Yes. We can help you set up a profile which will send appropriate funding opportunities to your email address.

SPO Guidance on Process

There are very specific guidelines for how faculty and staff may interact with external agencies, companies, and non-profits when pursuing external support (certainly financial, and perhaps non-financial).

In general, a major distinction in how such activities are pursued is whether or not resources (financial, in-kind, etc.) provided by the partner to the department are considered a philanthropic gift or an agreement in which specific expectations of performance are required (a grant, a contract, or a cooperative agreement). To help determine whether your initiative is a gift vs. a sponsored project, please visit the Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) website for more information.

In general, gifts are processed through the Institutional Giving (formerly Corporate and Foundation Relations - CFR) office, while grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements are processed by the SPO. However, in some cases, both of these offices are involved if a philanthropic gift has complex financial considerations, if a grant-like industry agreement is part of a larger corporate engagement strategy, etc. These subtleties are why all such activities should be disclosed to the Office of Research, Director of External Partnerships, Chris Kitts, in order to guide you in your work and to provide support for doing so as necessary.

Submitting Grant Proposals

All proposals (narrative, budget, etc.) are reviewed at the department (by the Chair), School (by the AD Research), and university (by the Provost’s Office) levels as part of the proposal submission and review process. This review process ensures that the proposal is consistent with the mission of the institution, is budgeted properly, and that special aspects of the proposal are raised (and possibly pre-approved), such as IP, ITAR and technology transfer, requests for course release, the need for additional space, the use of subcontracts, the use of human subjects, the need for animal testing, safety issues, and so on. Faculty developing proposals with such considerations should certainly coordinate/discuss their plans with SPO/Office of Research officials well in advance of submitting a proposal.

Interactions with Companies and Foundations     

For interactions with a government agency, faculty are encouraged to develop contacts, speak to program managers, etc., on their own. Official disclosure occurs at the time of the formal submission of a proposal; this formal routing through the School and SPO provides all necessary coordination, management, and oversight. If by chance, you are planning to apply to a federal program that has a limit on the number of PIs that can submit from an institution in any one proposal cycle (this is true for a small number of NSF programs, for example), you should notify SPO well in advance; if there are more faculty interested in applying than the number permitted, the Provost’s Office will decide which proposals will be permitted for submission. 

Interactions with companies and foundations, however, are more delicate. This is because there is more risk for multiple, seemingly independent interactions by different university personnel to conflict, sometimes to the detriment of all. Furthermore, the approval process and subsequent transfer of gift or project funds from such non-government agencies can vary widely. This has led to disputes over the distribution of funds, inappropriate structuring of funding opportunities, upset sponsors, and other negative consequences.

As soon as any conversation you have with a representative from an external organization advances to the point where you are talking about the potential for them to support a program, activity, or effort, you are required to disclose this. Depending on whether the concept involves philanthropy or tangible deliverables, you should inform the Office of Research, Director of External Partnerships. If in doubt, inform Chris and he will decide how to track the effort, involve Development / University Relations, or SPO if there is uncertainty or other considerations.

As a reminder, to initiate the submission process with SPO, a faculty member must submit that office’s Intent to Apply form as early as possible. All proposal documents are required at least 5 days before the submission deadline for the program. Faculty are encouraged to submit this form or otherwise communicate with SPO personnel far in advance of deadlines, since that office can provide additional advice and assistance in such cases.

The earlier you contact us the better. We can review the application guidelines, help you develop the budget and start the application forms.

The University Library has resources available for writing data management plans for grant proposals, and a variety of data management and data curation tools.

SPO requires that all grant sections are received 5 business days in advance of the due date so that we can review for completeness and compliance.

Only the SPO is authorized to submit proposals on behalf of SCU. Proposals that are submitted without going through SPO run the risk of being out of compliance with University policy and, if awarded, may not be accepted.

Yes. Whether SCU will be the prime grantee or a sub-awardee on a grant, the proposal still needs to go through SPO.

No. Only an Authorized University Official can accept an award on behalf of SCU. All award letters and checks must be sent to SPO. 

To help determine whether the grant received is a gift or Sponsored Project, please consult this checklist.

The award agreement will specify the terms and conditions of the award including any requirements for changing the budget and scope of work.

Please reference this document regarding SPO Cost Allowability.

NSF requires that all PIs, students, and staff associated with an NSF-funded project complete the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) course. To access the RCR course:

1. Log in to your CITI account. (If you don't have one, click Register in the upper right corner and follow the prompts.)
2. Click on the My Courses tab in the upper left corner of the screen.
3. Scroll down the page to Learner Tools for Santa Clara University and select Add a Course.
4. Check the Responsible Conduct of Research box.
5. Choose the box that best aligns with your role.

Since there is no central campus for defraying project over expenditures these financial liabilities become the responsibility of the PI and his/her department and the school.

In order to be in compliance with our federal funders, all PIs (whether their funding is federal or not) are required to certify that they are not being paid for more than 100% FTE and that the award is only paying for the percentage of time actually spent on the award(s). 

Moving expenses around to different accounts is a "red flag" to auditors. It is much simpler, cleaner, and more accurate to charge expenditures to the award when those expenditures are made.