Proposal Development and Submission

To facilitate the effective development, writing, and timely submission of high-quality proposals, you are requested to take the necessary steps below. Please note that the ideal time to begin planning your proposal is at least 2 months before the submission deadline.

Identify a potential funding opportunity (You can start at our grant opportunities page here).
Establish the requisite accounts for proposal submission. The three main federal agencies that require accounts as part of the submission process are NSF, NIH, and NASA. NSF requires a Research.gov account, NIH requires an eRA Commons account, and NASA a NSPIRES account. Proposals are submitted either through the federal agency's portal or through Grants.gov. For proposals submitted through Grants.gov, VSU uses Cayuse Proposals which is an S2S method for submitting through Grants.gov. Please contact Daniel T. Stoelting at dstoelting@vsu.edu for assistance with account creation or assistance with the electronic proposal submission process.
Thoroughly read and understand the agency RFA (instructions) and referenced guidance documents for the opportunity and begin developing your idea and budget.
NO LESS THAN 30 DAYS before the submission deadline for the grant proposal, complete a Grant Notice of Intent Form (GNoI) and the pre-proposal planning process and then email the documents to OSRP.
Submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) to the funding agency, if it requires or requests one.
Complete your proposal.
Submit your proposal and signed Proposal Processing and Approval form (PPAF) and, if applicable, signed Request for Institutional Cost Sharing form to OSRP NO LESS THAN 7 DAYS prior to the grant submission deadline.

For any questions regarding the proposal development and submission process, contact:

Daniel T. Stoelting, Ph.D.
Manager for Pre-Award Services
Office of Sponsored Programs and Research
Virginia State University
P.O. Box 9407
Petersburg, VA 23806
Telephone: 804-524-6987
FAX: 804-524-6518
Email:dstoelting@vsu.edu