Federal Proposal Guidance

The NSF uses their Fastlane and Research.gov electronic systems for proposal submission and proposal and award management.

UCSB submits NSF proposals through Research.gov. Proposals should be prepared in accordance with the program guidelines and the NSF Proposal & Award Policies Procedures Guide (PAPPG).

Special Note: Per Chapter II.C.2.g(i)(a) of the new PAPPG, NSF now requires institutions to include their definition of a “year” in every budget justification when requesting any salary for Senior Personnel. At UCSB, a “year” is defined as the fiscal year that spans from July 1 – June 30. This statement must be included in the section of the Budget Justification in which you are justifying the salary request(s).

Special Note: For some solicitations, NSF utilizes Target Dates rather than Deadline Dates. It is our recommendation that these Target Dates are treated in the same manner as Deadline Dates. This approach is the best practice to ensure submitted proposals are accepted and reviewed in a timely manner by NSF. If you have any questions regarding Target Dates, please reach out to the appropriate NSF Program Officer for your submission.

For questions and concerns regarding NSF's Sexual Harassment Policy, please see our webpage here. 

For information and guidance on the NSF Current and Pending support document, please visit our Other Support web page here.

The NIH uses their eRA Commons electronic systems for proposal and award management. Proposal submission for NIH is completed through Grants.gov. As a campus, we utilize Cayuse, an electronic proposal submission module to submit all Grants.gov proposals.

Cayuse performs a series of error and warning checks prior to proposal submission. Once the proposal is submitted in Cayuse, it will be validated in Grants.gov and moved into eRA Commons. Once there, it will be validated once again and checked for warnings and errors.

NIH has recently released their latest version of application packets, known as Forms-G. These forms will be used for all proposals with due dates on or after January 25, 2022. Please continue to use Forms-F for any proposals due January 24, 2022 or earlier.

NIH proposals with due dates on or before January 24, 2022 should be prepared in accordance with the program guidelines and the Forms-F SF424 Guide. NIH proposals with due dates on or after January 25, 2022 should be prepared in accordance with the program guidelines and the Forms-G SF424 Guide.

Expiration Dates on NIH solicitations are hard deadlines. A PI submitting a proposal to an expired solicitation will result in a denial. If a PI wishes to submit a proposal to an expired solicitation, the PI should reach out to the Program Officer to determine if there is an alternative or successor solicitation to submit to instead.

For information and assistance on NIH Other Support documents, please visit our web page here.

NASA uses their NSPIRES electronic systems for most proposal and award management actions. Proposal submission for NASA is completed through NSPIRES.

NSPIRES performs specific error and warning checks before a proposal is submitted.

NASA proposals should be prepared in accordance with the program guidelines and the NASA Guidebook for Proposers.

The DOE utilizes Grants.gov for proposal submission. As a campus, we utilize Cayuse, an electronic proposal submission module to submit all Grants.gov proposals.

Cayuse performs a series of error and warning checks prior to proposal submission. Once the proposal is submitted in Cayuse, it will be validated in Grants.gov.

DOE proposals should be prepared in accordance with the program guidelines.

ONR utilizes Grants.gov for proposal submission. As a campus, we utilize Cayuse, an electronic proposal submission module to submit all Grants.gov proposals.

Cayuse performs a series of error and warning checks prior to proposal submission. Once the proposal is submitted in Cayuse, it will be validated in Grants.gov.

ONR proposals should be prepared in accordance with the program guidelines.

The remainder of the federal agencies that provide funding, listed below, also utilize Grants.gov for proposal submission. As a campus, we utilize Cayuse to submit these agency proposals through Grants.gov.

Cayuse performs a series of error and warning checks prior to proposal submission. Once the proposal is submitted in Cayuse, it will be validated in Grants.gov.

All proposals for the following agencies should be prepared in accordance with the program guidelines and any agency specific guidance.

• Department of Defense (DOD)
  • see our web page here regarding DOD previous/current/pending support documents
• Department of the Air Force (Air Force)
• Department of the Army (Army)
• Department of Education (DOEd)
• Department of Agriculture (USDA)
  • National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
• Department of Commerce (DOC)
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• Department of the Interior (DOI)
  • U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
• National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)