A DRI authorized signing official reviews and submits final proposals to sponsors on behalf of the Institute. Principal Investigators are not authorized to submit on behalf of DRI.
DRI grant administrators assist VA PIs in developing and submitting research proposals. DRI sets a series of deadlines for various internal and external components to ensure sufficient time to review and obtain required approvals.
Please note that DRI will need to review detailed budgets and budget justifications for all proposals and subawards, including for NIH modular grant applications.
Here is an outline of DRI’s filing timeline:
45 Business Days Prior to Due Date
Please submit a PI-signed Grant Review Form to a grant administrator*. Be sure to indicate whether your proposal includes a subaward to another institution/site. All potential subaward partners are required to complete DRI’s Subrecipient Commitment Form. Full sign-off from consortium institutions is required prior to submission.
Federal grant applications can be highly complex depending on the nature of the application requirements. Items that should be discussed with DRI as early as possible include:
- Foreign collaborations
- Large single-item purchases (over $10,000)
- Studies that are ambiguous as to whether they meet the NIH’s definition of a clinical trial (https://grants.nih.gov/ct-decision/index.htm)
- Any study that might require a regulatory plan (SIRB) (https://www.research.va.gov/programs/orppe/single_irb.cfm)
- Studies involving human and animal subjects
Other forms and information to be provided to DRI at this time include:
- PI-signed Grant Review Form (internal document)
- Grants.gov Funding Opportunity Number
DRI will then provide an “Application Checklist” specific to each application which will include a list of the required application materials and their internal deadlines.
*Due to the nature of the application process, DRI cannot guarantee assistance if the Grant Review Form is not submitted 45 business days prior to the application submission deadline.
20 Business Days Prior to Due Date
Drafts of the administrative portion of the application to the appropriate grant administrator including (but not limited to):
- Abstract/project summary
- Detailed budget with narrative justification
- List of all personnel with their employing institution, with eRA Commons IDs if known (NIH requires for all Senior/Key Personnel now)
- Biosketches for all key personnel/consultants
- Facilities & Resources page
- SIRB plan confirmed as not applicable or addressed
- Drafts of any other components as outlined in the “Application Checklist” provided by DRI
5 Business Days Prior to Due Date
- Final draft of proposal for review
- Service Line letter(s) and other documents addressing VA effort if needed (internal documents)
- Final versions of the administrative portions of the application
- Final draft of all technical proposal components, for review (Research Plan, Human and Animal Subjects Plan, Abstracts, etc.)
- Final Biosketchs for all collaborators with eRA Commons IDs
2 Business Days Prior to Due Date
- Final proposal complete and grant submitted to the sponsor*
*For DOD and NIH applications: After the application submission deadline, minor changes may be made to certain components of the application. However, the Project Narrative and Research & Related Budget Form cannot be changed after the application submission deadline. After the end of the application verification period, the full application cannot be modified. Submitting 2 business days prior to the due date allows any last-minute modifications to be made to these items without invalidating the submission.
