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Grant Application Process (Pre-award)

STEP 1: Submit a Notice of Intent to Apply

The Principal Investigator/Project Director (PI/PD) should notify the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs (ORSP) with an Intent to Apply for external funding at least 30 days prior to the application due date via the ORSP Intent to Apply Form.

The following items must be included in the Intent to Apply Form:

  1. Name of  Principal Investigator/Project Director
  2. Estimated percent effort of PI/PD on the grant
  3. Sponsor
  4. Project Title
  5. Other faculty or staff included on the proposal (and % effort for each if awarded)
  6. Disclosure of any expected conflicts of interest, including significant financial conflicts (see Ferris's COI Policy for Investigators)
  7. Total estimated budget for the grant (and attach budget using this budget spreadsheet)
  8. Indirect costs, if allowable (Note: FSU indirect cost rate is 31% MTDC; if sponsor has lower rate, see policy for how to request a waiver of indirects)
  9. Project start and end date, if funded
  10. College/Unit plan for covering teaching time for all faculty, if awarded
  11. Link to RFA/grant instructions
  12. Sponsor application deadline
  13. Brief description of project (abstract)
  14. Intent to use any animal subjects
  15. Intent to use human subjects 
  16. Involvement of any of the following: Radioactive Material(s), Radiation Producing Devices(s), Recombinant DNA, Biohazardous Chemical(s), Class IIIb or IV Lasers, other certifications of health, safety and/or environmental compliance

Note: This Intent to Apply does not obligate the PI/PD to submit, but provides time to let supervisors and other personnel know what you are planning. Principal Investigator (PI)/Project Director (PD) is defined in the FSU Grants Policy (2021) as a Faculty or staff member responsible for directing and managing all aspects of a sponsored project. 

Once the Intent to Apply has been approved at the College level (Dept Chair and Deans) and Provost, a meeting will be scheduled to review the RFP instructions, deadlines and timeline for submitting the proposal.

Step 2: Develop the Proposal and Budget 

The PI is responsible for developing the proposal and budget in accordance with the RFP and FSU Grant Policy and Indirect Cost (F&A) Policy. The final proposal and budget spreadsheet must be reviewed and approved via an internal routing process in the Cayuse 424 system at least 7 days (5 business days) prior to the submission due date to guarantee submission. Pre-submission approvals are required from your  Department Head/Dean/Director, College Dean, as well as the ORSP Grants Administrator, and ORSP Director. Any grant applications over $250,000 in total costs, will require additional approval from the VP of Administration & Finance. After all approvals have been obtained, either the PI or ORSP will submit the grant to the funding agency on behalf of FSU (depends on the RFA instructions).

STEP 3: Proposal Routing (Cayuse 424) - at least 3 days prior to the application deadline

ORSP will upload the proposal documents, budget and other required items (per RFA) into Cayuse 424 for internal routing using the following sequence:

  • PI/PD
  • Department Chair
  • Dean
  • ORSP
  • VP Administration and Finance (if total request > $250,000)

STEP 4: Submitting the Proposal to Sponsor

For federal grant applications utilizing Grants.gov: ORSP will submit the proposal via Cayuse 424.
For other grant sponsors: Following routing approvals, the application may be submitted by the PI to the sponsor directly.