Limited Submissions

IDENTIFICATION AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF LIMITED SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITIES

The Office of the VPR monitors a number of recurring limited submission opportunities and disseminates internal solicitations regularly. If an LSO is targeted to faculty within a School/Department, the VPR Office will defer to that unit for coordination. If there are additional LSOs that Schools would like for VPR to add to the list to coordinate, please email us. Notification of LSOs handled by VPR are publicized as follows:

• Limited Submission Competition Page – This page includes open opportunities managed by VPR and is updated frequently.
• LSO Mailing List - To sign up for email alerts for all limited submission opportunities (LSOs) posted to the limited submission competition page, send an email to lso_announce-request@virginia.edu with the word subscribe as the only word in the Subject heading.
• Targeted Emails - Sent to Associate Deans of Research and others from appropriate Schools, Departments, and units. Each School has separate processes for sharing these announcements with faculty and staff.

INTERNAL COMPETITION PROCESS

• Letter of Intent (LOI) Submission –Before holding an internal competition, we typically issue a Call for Letters of Intent to determine interest. If there is more interest than the number of submissions allowed by the sponsor (e.g., three faculty have expressed interest in applying to an opportunity where the sponsor only allows one proposal from UVA), the individuals who submitted a Letter of Intent will then be invited to an internal competition.

  The InfoReady system will prompt you to provide the following:

  • Proposal title
  • List of participating faculty (name and Department) 
  • Short (no more than 1 paragraph) description of the planned proposal

• Submitting the Letter of Intent in InfoReday Locate the opportunity on the Limited Submission Competition Page. To apply, click on the “Apply” button at the top right-hand side of the page. You will login to the system using NetBadge. If the PI is submitting the Letter of Intent, the PI’s name and email will already be filled in. If you are submitting the proposal on behalf of the PI, please fill in the PI’s name and email address (use the PI’s UVA ID, not an email alias). Enter the proposal title, the list of participating faculty (name and Department), and a short (no more than 1 paragraph) description of the planned proposal. This information will be used to help develop the internal review panel, if necessary. An individual may only submit one Letter of Intent. To submit proposals on behalf of multiple applicants, please email limited-submission-vpr@virginia.edu for assistance.

• Pre-Proposal Submission – If there is more interest than the number of submissions allowed by the sponsor, the individuals who submitted an LOI will then be invited to submit a pre-proposal for an internal competition. Information regarding the pre-proposal is generally provided within the internal solicitation.   
• Review and Candidate Selection - Pre-proposals are passed on for evaluation by reviewers.
  • Internal Review –Internal review committees provide critical reviews and make recommendations for the pre-proposal(s) that should go forward for external submission. Committee members are invited to serve on specific panels based on their subject expertise and/or their experience with a particular sponsor or program. VPR follows the best practice of many foundations and agencies and does not disclose the names of individual reviewers who contribute to a specific review panel.
  • External Review – The VPR office will also seek external peer reviews through professional organizations and contacts as needed to facilitate a thorough scientific review for selected opportunities.
  • Automatic Selection – Utilized when there is only one LOI received.  Proposal feedback is not provided.

Note: The limited submission team notifies individual internal applicants of their pre-proposal review results via email. If a faculty member decides to decline the selection, they must contact us as soon as possible to allow another faculty member to compete externally.

REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS FOR NEW AND AD HOC LIMITED SUBMISSION OPPORTUNITIES

Ad hoc LSOs refer to limited submission opportunities that are not currently included on the list of LSOs that the VPR monitors and handles. If an individual locates a funding opportunity of interest that has not been announced by our office, and it is a limited submission opportunity, they must contact the VPR office (limited-submission-vpr@virginia.edu) immediately.

• Ad hoc – Standard Timeline: If there is sufficient time (≥8 weeks), an internal competition will be launched and managed centrally as a standard LSO process described above for recurring solicitations. The typical timeline is as follows:
  • ≈ 1 week to allow for internal LOI submission
  • ≈ 2 weeks to allow for internal pre-proposal submission
  • ≈ 2 weeks to allow for review of internal pre-proposals
  • ≈ 3-4 weeks to allow for PI to prepare external proposal, secure approvals, and submit.
• Ad hoc – Short-notice Timeline: If there is insufficient time to conduct an internal competition (<8 weeks), VPR will handle the selection process as follows:
  • Opportunities with an external deadline within 8 weeks:
    • Launch an LSO LOI to determine interest. If schools are aware of any expected applicants, schools will alert these expected applicants to facilitate LOI response on an abbreviated timeline.
    • If there is an indication that there will be more proposals than allowable by the sponsor, the VPR will employ an accelerated decision-making process to determine the best possible proposal to be submitted to the sponsor.
      • If time allows, VPR will invite domain experts to provide a review to make the selection.
      • If there is not sufficient time to secure subject matter experts to serve as reviewers, the research development staff, in consultation with the VPR, will make the selection.
      • In the extreme case when there is insufficient time for the research development staff or the VPR to review and make a decision, as a last resort, the VPR office may pick the first application received to move forward.
      • The applicant will be required to respond by text or email of their intent within hours of notification, failing which the selection notice will expire and go to the next in line.

COST SHARE

Some limited submission opportunities include cost share requirements. Cost share requirements at the pre-proposal stage can vary; in some cases, cost share must be specified at the pre-proposal stage, while in other cases only estimates are required. PIs should work with the Department and Dean’s Office to develop a cost share package that is appropriate for the specific limited submission program, as described in the internal RFP.

PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT

Depending on the funding opportunity, VPR staff, UVA Corporate & Foundation Relations, or other units may provide additional resources for proposal development to faculty who have been selected to submit to the sponsor.

EXTERNAL SUBMISSION

If you are selected as a UVA nominee for a limited submission opportunity, the process for acquiring appropriate approvals and submitting proposals to sponsors is generally handled through research administrators within your department or in your school; please make sure to touch base with your research administrator to confirm details.

QUESTIONS?

Please contact us with questions.