To ensure that federal and state guidelines are met and that the intellectual and academic objectives of the University are maintained, all proposals for external funding must be reviewed at appropriate administrative levels prior to submission. Advice regarding proposal preparation, agency guidelines, application forms, and help with budgets is available by contacting Sponsored Research Services (SRS).
What Must Be Routed for Internal Approval?
Requirements for routing documents and proposals through the Bloomington Sponsored Research Services office are outlined in Important Notice 06-4.Routing and Approvals
Internal approvals at Indiana University are obtained electronically with the ERA Routing Form.
If you are a new user of ERA and need access, send Email to ERA_ADMIN@indiana.edu and ask to be added to the ERA Group tab. Then you can access ERA with your IU network ID and passphrase.
Access ERA at :
Your proposal can be uploaded as an attachment to ERA for routing. If your propsal is not available electronically, or if hard copies must be mailed, bring the hard copies to SRS for signature and mailing. In these cases the SRS office requests one file copy of the complete proposal.
ERA routing forms are approved first by the Project Director, then the Department Chair, then the Dean of the School or appropriate administrative official. If project personnel are from more than one department or school, all associated chairs and deans must approve. If a project involves another campus, the campus must also sign off on the proposal.
SRS will review the proposal, verify that the project is in compliance with applicable regulations, policies and assurances, obtain the remaining signatures and transmit the proposal via mail or electronic version to the agency.
Time Lines
It is important to start this process early!
The ERA Routing Form and proposal must be received far enough in advance of the mailing date to allow each approver time to review the proposal, as well as make suggestions and corrections. It is recommended that three days be allowed for SRS to process and submit the proposal. Allow additional time if there are special considerations: research risk approvals, cost sharing, collaborative projects, subcontracts, space commitments, NIH grants.gov, etc.
Your budget, agency forms, and link to the guidelines should be reviewed by Sponsored Research Services prior to routing the proposal. We recommend Emailing these items to SRS (resdev@indiana.edu) at least 1 week before the agency deadline. Allow 2 weeks for NIH Grants.Gov proposals.
Proposal Budgets
We strongly recommend your proposal budget is checked by an SRS Grants Specialist before the proposal is finalized and routed. Call with questions about preparing a budget, completing agency forms, and submitting the proposal. You can also call to set up an appointment with one of the Grants Specialist.
Email a draft budget and the program guidelines to resdev@indiana.edu.
Your budget will be reviewed by a Grants Specialist and you will be contacted with comments or needed revisions. Call (812) 855-0516 with any questions you may have about proposal budgets and submissions.
Fringe benefit and indirect cost rates, and other guidance on developing budgets are available at: http://www.research.indiana.edu/spoadmin/proposal.html#budget.
Subcontracts/Subrecipients
Proposals including a subcontractor in the budget must include the following items provided by the proposed subcontractor:
- budget
- budget justification or budget narrative
- Statement of Work to be performed by the subcontractor/subrecipient
- letter of support signed by the authorizing official of the subcontracting institution
- Copy of the subcontractors F&A rate agreement
See Important Notice 04-1 for additional Guidance on subrecipients.
Compliance
There are a number of federal regulations that apply to how research is conducted at federally funded research institutions, ranging from regulations on the use of animals and human beings in resarch to regulations on intellectual propery rights, Export Controls, and Conflicts of Interest,Detailed information about these regulations, institutional policies, procedures, and contact information is available at http://www.research.indiana.edu/rschcomp/index.html.
Contact Information
Sponsored
Research Services
Carmichael Center, Suite L03
530 East Kirkwood Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47408-4003
Phone: (812) 855-0516
Fax: (812) 855-9943
E-mail: resdev@indiana.edu
