Pre-Award Management

2026 NIH Deadlines

Grant Routing Deadlines

During the grant routing process, academic administrators and the UMB Sponsored Program Administration (SPA) will review the materials to identify and correct errors. Investigators are expected to assist their administrators in confirming the application materials are accurate before submission. The only changes that can be made after submission of all final documents are those requested by SPA.

Deadline #1: Seven Business Days Before Due Date

Investigators must submit to the Dean’s Office in final form, and via Kuali-Coeus, all grant front pages and all administrative materials. This includes:

• Budgets
• Budget justifications
• Personnel and effort
• Performance site locations
• Animal or human subject use forms

Deadline #2: Five Business Days Before Due Date

Submit all other remaining grant materials to the Dean’s Office for review and then submission to the UMB Office of Research Development. All grant materials must be in final form and marked final.

The Grant Routing Policy will be applied without exception for all NIH grant proposals when the School of Medicine is the submitting institution.

NOTE: Holidays and weekends are NOT business days.

Proposal Routing

Submit all documents via Kuali Research. Download the KR checklist for accurate proposal routing.

Institutional Information

Instantly access an alphabetized list of precise UMB institutional information to find everything from the University's accreditation status and EIN numbers to the Unique Entity Identification number.

F&A Cost Rates

Find a table of UMB Facilities and Administrative rates for sponsored activities on and off campus as well as explanations, documentation and a summary with examples of types of  F&A or Indirect Costs.

Regulatory Requirements

Principal Investigator Eligibility

To submit a proposal, the proposed Principal Investigator (PI) must have School-approved PI status.

Automatic PI Status Eligibility

Faculty are automatically eligible if they:

• Are salaried at 50% FTE or greater
• Hold a doctoral degree and appropriate academic or professional credentials
• Have an appointment in an academic school or department
• Hold one of the following faculty titles:
• Professor (all ranks, including Research and Clinical)
• Instructor (including Research and Clinical)
• Professor Emeritus

For full details, please refer to the SPA PI Eligibility and Exemption Policy

Under rare circumstances, a PI-eligibility waiver may be appropriate to allow someone that does not meet these qualifications to submit a proposal as a PI. We recommend discussing your specific request with ORA staff prior to submitting a waiver to determine suitability.

Questions or waiver requests contact som-ora@som.umaryland.edu

PI Effort Requirement

For new research projects (applied, basic or developmental), the minimum required PI effort is at least 1%.

Exceptions

The minimum effort requirement does not apply to:

• Revisions or Supplements
• Continuations
• Clinical Trials
• Other Sponsored Activities

Cost Sharing

Cost sharing (matching) is the portion of project costs not funded by the sponsor and may be required by the program solicitation. In general, UMB will agree to cost sharing only when it is a requirement for a proposal or program announcement. It is expected that faculty salary on a proposal will match the committed effort. For full details please refer to: UMB Policy on Sponsored Award Cost Sharing

Salary Cost Share Waiver Requests

In rare circumstances, SOM may approve a waiver to voluntarily cost-share faculty effort. To request a PI salary waiver, submit a letter to som-ora@som.umaryland.edu that includes:

• Proposal details
• Justification for the waiver
• Total salary amount being waived
• Signature of the Department/Institute/Center Chair or Director

Other Types of Cost Share Waiver Requirements

• Approval from the PI’s Chair and Dean
• Completed Cost Sharing Commitment Form
• Form uploaded to Kuali Research (KR) with the proposal

Additional guidance is available on the SPA website. Please note: no waivers or forms are required for federal over-the-salary-cap cost sharing.

F&A (Indirect Cost) Waivers

If a proposal uses an indirect cost (IDC) rate that differs from UMB’s federally negotiated Facilities & Administrative (F&A) rate, documentation must be provided showing:

• The sponsor’s published policy providing a different F&A rate OR
• Indirect Cost Waiver approved by:
• The SOM Dean’s Office
• Senior Vice President for UMB’s Office of Research and Development

Documentation must be uploaded to Kuali Research (KR).

Indirect Cost Waiver Requests

Submit a letter on chair/director letterhead to som-ora@som.umaryland.edu that includes:

• Proposal details
• Justification for the waiver
• Total indirect costs being waived
• Signature of the Department/Institute/Center Chair or Director

Download the above Pre-Award Regulations and Requirements as a PDF.

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