SUBJECT:

Requirements for submission of Sponsored Research Proposals to the Office of Contract and Grant Administration (OCGA)

To maximize the chance that sponsored research proposals are successfully selected for award, it is vital that we continue to submit high-quality proposals to our sponsors. OCGA's role in this process is to ensure that proposals incorporate all essential data, forms, and information, and that they comply with both University and sponsor requirements.

The Health Sciences and General Campus communities have benefited from a highly flexible practice by the Office of Contract and Grant Administration (OCGA), receiving proposals in response to sponsor solicitations for review, analysis and submission with very little advance notice prior to the published sponsor deadline. Increasingly, proposals are received for the first time by OCGA the day before or the same day of the sponsor deadline. This practice causes other Principal Investigator's proposals, submitted with ample advance notice, to be set aside in order for the last minute proposals to be reviewed and submitted. This can lead to increased risk of proposals being submitted with errors, and increased rejection rates from Sponsors' automated web services system.

Effective July 1, 2012, proposal submission deadlines will be enforced for all proposals submitted to OCGA. For deadlines, please refer to: http://ocga.ucsd.edu/Proposals/Timely_Submission.htm for a detailed outline of these new deadlines.

In consideration of the growing complexity and rigor of the proposal submission process from all sponsors and the extensive volume of proposal activity, it is in the best interests of all Principal Investigators do their utmost to observe these deadlines. Doing so will enable Department/ORU staff and OCGA to ensure they are providing the PI with the highest level of service, and that a proposal can be successfully prepared, reviewed, and submitted, without errors, to meet the sponsor's deadline.

If you have questions regarding the implementation of these deadlines, please contact Linda Collins, AVC Office of Contract and Grant Administration by lcollins@ucsd.edu or at X43333.

Sandy Brown Vice Chancellor, Research