Office of Research

Who may submit proposals? Per UCOP policy, to serve as PI on a research project you must be a member of the Academic Senate, hold 50 percent or more of full time in the Adjunct Professor series or Professional Research series. By exception, the Dean may approve the submission proposal by other appointees in special circumstances when such action is in the best interest of the University, and if space and facilities can be assigned without detriment to the regular instructional and research responsibilities of the University.

To request an exception to submit as PI, please contact the Associate Dean for Research, David Richardson (dbricha1@hs.uci.edu) and Assistant Director for Contracts and Grants, Lauren Nguyen (lnsoto@hs.uci.edu), 6-8 weeks ahead of the sponsor deadline.

Limited Submissions: If a sponsor limits the number of applications an institute can submit, we must obtain approval from the Office of Research (OR) who may hold an internal competition. Please contact Lauren Nguyen, who will coordinate with OR.

It is best practice to contact your Research Analyst (RA) as soon as you know you are going to submit a proposal. This guideline is structured for faculty serving as PI or MPI on an R01 or R01-equivalent proposals from NIH; however, this timeline holds for non-NIH proposals (e.g., NSF) that require a similar amount of work and preparation.

Large scale mechanisms (P01, U54, T32, etc.) require preparation months in advance. If you a preparing a multi-component or training grant, please contact Lauren Nguyen to see if there is extra program management available for preparing your proposal.

6-8 weeks prior to the Sponsor Deadline: Contact your RA to indicate your plan to submit a proposal and if you will be requesting a cost share commitment. Your RA will let you know if there are any special requirements to be aware of.

4 weeks prior to the Sponsor Deadline: Begin working with your RA to develop and finalize your budget.

2 weeks prior to Sponsor Deadline: Provide your RA with the following:

3 days prior to Sponsor Deadline:

Majority of proposal documents in final form

1 day prior to Sponsor Deadline:

Research Strategy and all other documents are required to be in final form and routed to SPA.

Funding Opportunity Checklists: Your RA can create a summary and checklist of required documents for your funding opportunity.

UCI Writing Resources & Support:

• Beth Riley – Editorial Director, Office of Research: briley@uci.edu
• Corporate & Foundations Relations: UCI’s Corporate and Foundation Relations team works with foundations, nonprofit organizations and corporations to build partnerships and advance UCI’s mission of teaching, research and public service. This team helps foundations and corporations navigate the university and build successful partnerships. They are also available to help staff and faculty identify suitable funding opportunities and prepare competitive applications.
  • Heather Fessler, Director of Foundation Relations: hfessler@uci.edu
• Specific Aims Feedback: Feedback on your Aims page from the Associated Dean for Research, and an opportunity to identify possible collaborations. Dr. Richardson can provide mentorship to junior and mid-career faculty and help integrate their research with collaborators.

Facilities & Other Resources: Public Health and the School of Medicine maintain a library of boilerplate material for units and resources on campus that can be included in the Facilities & Other Resources document. To request these descriptions, fill out this form. Additionally, if you have material you can add to this library, please send to Lauren Nguyen at lnsoto@hs.uci.edu.

Biosketches/Other Support: The PPH Office of Research can assist with keeping your biosketches and other support documents up-to-date in format and content.

Data Use Agreements (DUA):

• Non-profit organizations: Wanda Seang, Ancillary Agreements Officer, Sponsored Projects administration: wandas@uci.edu
• For profit organizations: David Gibbons, Director, Industry Sponsored Research: gibbonsd@uci.edu

Library Resources for Public Health Researchers 

Data Management & Sharing (DMS) Plan: The UCI Libraries have developed a robust webpage to address the following: 

• An overview of the 2023 NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy
• Definitions of key terms under the 2023 NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)Templates for Creating NIH Data Management and Sharing Plans (DSMP)
• Process to request a consultation with a Librarian

Drawing a Blank? Samples Can Get You Started! – NIH Extramural Nexus

• If you are new to writing grant applications, sometimes seeing how someone else has presented their idea can help as you are developing your own application. With the gracious permission of successful investigators, some institutes have provided samples of funded R01, R03, R15, R21, SBIR/STTR, K, and F applications, sharing plans, leadership plans, and more. They have even provided sample summary statements so you can know what to expect to receive as the outcome of the review of your application.

Human Fetal Tissue Research Policy

• NIH policy outlines requirements for applications that include Human Fetal Tissue Research (HFT) as described in NOT-OD-19-128 and clarified in NOT-OD-19-137. These requirements include:
• HFT Compliance Assurance: The applicant institution must provide a letter signed by the PD/PI assuring the HFT donating organization or clinic adheres to the requirements of the informed consent process and documentation that HFT was not obtained or acquired for valuable consideration. The PDF-formatted letter must be named ‘HFTComplianceAssurance.pdf’. Applications proposing HFT research that do not include this assurance will be administratively withdrawn and not reviewed.
• Research Strategy: In the Approach section of the Research Strategy, applicants/contract offerors must justify the need for use of HFT for the research proposed. The description must include a heading “Human Fetal Tissue Justification” and should be sufficiently detailed to permit meaningful evaluation by NIH.
• Budget: NIH requires all applicants for research involving HFT to use the R&R Budget Form to provide the detailed budgets for the cost of acquisition of HFT, and sufficiently describe and document in the budget justification the quantity, type, and source of the HFT, as well as a certification that valuable consideration has not been provided for the acquisition of HFT. If researchers are using donated or existing HFT, the line item costs should be indicated as a value of $0.00. NIH will not accept modular budgets for applications for research involving HFT.