Route & Submit Proposal

3.1 Background

The goal of the Central Office of Research is to ensure that all proposals from OAU for local and international competitions are properly reviewed, screened and vetted, to add a competitive edge

A Dashboard [user dashboard] has been created to operationalize this goal. Any researcher who wishes to use this service should follow the procedures outlined below. Kindly note that the upload of a draft proposal to the Dashboard is at the discretion of the research team. Note also, that the vetting of a proposal may take up to 10 working days (approximately 2 weeks).

In this regard, services to be provided by the COR include the following:

• Review of proposals with special attention to the technical soundness, layout, grammar, tenses and overall quality of presentation, etc.
• Budget (and budget justification) in terms of accuracy and completeness
• Crosschecking specific requirements of the Call-for-Proposals and the draft proposal in terms of conformity with guidelines.
• Some granting agencies may require Principal Investigators (Pls) and members of research teams to disclose outside interests, relationships, commitments and activities for a conflict of interest (COI) review. A COI applies to any (or all) of the following scenarios: where a staff member’s personal, professional, financial or commercial interests outside of the University may lead to any of the following outcomes: (a) Biasing the results of scholarly research, and (b) Resulting in a personal or family members gaining some advantages or benefits, at the expense of the institution.

3.2 Proposal Submission Form (PSF)

The PSF contains all the vital details of the proposal. Specific information include name of the granting agency, category of grant (research, R&D, capacity building, Centre of excellence, etc.), range of funding, deadlines for submission, names of research teams, etc.

The PSF enables the COR to keep track of all submissions of proposals from OAU. Essentially, the PSF enables OAU to accumulate and manage data and metrics of all proposals submitted, and all successful applications, and award management, up to the number of projects successfully closed out.

Sections of the PSF

• Name of Principal Investigator
• Proposal Title
• Name of Granting Agency
• Deadline for Proposal Submission
• Key Words
• Project Personnel
• Listing of Critical Items (e.g. human and animal subjects, hazardous materials, DNA etc.)
• Conflict of Interest Disclosures (if required)
• Subcontracts (if required)
• Intellectual Property Disclosure (if required)
• Material Transfer Agreements/Approvals (if required)
• Cost Sharing (if required)
• Project Duration
• Other Pertinent Information
• Signature (of the PI)

3.3 Processing proposals

The following steps are followed in the vetting and processing of proposals

• Proposal submission form is filled and uploaded through the Dashboard
• Draft proposal is uploaded to the Dashboard
• Details of institutional support documents for the proposal submission are listed in the Dashboard
• There is an e-mail notification to the COR, and to the Proposal Review Panel
• Services rendered by the COR
  • Review the technical details of the proposal
  • Review the budget/budget justification
  • Provision of all institutional support documents
  • Ensure that all the requirements of the granting agency are met
  • Ensure that all proposals that are submitted within the specified time frame for the processing of applications are duly submitted to the granting agency with all requirements met.
  • Applicants and PIs are fully aided and supported to submit their proposals to the granting agency with all the requirements met.

User Dashboard