Form (PAF) -- with U-M's eResearch Proposal Management system (eRPM) system. You route and submit your PAF to ORSP for approval. Keep our deadline policy in mind when preparing.

• Proposal development happens within the U-M departments or units of the various schools, colleges, or institutes. 
• Proposal submission happens with ORSP when you route and submit your proposal via University of Michigan's eRPM system. Rarely, but sometimes, particularly with smaller federal sponsors, your proposal must be submitted in Workspace within Grants.gov.

Federal and state regulations and U-M policies guide the processing of proposals and submission to potential sponsors, as well as the subsequent handling of projects resulting from successful proposals.

Tips: 

• Before working with ORSP to route and submit your proposal through eRPM, first, confirm that it is a sponsored project. 
• Any research or scholarly project proposal with outside funding must be processed through ORSP and documented in eRPM.

Proposal Approval Form (PAF)

The PAF is completed and routed electronically with each proposal in eRPM. The person submitting the proposal and PAF must obtain approval of the appropriate department head, dean, or unit director before sending the proposal to ORSP. More detail about what is covered by the PAF is available, as is information on routing the PAF in eRPM.

All sponsored projects must be submitted through ORSP via eRPM. The proposal is routed through U-M via the eRPM system with an accompanying Proposal Approval Form (PAF), created in eRPM, which documents university commitments to the project at each level from the department to the central administration.

Below are questions you might encounter when submitting your project through eRPM. After you have developed your proposal with your project team, a best practice is to submit it to ORSP at least four business days in advance of the deadline for a thorough review.

Processing the Proposal

Learn more about processing the proposal along with deadlines, and how the PAF is prepared in eRPM system (including what it looks like and how to fill it out in eResearch).  You may also need:

• PHS FCOI FAQs for Processing Proposals and Projects
• Proposal Types/Class Codes

Services provided by ORSP

Once your PAF is finalized (and complete and correct), you can route to ORSP. ORSP will then:

• review the proposal according to our PAF and Proposal Checklist;
• route the completed proposal, the PAF, and necessary accompanying documents to the appropriate University offices for the required endorsements, signatures, and certifications, and
• submit to the potential sponsor.

ORSP requires a finalized PAF and final proposal four business days before the sponsor deadline and time.  

See the Standard Operating Procedure 200.01 on Proposal Review by ORSP for further guidance.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures

When the PAF is first submitted for approval, the project director must determine if a financial conflict of interest disclosure is required. The conflict of interest disclosure asks about management or financial interests in outside entities held by key investigators or by their spouses or dependents that may impinge upon the proposed sponsored agreement. To assure full disclosure, this requirement should be interpreted broadly. See Conflict of Interest and Commitment for further instructions.

If the disclosures are negative (that is, if it is determined there are no "significant financial interests" related to the proposed project), the Project Director will so certify by signing the Proposal Approval Form (PAF) in eRPM. The proposal and the PAF will then be further processed.

Note the procedures for proposals with sponsors following the Public Health Service Financial Conflict of Interest regulations.

Disclosures that may trigger State Law or are otherwise above the threshold of significant financial interests must be forwarded, along with a copy of the PAF, for review by the Conflict of Interest Review Committee. Proposals may be submitted to external sponsors in order to meet established deadlines with the understanding that the review process must be completed satisfactorily before a sponsored award can be accepted.

Federal Projects and Grants.gov

The majority of U-M Grants.gov submissions are completed in eRPM via a system-to-system transmission. Sometimes you may need to use Workspace when working with smaller sponsors.