Office of Research Administration

Proposal Deadline Policy

Effective January 4, 2010; updated October 2025

Proposal Deadline Policy PDF

The Office of Research Administration, home to the DISC Pre-Award Office and the Pre-Award Services Office, is the sole institutional entity with authority to submit proposals for sponsored projects to external funding agencies. It is responsible for ensuring that these proposals are consistent with sponsor requirements; with federal, state, and local laws and regulations; and, with Brandeis' institutional, academic, and fiscal policies. 

Given the growing complexity of the proposal submission process and the high number of proposals being submitted for the same deadline, it is critical that principal investigators adhere to this policy so that ORA staff have time to properly prepare and review a proposal and ensure that it is fully compliant before its submission. Proposals without a firm sponsor deadline are still required to follow the processes outlined in this policy. 

DEFINITIONS

  • The DISC Pre-Award Office provides direct support to Principal Investigators (PIs) in the preparation of proposal materials for sponsored research projects. Members of the office ensure that all proposals are compliant with federal, institutional, and sponsor requirements and guide the process, while ensuring adherence to all internal deadline requirements. The DISC Pre-Award Office acts as the liaison between the PI and the ORA's Pre-Award Services Office, collaborating institutions, as well as other administrative units throughout the university.
  • The Pre-Award Services Office (PAS) receives full, complete proposal packages from the DISC Pre-Award Office and conducts a thorough review of every proposal and submission to ensure compliance with all sponsor and institutional policy and compliance requirements. Colleagues within PAS are authorized by the institution to submit proposals once they meet with all institutional and sponsor requirements.
  • Full Business Days means that the materials are submitted to the Office of Research Administration by the appropriate number of business days at 9 a.m. prior to the submission deadline that has been set by the sponsor or pass-through entity (PTE).

For example, if there is a Thursday, December 1st sponsor deadline, then the Complete Proposal Draft (required 5 full business days prior to the sponsor deadline) must reach the Pre-Award Services Office from the DISC Pre-Award Office no later than 9 a.m. on November 22 (the university is closed on Thursday, Nov 24 and Friday, Nov 25 for Thanksgiving, and Saturday and Sunday are weekend days).

Example application of "Full Business Days" definition: Complete Draft Proposals are due five (5) business days prior to the Sponsor’s submission deadline.
Figure 1: Example application of "Full Business Days" definition: Complete Draft Proposals are due five (5) business days prior to the Sponsor’s submission deadline.

Every PI is encouraged to check carefully for holidays, early closures, and other university pauses to ensure compliance with this policy. The DISC Pre-Award Office liaison will ensure that every PI is fully aware of all internal deadlines associated with the submission.

  • Special Reviews are elements of a proposal that may require additional time for development, review, approval, or agreements to be made. Examples of such elements are proposals that include institutional or third-party cost sharing commitments; shipping, renovation or installation costs; under recovery of F&A costs; export-controlled technology or information; subawards or other proposed external collaborations, international activities, troublesome terms and conditions such as publication restrictions; requests for institutional letters of support from senior leadership; or any component that will require significant additional lead time to be approved, over and above the deadlines outlined below. Principal investigators are encouraged to initiate these requests well in advance of the anticipated submission deadline.

POLICY

The proposal development and submission process is a collaborative effort between the PI, collaborators, and research administrators. All proposals at Brandeis University must adhere to the following deadlines or to the deadlines established by the DISC Pre-Award team upon Notification of Intent to Submit—whichever dates are earlier. These deadlines reflect the stages of proposal development and review required prior to submission to the sponsor. Principal investigators are required to be available and to promptly respond to the ORA research administrators supporting their work during the entire proposal preparation and review process. Investigators who do not adhere to this Proposal Deadline Policy place their proposals at risk of not being submitted.

a. Notification of Intent to Submit
Due Date: As soon as possible, at minimum, at least 4 weeks before the applicable deadline (sponsor or pass-through entity due date if Brandeis is a sub-awardee, or an earlier PI-established target submission date) and at least 6 weeks before the deadline for proposals that include sub-awards and/or cost sharing commitments.

Investigators must submit notification of intent to submit a proposal as soon as possible after they decide to begin work toward submission of a proposal via the DISC Pre-Award Submission Notification Form. This form requests basic information about the proposal submission, including a link to the applicable proposal announcement, solicitation, or request for proposal; due date; and any collaborating institutions. PIs are responsible for sharing any other anticipated proposal elements that may require special review (see definition).

b. Nearly Final Draft Proposal Materials to DISC Pre-Award Office
Due Date: Ten (10) Full Business Days prior to submission deadline

Ten full business days prior to the submission deadline, quality drafts–in near final state–of all proposal materials are due to the DISC Pre-Award Office. If a proposal involves additional complexities that require special review, more time may be required. Such earlier deadlines will be communicated to the investigator by the DISC Pre-Award Office after receipt of the Notification Form and discussion of special reviews and must be strictly observed to ensure the proposal can be submitted on time.

c. Complete Draft Proposal to Pre-Award Services Office
Due Date: Five (5) Full Business Days prior to sponsor deadline

Five full business days prior to the submission deadline, the Pre-Award Services Office must receive a complete administrative and financial package from the DISC Pre-Award Office consisting of:

  • A copy of, or link to, the funding opportunity announcement, solicitation, or request for proposal to which the proposal is responding
  • A draft of the project summary and/or abstract (close enough to final form to allow for a comprehensive compliance review of the proposal)
  • A detailed budget and budget justification, approved by PI and DISC Pre-Award Office
  • Finalized and signed documentation, as required, from all subawards, subcontracts, consortium arrangements and consultants
  • A draft Project Approval Form, with all applicable attachments (the DISC Pre-Award Office will collaborate with the PI to complete)
  • Complete set of sponsor-specific forms in the sponsor portal (i.e. ASSIST, research.gov, grants.gov, ProposalCentral, Fluxx, etc.)
  • All other required administrative sections or attachments (e.g., Biosketches, Current and Pending Support, Senior/Key and Other Personnel, Facilities, Equipment, etc.)
d. Final Proposal Package
Due Date: 3 (Three) Full Business Days prior to sponsor deadline

Three full business days prior to the sponsor deadline, the DISC Office will notify the Pre-Award Services Office that the complete, final package of the entire proposal, and the Project Approval Form (PAF) with all required signatures is ready for final review. The DISC Office will share all applicable PAF attachments and confirm that final documents have been uploaded to any electronic portal for final review. PIs are required to continue to remain available to support required revisions during this final review period until the proposal has been submitted to the sponsor by the Pre-Award Services Office.

EXCEPTIONS

Proposal submissions to the ORA DISC Pre-Award Office or Pre-Award Services Office that fall outside of the deadlines outlined in this Proposal Deadline Policy will be considered for submission on a case-by-case basis.

Investigators who wish their proposals to be considered for submission after the deadline should submit a completed Deadline Exception Request Form to the Associate Provost for Research Administration for review and approval. Investigators should include a detailed justification for their request and to gather commentary, as applicable, from their chair/director/dean/provost. Requests shall be reviewed by the Associate Provost for Research Administration based upon the merits of the request and staff availability. If approval of a request is withheld, the proposal will not be submitted. Any proposal that does not adhere to the Proposal Deadline Policy, even if a Deadline Exception Request is approved, is at risk of not being submitted by the sponsor deadline.