Before developing your proposal, understand who may and may not apply for sponsored project funding through the Office of Sponsored Programs.
To achieve its aims of providing higher education, providing patient care, advancing knowledge, and contributing to the welfare of the State, UTMB accepts external funding in support of research and sponsored activities when the project:
- provides the faculty member with the opportunity to gain experience and knowledge of value to his/her teaching and/or research activities
- is a suitable sponsored activity through which the faculty member may make worthy contributions to knowledge
- provides appropriate public service to the community
- or provides an opportunity to enhance a student educational objective(s).
To be eligible to submit a proposal to an external funding agency, the proposed principal investigator must:
- be a full-time employee.
- have an academic title and
- have an appointment in an academic school or department.
The following title groups are eligible to initiate proposals for research or training contracts or grants:
- Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Instructor
- Professor of (dept. name), Associate professor (dept. name), Assistant Professor of (dept. name), Instructor of/in (dept. name)
- Faculty Associate, Lecturer, Teaching Associate
Waiver to Submit
In extraordinary circumstances when it is in the best interests of UTMB, the Vice Provost for Research may grant special approval for other individuals without academic appointments to apply for grants and contracts. The procedure for requesting a waiver is:
The proposed principal investigator or project director prepares a letter addressed to Dr. Antonio Bianco, Vice Provost for Research, requesting a waiver to the UTMB policy on Eligibility to Apply for External Support.
The letter of request should be signed by the appropriate institutional departmental head listed below and submitted to the principal investigator's OSP pre-award analyst:
The pre-award analyst will route the waiver to the Vice Provost for Research for review. When appropriate, an ad hoc review committee will be appointed to review the proposal for scientific merit.
The Vice Provost for Research will approve or reject the waiver, and your pre-award analyst will communicate the outcome.