NIH Pre-Award Toolkit

The Department of Medicine is committed to the submission of high quality grant applications and providing support to both research administrative staff and investigators in compiling appropriate documents, to help streamline the process and increase quality and success of applications. Our pre award toolkit is currently tailored to NIH Grant Submissions, focusing on R Series, K Series and F Series applications.

Grant Submission Timeline

Early planning and collaboration are key to successful proposal development. Below is a general timeline outlining recommended milestones leading up to a sponsor deadline.

4–6 Months Before Deadline — Develop Your Concept

• Identify funding opportunities aligned with your research interests
• Connect with mentors and collaborators to refine your research idea
• Present your concept at research forums, lab meetings, or division seminars to gather early feedback
• Meet with your research administrator to discuss feasibility, timelines, and submission requirements

6–8 Weeks Before Deadline — Begin Proposal Development

• Draft budget and justification
• Identify key personnel and roles
• Initiate internal proposal development process

3–4 Weeks Before Deadline — Finalize Materials

• Complete proposal documents and supporting materials
• Confirm subaward and collaborator information
• Work closely with your research administrator to prepare materials for submission

5 Business Days Before Deadline — Internal Submission Due

• The complete proposal must be submitted to the University for institutional review and submission

Important: Research administrators require sufficient time before the internal deadline to compile documents, review materials for completeness and compliance, and coordinate final submission steps. Investigators are strongly encouraged to provide finalized materials as early as possible to ensure a smooth and timely submission.

Sponsor Deadline

• Application submitted to sponsor

Step 1

Principal Investigator Identifies Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that fits with their research interests and confirms eligibility

• Find Funding Opportunities
  NIH offers funding for many types of grants, contracts, and even programs that help repay loans for researchers. Learn about these programs, as well as about NIH's budget process, grant funding strategies, and policies, and more.
• View all Parent Announcements (For Unsolicited or Investigator-Initiated Applications)
  • Parent announcements are broad funding opportunity announcements allowing applicants to submit investigator-initiated applications for specific activity codes. They are open for up to 3 years and use standard due dates.
  • Not all NIH Institutes and Centers participate on all parent announcements. Before submitting your application, make sure the NIH Institute or Center that might be interested in your research is listed as a participating organization in the announcement.
• Standard Due Dates (For NIH Applications)
  Use this page to learn about application cycles and their relationship to due dates, review and council dates, and earliest possible start dates.

Step 2

Principal Investigator then informs their assigned division administrator of planned submission and funding opportunity.

Step 3

Principal Investigator and their grant administrator will then access BOX to download the Pre-Award Tool Kit. This is available to anyone with a University login. The tool kit contains detailed checklists, templates and other helpful information that has been developed for the PI and Grants Administrator. Select the appropriate toolkit for the mechanism you are applying to (R Award, K Award, or F Award). 

BOX: DOM Pre-Award Toolkit (NIH)

Step 4

Principal Investigator and their grant administrator reviews the grant submission timeline and checklist, for grant development and preparation, and who is responsible for each step. NOTE all timeframes are relative to sponsor deadline.

REMEMBER Applications are due to ORPA 5 business days in advance of NIH deadline. NOTE ORPA will not review the application until all components are uploaded, including the science. Refer to Memo from Steve Dewhurst regarding UR Policy on Grant Proposal Deadline