Pre-Award Policies and Procedures

The following list includes commonly referenced policies and procedures relevant to DOM ORS. It is not comprehensive and may not cover all scenarios. For additional guidance or questions related to research administration, please reach out to your Research Administrator.

Advance Request Process

To request advance account setup for a research project, please contact your ORS research administrator for assistance in drafting the request letter. 

The request must include:

  • A copy of the official JIT request (or other proof confirming the intent to award that includes the project dates and the anticipated funding amount).  
  • Justification for the advance account (focusing on how lab function will need the funding in order to continue).
  • Explanation for why advance account is necessary (focusing on why you cannot wait until the formal awarding of funds).
  • Funding string for backup account (the PI/division will have to provide a discretionary funding account that will serve as financial backup for any purchases made on the advance account if the formal funding falls through).  
  • Full IRB approval, UW IRB PDA approval, or a statement addressing what work can be done prior to IRB approval.
  • If using an outside IRB, include UW Reliance team approval.
Chair/Institutional Letters of Support

Does your research require a letter of support from the department chair or the institution? 

DO NOT email the chair or RSP directly. Here is what to do:

  1. Draft a copy of the letter of support. Seek assistance and language guidance from your mentors and ORS research administrator, as needed.
  2. One month (4 weeks) before the proposal due date, send the drafted letter, your CV/biosketch, and Specific Aims page to your ORS research administrator.
  3. The ORS research administrator will review the letter to ensure it addresses sponsor criteria and perform standard proofreading/editing.
  4. The ORS research administrator will submit the letter, and associated documents, to the chair or RSP for review and/or signature. Additionally, your ORS research administrator will coordinate any requests for changes or updates.
  5. The ORS research administrator will provide the fully signed letter to you and assist with the submission of your proposal application.

Questions? Email ResearchServices@medicine.wisc.edu.

Contract Negotiation Process

Reach out to your DOM research administration if you receive a contractual agreement. Please notify them of:  

  • Proposed edits to be made
  • Technical concerns and issues
  • Related projects and/or funding strings
  • Costs or fees associated with the contract
  • IRB/IACUC/other certifications related to the contract
  • The name and contact information for the sponsoring institution’s administrative contact for this agreement

Please note that failure to provide this information may result in extended contract processing periods.

Cost Share/Matching Process

UW’s policy is to only cost share when explicitly required by the sponsor, also known as mandatory cost share. Any other situation involving cost share will be considered voluntary and is not recommended.

If a PI has documented a need to propose voluntary cost share, they must request a Letter of Intent to Cost Share from the administrators of the funding from which they intend to cost share—typically their division administrator/chair, or the department/administrator chair.

If cost share is pursued on a project (whether mandatory or voluntary), the Research Administrator will work with the PI to develop a cost share budget and justification that will be loaded to the RAMP record.

More information on UW Madison’s cost share policy can be found here.

Questions? Email researchservices@medicine.wisc.edu.

IPA Request

Intergovernmental Personnel Agreements (IPAs) allow a UW employee (excluding faculty) to remain on UW payroll while providing services to the Veterans Hospital. 

In UW Madison FY2025, the IPA process was significantly adjusted. Please email researchservices@medicine.wisc.edu for assistance in generating or managing IPAs.

Limited PI Status Request

The term Principal Investigator (PI) is used most commonly to identify the individual who is responsible for a sponsored research project (grant). This responsibility includes both leadership of the scientific/technical aspects of the project and compliance with the financial and administrative aspects of the award. Tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, and employees with Research Professor track titles are automatically eligible to serve as sponsored project PIs. Other individuals who wish to serve as PI on a proposal must request Limited PI Status.

DOM approves limited PI status on a proposal-by-proposal basis for academic staff members to serve as principal investigators on extramural grants and contracts. The limited PI status form must be uploaded in RAMP for each proposal submission. Provided DOM continues to approve RAMP records for subsequent submissions, SMPH will process.

Undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, visiting professors, and visiting academic staff are not eligible to apply for limited PI status. For these individuals, an appropriate faculty member should serve as PI, and the student, postdoctoral or visiting scholar be listed as co-investigator.

Exceptions will be granted when the visiting title is temporary pending resolution of a visa issue. In addition, postdoctoral scholars may be listed as PI when it is expected that, should the grant be awarded, they would move from the employee-in-training category into an appropriate research academic staff or faculty position.

Questions? Email ResearchServices@medicine.wisc.edu.

Qualification Guidelines by Title

Staff members who meet the qualifications outlined in sections A through D below are generally eligible to request limited Principal Investigator (PI) status. Approval from both the division chief and the staff member’s immediate supervisor is required for the request to proceed. Research faculty/professors are exempt from this approval requirement and may submit proposals without prior authorization. 

The qualifications listed below should be used to determine if a PI Status Request is allowable:

  1. Record of increasing responsibility serving as co-investigator or collaborator on grants or contracts awarded to and carried out at UW–Madison.
  2. Demonstrated ability to carry out responsibilities of PI, including:
    1. Meeting stated programmatic objectives of projects
    2. Administrative management of projects (financial and personnel management
    3. Research academic staff qualifications:
      1. Earned research doctorate (PhD) or other terminal degree in the field, such as an MFA, and
      2. Holds an academic staff appointment in the following series: Scientist, Innovator, or Researcher.
    4. Clinical Health Sciences (CHS) academic staff qualifications:
      1. Earned MD or equivalent terminal degree, and
      2. Holds an academic staff appointment in the Professor (CHS) series.
    5. Clinical academic staff qualifications:
      1. Earned degree requirement varies by discipline:
        1. In the Medical School, a MD is required.
        2. In Veterinary Medicine, a DVM is required.
        3. In Pharmacy, a Doctor in Pharmacy or Masters in Pharmacy is required.
        4. In Nursing, a PhD, DNSc, DSN, or EdD are required, and
      2. Holds an academic staff appointment in the Clinical Instructor or Professor series.
PI Effort

Please note that SMPH requires that all PIs on projects expend at least 1% effort (called the effort minimum) on proposals. If the award will not pay for the PI’s effort, the effort must be cost shared through allowable, discretionary funding.

University best practice states that if PI salary is allowable on an award, their salary should be charged to the award.

Please work with your DOM Research Administrator with questions on budgeting effort at the proposal stage

Proposal Submission Policy

DOM has adopted a proposal submission deadline policy to ensure faculty receive thorough and timely review and processing of their proposals by ORS. While it is highly recommended that proposals be submitted to ORS for review several weeks before the agency deadline, all DOM faculty are required to adhere to the schedule outlined below.

This schedule provides the ORS research administrator with adequate time to ensure that the proposal follows agency guidelines, the budget is accurate, incorporated contractual language is acceptable, time exists for necessary revisions, Chair and Dean approvals have been obtained, etc.

We cannot guarantee that proposals submitted after the deadline will be approved for submission to the funding agency.

  • Four weeks prior to deadline: All subaward documents must be submitted to ORS.
  • Two weeks prior to deadline: Budgets, including subaward details, must be submitted to DOM so they can be submitted and approved by SMPH.  
  • Five Business Days Prior to Deadline: All finalized documents, with the exception of the Specific Aims and Research Strategy, must be submitted to the DOM RA at least 5 business days before final proposal deadline  
  • Three Business Days Prior to Deadline: Specific Aims and Research Strategy, along with all other finalized documents, must be submitted to the DOM RA at least 3 business days before final proposal deadline. 
     

Processing and Routing:

  • Once all documents are uploaded to RAMP, the DOM RA will share a complete PDF version of the proposal for PI review. The DOM RA will send an email to the PI with instructions to certify the RAMP record for submission.
  • Once the PI has certified the record, the DOM RA will submit the RAMP record for DOM Chair review and approval.
  • The DOM Chair will submit the proposal to SMPH for approval. SMPH can/will submit NIH proposals directly upon approval.
  • Non-NIH proposals or any proposal requiring RSP signature will be submitted to RSP for final approvals. RSP will submit directly to sponsor OR indicate approval allowing PI/DOM RA to submit proposal materials to sponsor.
Tuition Remission

Tuition remission is provided to graduate students holding a research assistant, teaching Assistant, or program/project assistant appointment. Important information can be found at the Graduate School website and RSP website. 

Please work with your DOM RA to ensure that you are budgeting for tuition remission appropriately within new proposals.