Limited Submissions

Important Annual Deadlines

Below is information regarding important limited submissions that occur annually.

The list below indicates the typical month you can expect our internal deadline for campus competitions. Campus competitions are announced via email, and instructions and deadlines can be found on Competition Space.

If you have any questions about the status of a competition or whether spots remain available on a first-come, first-serve basis, please reach out to funding@research.ucsb.edu.

PI Responsibilities

Faculty are responsible for conducting their own funding searches, tracking the limited submission opportunities that they are interested in, and notifying Strategic Research Initiatives (SRI) if they identify a limited submission opportunity that has not been listed on the UCSB Internal Funding & Limited Submission Competitions page. If you need guidance for how to do a funding search or a question about limited submission opportunities, please contact funding@research.ucsb.edu.
 
Once a faculty member is selected to apply for a specific limited submission opportunity, they have the responsibility to submit to that program by the designated deadline and to work with the appropriate administrative units within the University to prepare the best possible proposal. Once selected, the applicant has the responsibility to submit a timely application, barring serious, extenuating circumstances.  Should a candidate need to decline a selection, Strategic Research Initiatives must be notified via funding@research.ucsb.edu as soon as possible to permit another faculty member to compete externally.

Announcements of Opportunities

Strategic Research Initiatives (SRI) in the Office of Research announces the majority of limited submission programs and coordinates the campus selection process. Opportunities are identified through invitations, funding databases, and past opportunities. While staff does their best to communicate opportunities in a reasonable timeframe, please be aware there is the possibility we miss one or learn of an opportunity belatedly. If you become aware of a funding opportunity with limited submission requirements that is not listed, please contact funding@research.ucsb.edu immediately.

Announcements that include detailed information about the opportunity including the internal deadlines and application process are emailed directly to the appropriate deans, department chairs, program directors, contract and grant liaisons, and faculty, and are also posted to the Office of Research limited submission site.

Faculty should not proceed with a response to a limited submission opportunity without obtaining approval from the Office of Research by contacting funding@research.ucsb.edu and pursuing the limited submission policy and procedures.

Internal Competitions

Internal deadlines are chosen to allow adequate time for the campus review of applications and to allow sufficient time for the selected applicant to meet the agency deadline. In most cases the Office of Research will ask interested faculty to submit a letter of intent (LOI). An LOI requires the submission of the names of the PI and any co-PIs, the anticipated administering unit, and a descriptive project title.

1. Link to our Limited Submissions website.
2. Choose Apply via your relevant opportunity.
3. Follow the prompts to provide your contact information.
4. If submitted correctly, you will receive a confirmation.
5. Contact funding@research.ucsb.edu with any questions.

If the Office of Research receives more potential submissions than the campus is authorized to submit, pre-proposals will be requested and an ad-hoc review panel will be scheduled. If a pre-proposal was not initially requested, the Office of Research will request the appropriate materials from the applicants and set a deadline. If no campus submissions are received, the campus spot(s) will be given on a first-come basis.

Review Process

The Office of Research will determine if a campus competition is warranted based on the number of applications received by the deadline and the agency guidelines. Participants will be notified no later than two business days following the internal deadline about the need for a campus review, including the full list of applications (investigators and project title) that will be participating in the campus competition.

In most cases, if the number of participants does not exceed the number of allowable submissions no internal review will be necessary. However, if the agency requires cost-sharing or other large commitments from the university, the submission will need approval from the appropriate senior administrators.

Strategic Research Initiatives convenes an ad hoc faculty committee with the expertise necessary to conduct a fair and thorough review. Considering the diversity of applications submitted during a typical limited submission, it is unfeasible to convene a panel where each member is an expert capable of evaluating all proposals in a given pool. Therefore, chairs of departments from which an application was submitted will be asked to nominate a faculty reviewer for the campus review. In this way, the review panel should be composed of individuals each capable of evaluating the research merits of at least one application, although all review members will weigh in on presentation, clarity, adherence to proposal preparation instructions, and alignment with agency guidelines.

The committee identifies the application(s) with the best chance of success in the overall external competition by evaluating:

• Responsiveness to the program guidelines and review criteria
• Intellectual merit of the proposed project
• Relevance to the University's research objectives
• Appropriateness of the researcher or research team to the proposed project
• Presentation of the project

The committee makes a recommendation regarding an applicant(s) to the relevant Deans and the Vice Chancellor for Research who will, in consultation, select an applicant(s) to move forward to the agency. All applicants and their deans will be notified of the results and provided with a summary of the review comments if appropriate.

In special cases where the agency program guidelines require a large institutional commitment or coordination, the review panel may either be initially composed of senior administrators or the selection process will incorporate a second layer of review by senior administrators.

Past Competitions

Some programs may still be open for agency submissions if fewer than the eligible number of preliminary proposals were received and the sponsor's deadline has not passed. Approval to apply to the sponsoring agency may be granted on a first-come  basis. Contact funding@research.ucsb.edu if you are interested in submitting to a competition with available slots.

Cost Sharing

Unless specifically mentioned in the campus announcement, cost-sharing (mandatory or voluntary) commitments are not required at the internal proposal stage and should not be sought until the applicant has received approval from the Office of Research to submit an application to the funding agency. Click here to learn more about UCSB's Cost Share policies.