It depends. First, check the RDS Limited Submissions Table to see if the funding opportunity is listed and currently accepting internal pre-proposals. If an internal competition is underway, review the pre-proposal requirements and submit your pre-proposal. If the funding opportunity is not listed, email ResDev@email.arizona.edu to express your interest in applying. RDS will establish eligibility to apply based on the Preferred Timeline for Limited Submissions.
Frequently Asked Questions about Limited Submissions
Not finding what you're looking for? Try searching all research-related FAQs.
The information contained in a limited submission pre-proposal and the associated supplemental documents is considered highly confidential and all efforts will be made to ensure the fair, objective, and confidential review of each pre-proposal. Review panel members are required to sign a conflict of interest statement prior to pre-proposal review and to adhere to strict guidelines to ensure confidentiality of the content of all limited submissions applications.
Yes. Review comments are provided to all applicants once the reviews are completed, and the ticket has been awarded.
No. RDS does not publicly identify the members of the internal funding review panels or the specific members assigned to individual proposals or ad hoc reviewers.
The pre-proposal requirements are designed to give a sufficient representation of a prospective project or proposal without over-burdening faculty/applicants. Think of the pre-proposal as an “elevator pitch.”
The applicant must first appoint a proxy from their account. The applicant will need to login to establish the account, and then indicate that a proxy will submit. Visit UA Arizona Cultivate for more details.
The RDS Limited Submissions Table page on the UA Research Gateway or Arizona Cultivate are regularly updated with all current funding opportunities, deadlines and updates.
RDS publishes the name of the PI selected for each Limited Submission opportunity on the Limited Submission Table on the Research Gateway.
No. Deadlines for Limited Submission internal competitions are treated the same as funding deadlines for Federal agency sponsors, Foundations or other external funding sources. These opportunities are advertised widely and well in advance of the application deadlines. To maintain fairness for all, the deadline is firm and consistent for all applicants without exception.
The internal deadline for a Limited Submission has passed and no one has applied, what happens next?
The Limited Submission opportunity will be listed in the Open category on the Limited Submission Table and the first expression of interest RDS receives will be accepted as the institutional submission. Expressions of interest must be sent to ResDev@email.arizona.edu and the date/time that the email is received will determine the order that expressions of interest are accepted.
RDS publishes the name of the PI selected for each Limited Submission opportunity on the Limited Submission Table on the Research Gateway. RDS seeks to coordinate Limited Submissions for the university to facilitate the best proposal submission from an institutional perspective and encourages communication between all interested applicants to a limited submission opportunity. That said, the choice to collaborate is at the discretion of the PI/Team that receives the ticket to proceed.
All Limited Submission opportunities currently in a competition will be listed in Arizona Cultivate. You can log in and apply using your NetID. Most applications require both textbox entry of application information such as a summary, a significance statement, approach, and expected outcomes, as well as uploads in PDF format. RDS recommends logging in to the system to see what is required well in advance of the internal submission deadline.
Subscribe to The Current, the RDS weekly digest of funding opportunities and news which lists upcoming and open funding opportunities.
Once you have received the “ticket” you should work with your department administrator and, if available, the RDS Associate designated to support the proposal development. All limited submissions submitted to an external funding agency or sponsor are handled through Sponsored Projects and Contracting Services.
No. As the administrative office that coordinates and manages the review of Limited Submissions, RDS does not assist in proposal preparation for pre-proposals. However, RDS does provide proposal support, when available, for all “tickets” awarded through the Limited Submission process.
Preproposals are archived within Arizona Cultivate and are not distributed or made publicly available.
It depends, please visit the Types of Proposals webpage for further assistance.https://research.arizona.edu/research-administration/proposal-preparation/types-of-proposals#PreProposal
RDS makes every effort to have pre-proposals reviewed in a timely manner, usually within two weeks of the internal deadline. Our goal is to maximize the external proposal preparation time for selected researchers to submit to the sponsor for funding.
In most cases, no budget is required for the pre-proposal. If a budget is required, a template will be provided as part of the pre-proposal application.
Contact RDS as soon as possible so other potential applicants can move forward with a submission to the funder. Certain limited submissions are very competitive at UA, e.g. the National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program. If you receive the ticket to be the institutional submission for a competitive limited submission opportunity (i.e. an opportunity where there was competition for the permission) and you choose not to submit and you do not notify us within four weeks of the sponsor deadline of your decision, you will be ineligible to reapply in the following cycle.
Yes. Each opportunity is reviewed independently.
Contact RDS during normal business hours (M-F, 9a-5p) at 621-8585 or email ResDev@email.arizona.edu for assistance using Arizona Cultivate or for questions regarding any Limited Submission internal competition.
Occasionally some funding opportunities will be managed as Institutionally Coordinated Submissions and will appear on the Limited Submission table with that designation. Usually, these opportunities are for large and/or complex funding opportunities that require institutional support, core facilities, or leadership approval. To guarantee the submission of the strongest proposal(s) to the funder, RDS coordinates the institutional UA response.
Existing programs or centers with no break in funding (i.e. successful prior renewals or first competitive renewal) will have the opportunity to recompete to the sponsor without internal competition for two submission cycles. If, however, the existing program or center is unsuccessful in obtaining its renewal after two consecutive submissions, an internal limited submission competition will occur. If other pre-proposals are received for the limited submission competition, it is not guaranteed that the PI of the existing programs or centers will be granted the ticket.
Many large and/or complex proposals require significant preparation time for development and coordination. To provide the submitting PI or team the maximum amount of time to focus on the external application, internal Limited Submission contests are run well in advance of the external deadline.
An “Upcoming” limited submission is currently accepting pre-proposals through a campus-wide competition with an established internal deadline. An “Open” limited submission means that the internal deadline has passed without any pre-proposals submitted for review: thus, the first expression of interest that RDS receives will be accepted as the institutional submission. A “Completed” limited submission means that the external deadline has passed, and no further proposals are accepted by the funder. “Completed” limited submissions on the Limited Submission Table record the names of the UA institutional selections that received the ticket to submit to the opportunity.
A “ticket” is the terminology RDS and Sponsored Projects & Contracting Services use to designate an approved institutional submission for a limited submission opportunity. The “ticket” will be sent to the approved PI/Team via email from Resdev@email.arizona.edu.
Visit the Limited Submissions page on the UA Research Gateway to download guidelines and for a complete and searchable table of all upcoming, open, and completed Limited Submissions.
Limited Submissions are funding opportunities where the funder has limited the number of applications from an organization. Research Development Services (RDS) facilitates Limited Submissions for federal and foundation opportunities for UA and ensures only eligible institutional proposals are submitted to the funder.
While every effort is made to adhere to our preferred Limited Submissions timeline, there are instances when the interval between becoming aware of a limited submission and the sponsor’s deadline makes it impractical to follow our process. In those cases, broad announcements may not be made, expedited reviews with limited or no feedback comments may be performed, and/or submission slots may be awarded on a first-identified basis. Generally, if there are less than six weeks between the identification of the opportunity and the sponsor’s deadline, a competition will not be run, and the competition will be listed as Open or submission permission will be awarded on a first-identified basis.
Subscribe to the UArizona Impact in Action newsletter to receive featured stories and event info to connect you with UArizona's research, innovation, entrepreneurial ventures, and societal impacts.