Limited Submissions

Overview

Some grant programs limit the number of applications each institution may submit. For such programs, prospective applicants submit a letter of intent (LOI) to the Graduate School. If the number of LOIs exceeds the allowable number of submissions, an internal competition is held, whereby pre-proposals from applicants are reviewed by an internal review panel, which chooses the finalist(s). Those selected then submit a full proposal to the sponsor. Each step in the process has a specific deadline. Known limited submission programs and deadlines are posted at the end of this page.

Process

Generally, the LOI submitted to the Graduate School is due 12 weeks before the sponsor’s deadline. This timeframe allows two weeks for the PI to write a pre-proposal if necessary, two weeks for the review panel to read the pre-proposals, meet, and reach a decision; and at least eight weeks for the PI(s) selected to complete the final proposal and application.

Additional funding opportunities will be posted and sent to department chairs, associate deans, and unit research representatives as the Graduate School becomes aware of them.

Letter of Intent

In an e-mail to research@uwm.edu, PI to include:

• Name of funding agency and program.
• PI, co-investigators’ names, departments, and institutions.
• Project Title.
• Statement that they meet all eligibility criteria in sponsor’s announcement.
• Names of 2-3 UWM faculty who are knowledgeable in the area of the intended proposal, and would not have a conflict of interest in serving as reviewers or panelists.

All applicants will be notified within three days of the LOI deadline if pre-proposals are needed, what format these should be in, and the deadline for pre-proposal submission.

Pre-proposal

If an internal competition is necessary, each PI must submit a pre-proposal to research@uwm.edu.

Most pre-proposals should follow this format*:

• Names, departments, institutions of PI and co-investigators.
• Project title.
• Project narrative (3 pg. max) to include: research plan , significance of the proposed study, expected/intended outcomes, the role of personnel involved.
• Budget summary:
  • People
  • Equipment
  • Supplies
  • Other
• Explanation of cost-sharing/matching requirements. (What is the program requirement, if any? Who will provide the required campus funds?)
• If this is a resubmission, you are encouraged to explain how the full proposal will be changed to respond to previous reviewers’ comments.

*Other pre-proposal formats may be required for certain funding opportunities. PIs will be informed of these upon submission of the LOI.

Composition of Review Panel

The Graduate School dean and associate deans as a group will select reviewers from those named by the applicants, any former UWM recipients of the award, and others as deemed necessary for sufficient representation on the panel.

Proposal Review and Selection

Each proposal will be assigned a primary reader who will present the proposal to the review panel, and be responsible for providing substantive comments that can be shared with the applicant.

The review panel will make the final selection of proposals to be submitted.

Criteria upon which the decision will be made are:

1. The responsiveness to the program solicitation.
2. The PI’s/research team’s qualifications in the specific area of research.
3. The clarity and coherence of the pre-proposal.

Limited Submission Programs

If you are aware of any limited submission programs not listed here, please contact Kathleen Koch (kjk@uwm.edu, x3699).

If you are interested in applying to any of these programs, an internal Letter of Intent must be sent to research@ uwm.edu by the deadline listed below.

Sponsor	Program	Internal Letter of intent Due 5:00 p.m. on:	Sponsor Deadline	Specific Limitation per RFP	Areas	Status *
National Science Foundation	Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM)	03/13/2013	06/05/2013	Nominations may only be considered for one of the two categories of award, either "individual" or "organizational," but not both	Mentoring in STEM areas	Contact research@ uwm.edu
National Science Foundation	Scalable Nanomanufacturing	3/25/2013	6/3/2013	One per institution as lead organization	Engineering	OPEN
National Endowment for the Humanities	Summer Stipends	Preproposal due 4/30/2013	09/26/13	Two nominations per institution	Humanities	OPEN
National Science Foundation	Collections in Support of Biological Research	5/3/2013	07/26/2013	Three proposals per institution	Biological Sciences	OPEN
National Science Foundation	Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM)	UWM schools/colleges to conduct internal review if necessary—contact your dean.	08/13/2013	One proposal from each constituent school or college that awards degrees in an eligible field	Scholarships, STEM	OPEN
National Science Foundation	Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers Program	4/5/2013 and 10/14/2013 Follow sponsor's format	LOI: 6/28/2013 and 1/6/2014; Full Proposal 9/27/2013 and 3/4/2014	Any institution may submit multiple-university center proposals provided that the proposed research topics involve different disciplines and support different industries	Engineering	OPEN
National Science Foundation	Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM)	UWM schools/colleges to conduct internal review if necessary—contact your dean.	8/13/2013	One proposal from each constituent school or college that awards degrees in an eligible field	Scholarships, STEM	OPEN
National Science Foundation	Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering and Computer Science	7/15/2012	10/7/2013	Three proposals per institution	Engineering and Computer Science	OPEN
National Science Foundation	Advancing Digitalization of Biodiversity Collections	8/2/2013	10/25/2013	Only one proposal may be submitted by any one organization as the lead organization	Biological Sciences, Geosicences	OPEN
National Science Foundation	Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Sciences and Engineering Careers	09/06/2013; follow sponsor's format	LOI: 10/4/2013; Application 11/12/2013	Institutional Transformation and Institutional Transformation-Catalyst: One per institution	Advancement of female faculty in STEM areas	OPEN
National Science Foundation	Major Research Instrumentation Program	Pre-proposal deadline 10/28/2013 Contact research@uwm.edu for format requirements	01/23/2014	Three proposals per institution, no more than two may be for instrument acquisition	Science and Engineering	OPEN

* Status definitions:

• CLOSED = Letter of Intent deadline has passed and limit has been reached; competition closed to all applicants.
• OPEN = Letter of Intent deadline has not yet passed.
• CONTACT research@uwm.edu = Letter of Intent deadline has passed, but limit has not been reached.