Limited Submission Programs

Background and Limited Submission Committee

Many federal agencies and foundations offer grants, awards and fellowships that limit the number of applications submitted from one institution. Extra submissions can result in rejection of all submitted by that institution. Researchers interested in submitting to a specific limited submission opportunities (LSO) must apply to an internal competition and be selected for full proposal submission to the opportunity's sponsor.

 Whenever possible, these opportunities will be advertised to researchers in a timeframe that allows for sufficient time for the internal review process to occur and a decision communicated that allows the selected research member to prepare a high-quality proposal for submission.

 Internal competitions help verify the eligibility of an applicant and ensure that another application has not already been selected to submit to a specific limited submission opportunity. In order to increase the chances of UAF succeeding in such LSO applications, the Office of Vice Chancellor for Research has established a procedure to peer review pre-proposals in a timely fashion.

 We strive to ensure that the process for selecting these proposals is transparent, fair, and does not overburden the applicant(s) or reviewers charged with selecting the most competitive proposals/applications to represent the University. Limited submission projects are considered institutional and should demonstrate benefits to UAF. Exceptions to this process are made in certain situations, for example, when a deadline is short, when a program is highly focused, when an opportunity reflects a strategic priority and/or requires significant institutional commitment.

Limited Submission Committee (LSC) - 2020-2022

  • Russ Hopcroft – Chair
  • Matthew Wooller
  • Carl Tape  
  • Greg Breed  
  • Christa P. H. Mulder  
  • Julie McIntyre  
  • Jeremy Kasper
  • Ana Aguilar-Islas  
  • Kevin Winker  
  • Tapiana Wray

Note: The committee has the option of soliciting external reviews.

Limited Submission Opportunities Process

1. Opportunity announcement: The Vice Chancellor for Research will send out a limited submission call for whitepapers to deans and directors, which OGCA will share via the OGCA listserv. We anticipate that for major limited submission programs with established deadlines, there will be sufficient lead-time with the internal process.

2. Notification to your Institute, College, or School (as soon as you wish to apply): To apply to a limited submission program, first notify your dean/director that you intend to participate. The dean/director has the option to provide comments or rank multiple proposals submitted from their unit.

If your proposal will result in new space requirements, new courses and programs, new faculty hires, or need for additional resources it is important to engage in early discussions about these plans with your dean/director. This is also a good time to work out a plan with your dean/director for providing matching funds for your proposal, should the agency require non-federal matching funds

3. White paper submission for UAF-wide competition: If you are selected from your unit for a UAF-wide competition, then you will need to submit your white paper at the following link: 

White Paper Submission Form

White papers with budgets must be received by 3:00 p.m. on or before the internal submission deadline. You are required to submit the following through the form:

  • Title page;
  • White Paper (no more than 3 pages);
  • Draft budget (1page) using the Budget Spreadsheet Template.  If the LSO requires match/cost sharing indicate, and
  • CVs of PI and funded Co-Is: (2-page limit for each)

*Note: Some opportunistic or less known limited submission opportunities may have compressed timelines between the announcement of the request for proposals (RFP) and the due date for submission, which will require a corresponding compression of the internal review schedule. Such special opportunities will be dealt with on an ad hoc basis and timelines/schedules for these will be clearly circulated by the VCR and OGCA Pre-Award along with the original email circular that announces the opportunity.

**Special Note: For certain large-scale programs, such as proposals for developing centers, the PI or designated Co-I may be invited to make a presentation about the project directly to the limited submission review committee. Should this step be necessary, the requirement will be included in the initial opportunity announcement along with a modified timeline for the internal review process.”

 4Notification of Selected PIs: Your white paper will be reviewed and ranked by the LSC. The committee will make a recommendation to the VCR, and the VCR will decide which PIs will continue with a full proposal submission on behalf of UAF. The VCR will communicate this decision to the selected PIs, their respective dean/director, and relevant department fiscal/proposal staff by the date indicated in the solicitation memo. Candidates who have not heard any communication by this deadline should contact uaf-ogca-preaward@alaska.edu.”

Guidelines for Submitted Documents and Review Criteria

Please note that solicitation memos from the VCR's Office may augment these general instructions, so please be sure to reference the solicitation memo and also these guidelines as applicable.

 Title page: Provide a title page with the name of the sponsor, the name of the program, and the title of the proposed project. Include the names, titles, departments, telephone numbers and email addresses of the UAF PI and Co-Is. If applicable, provide the same information for the PIs of partner organizations, along with their affiliations at the partner organizations. Provide the name, email address, and telephone number of your dean or director. Indicate if the proposal requires matching funds and whether or not a plan for securing the matching funds is in place.

 Also indicate whether this is a (i) new white paper never reviewed before; (ii) a resubmission of a white paper (that was not advanced for full proposal submission) with no/minor/major modifications; (iii) a resubmission of a white paper (that was advanced for full proposal submission but proposal was not funded) with no/minor/major modifications.

 White paper: The white paper can be a maximum of 3 pages in length, including figures and references. Please use a minimum 12-point font size for the text and a minimum 1-inch margin for the document. This 3-page white paper is the only document that the internal review and selection committee will base its judgment on, so please take care to succinctly present your proposal ideas in this document. The white paper should present the rationale/purpose of the project/request, your work plan, personnel and responsibilities, relevance to the specific call, plus relevance to UAF and Alaska.

 Should your white paper fall in category (iii), i.e. it is a resubmission related to a full proposal that was submitted earlier but not selected by the agency for funding, then please add a short section (no more than 1 page) on 'reference to the earlier proposal' that summarizes the main strengths and weaknesses pointed out by the reviewers and how you are planning to address the weaknesses in this second round of submission. This section is not counted in the 3-page limit.

 Depending upon the solicitation, the following should also be included in the white paper:

  • Program or center development white papers: Carefully outline how this new program or center will fit into the existing university structure and describe how this program can become self-sufficient. Append a signed support letter from your dean or director (not counted in the 3-page limit). Note: Establishment of a center requires UA Board of Regent approval. This is not required at the submission stage, but will be necessary prior to accepting an award.
  • Instrumentation white papers: Preference is given to proposals requesting instrumentation that benefits multiple faculty members or multiple programs. White papers must include recent price quotes from the anticipated vendor (not counted in the 3-page limit). If applicable, you must identify the room or lab that will house the equipment and provide cost estimates for installation.

Budget summary: (<1 page, not included in the 3-page limit). For sponsors not requiring budgets submitted with a pre-proposal request, or only requiring a bottom line dollar figure, a budget spreadsheet is not required to be submitted with the internal whitepaper request. 

 Should the solicitation require matching funds, then present a brief summary of the budget request, indicate the approximate amount of funds requested from the agency, the amount and terms required for the match, and the identified sources for the matching funds. Indicate whether the matching fund sources are confirmed or not. The budget should conform using the Budget Spreadsheet Template.

CVs of PI and funded Co-Is: Include a short CV (2-page limit each) of the PI and funded Co-Is.

Review Criteria

White papers will be evaluated on:

  • Scientific/technical quality and merit (5-point scale)
  • Compliance and alliance with agency requirements/specific RFP (3-point scale)
  • Relevance/benefit of the proposed research for UAF/State (3-point scale)
  • Evaluation of the budget request/match plan (3-point scale) (applicable only for RFPs where match funding is required)
  • Overall rating (5-point scale)

Please note that solicitation memos from the VCR's Office may augment these general instructions, so please be sure to reference the solicitation memo and also these guidelines as applicable.

Limited Submission Funding Opportunities

Current Limitted Sbmission Funding Opprotunities

NSF- Regional Innovation Engines Broad Agency Announcement - Step 2

NSF 22-592 - Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC)

NIH-Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) Phase 1   

22-587 - IUSE / Professional Formation of Engineers: Revolutionizing Engineering Departments (IUSE/PFE: RED)

DE-FOA-0002581 - URBAN INTEGRATED FIELD LABORATORIES (IFL)

NSF 21-580 CyberCorps(R) Scholarship for Service (SFS)

 

A list of limited submission opportunities that the Office of Grants and Contracts Administration (OGCA) is currently aware of is provided below. Please note that this list is not comprehensive. Anyone interested in applying to a program with a limitation that is not currently posted on our website should immediately contact uaf-ogca-preaward@alaska.edu

Below is a list of annually recurring LSOs sorted by anticipated month of program announcement. Please be aware of the following:

  • This is meant to serve as a reference for faculty and administrators for planning purposes. Deadlines are general and may differ from year to year depending on when a competition is announced by the sponsor. For updated information on a particular competition, use the links below.

Calendar of Select Recurring Limited Submission Opportunities

Please note that months are approximate and all eligibility criteria subject to change. Check with the sponsor’s website.

SPONSOR NAME

PROGRAM NAME

MONTH PROGRAM ANNOUNCED 

MONTH OF SPONSOR DEADLINE

INSTITUTIONAL APPLICATION LIMIT

APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY

RESEARCH CATEGORY

Spring Announcements

National Endowment for the Humanities

Summer Stipends

March

September

2

Tenured - Tenure Track Faculty

Scholarly

Keck Foundation Grant Program

Research Program

March

November

1 per category (2 total)

Faculty

Basic

Brain Research Foundation

Scientific Innovations Award

April

June (LOI)

1 LOI (Full proposals are by invitation only)

Established Investigators

Basic
Applied

Summer Announcements

Doris Duke Foundation

Building Bridges

July

August (LOI)

1

Faculty

Engagement

Greenwall Foundation

Faculty Scholars Program in Bioethics

July

September (LOI)

2 LOIs

Junior faculty

Basic
Applied

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Institutes of Health

S10 Instrumentation Programs 
Links to Grant Bulletin S10 search results 

Varies with opportunity

Deadlines vary

Not Limited

Faculty

Instrumentation Program

Simons Foundation Investigators

Math, Physics, Astrophysics, and Computer Science Program

July

October

2 per category

Tenured faculty

Basic

Simons Foundation Investigators

Mathematical Modeling of Living Systems (2018 Guidelines)

July

October

2

W/in 10 years of first faculty position

Basic

Fall Announcements

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Inventor Fellows Program

September

December

2

Faculty and other fulltime UI affiliates w/in 10 years of terminal degree

Basic
Applied

Keck Foundation Grant Program

Research Program

September

May

1 per category (2 total)

Faculty

Basic

Damon Runyon Foundation

Clinical Investigator Award

September

February

5

Independent assistant professor or equivalent

Applied

Mallinckrodt Foundation

Scholars Program

October

January

2

5th to 8th year tenure track

Basic

Brain Research Foundation

Seed Grant Program

October

January (LOI only)

1

Fulltime assistant or associate professors

Basic
Applied

Winter Announcements

Whiting Foundation

Public Engagement Fellowship Program

December

June

1

Early-career, full-time humanities faculty

Engagement

Mellon Foundation

Grant resources

January

March

1

Tenured faculty

Engagement

National Institutes of Health

Biomedical Research Facilities (C06)

January

March

1

Tenured faculty

Infrastructure

Pew Scholars Program

Biomedical Sciences Program

February

October

1

Fulltime assistant professor - less than three years

Basic
Applied

Searle Foundation

Scholars Program

February

September

1

Applicants should be within one year of post-assistant professor appointment. The appointment must be their first tenure-track position at an invited institution.

Basic

National Science Foundation

Major Research Instrumentation Program

February

January

3 (no more than two in Track 1 and 1 in Track 2

Faculty

Instrument Acquisition or Development

Mallinckrodt Foundation

Grants Program

February

August

1

No more than 4 years in tenure track position. Applicants with current R01 funding are not eligible.

Basic

 

Year-Round Opportunities

 Only one proposal from UAF can be considered at a time for the Murdock Research Application. The request must be for one or more pieces of large equipment intended primarily to support research activities at UAF. Murdock also typically requires a 1:1 cost share commitment with the equipment request. These funds will need to be secured by the proposing unit and worked out with the VCR prior to a full submission to Murdock, if the whitepaper is chosen to go forward.

If interested, please submit a 1-2-page whitepaper outlining the following:

  • Model and description of each equipment item and a reason why that particular brand has been chosen;
  • Justify the need for major equipment if the same or similar equipment is already available on campus;
  • Identify where this equipment will reside, how it will be maintained, and how many researchers and students will be using the equipment; and
  • Equipment costs, including a justification and vendor quotes.
  • The following criteria will also be considered when assessing this pre-proposal, and should be addressed:
  • Centrality of the equipment to the UAF research mission;
  • The clarity of the budget narrative including a detailed description of the cost share commitment;
  • Demonstration of shared/interdisciplinary use;
  • Essential to a key program at UAF;
  • Full funds to purchase the equipment are not potentially available from another source; and
  • Partial cost sharing by unit Dean/Director to demonstrate commitment to acquisition.
  •  

NEA Grants for Arts Projects - There are some exceptions to the one-applicant rule. Please consult the applicant eligibility information.

Rasmuson Foundation - Tier 1 and Tier 2 - All proposals to the Rasmuson Foundation require written permission from the UAF Chancellor. If you are planning to submit a Rasmuson Foundation proposal, you must first submit it to the Chancellor for pre-approval. OGCA will then review the proposal upon approval from the Chancellor.