Submission Rules

Meeting the Submission Criteria
Eligibility requirements need to be met as of date of submission, no waivers will be accepted.

Submissions Allowed per Cycle
For the majority of grant mechanisms, only ONE application per PI (PI1, PI2 and all PIs of a Team Science Grant) is permitted per cycle.

Exceptions to this rule: grants that allow multiple applications from the same PI in a given cycle OR grants that allow one application to their mechanism and another application to any other RAP grant mechanism, are:

  • Catalyst Program
  • Core Assistance Fund (CAF)
  • Core Award for Research and Development (CARD)
  • Core Operational Improvement Awards (COIA)
  • Institutional Matching Instrumentation Award

Multiple PIs
If the proposal has multiple PIs, both PI1 and PI2 need to meet the eligibility criteria listed for the respective grant mechanism. E.g., both PIs need to either be Junior or Senior faculty, if the grant mechanism has such restriction based on rank. For proposals submitted with multiple PIs, the cycle break rule applies to all PIs (PI1, PI2 and all PIs of a Team Science Grant).

Contact PI
If funded, the PI1 will be the primary contact for the award set up and management.  The PI1 will receive the review process results (written reviews and final scores).

Cycle Break
Anytime a PI is funded, they must take A CYCLE BREAK before applying again.  For example, if funded in the Fall 2023, you cannot apply in the Spring 2024, and must wait for the Fall 2024 cycle to apply again. For proposals submitted with multiple PIs, the cycle break rule applies to ALL PIs (PI1, PI2 and all PIs of a Team Science grant).

The only exceptions to the cycle break rule are the following grants: 

  • Family Support
  • Independence Support Award
  • Hardship
  • Catalyst Program
  • Core Assistance Fund (CAF)
  • Core Award for Research and Development (CARD)
  • Core Operational Improvement Awards (COIA)
  • Institutional Matching Instrumentation Award
  • $10,000 for a Pilot for Anti-Racism Research Capacity Building Grant

Cycle Break Rule Works Two Ways

  • If you were awarded in one of those grant exceptions listed above, the cycle break rule does not apply to you OR
  • If you were awarded in any other grant mechanism last cycle, you can submit to those mechanisms listed above without having to observe the cycle break rule

Number of Submissions
RAP allows a NEW submission, a 1st resubmission, and a 2nd resubmission of the same proposal (2nd resubmission is by invitation only; the review will state if a second resubmission is allowed).

Resubmissions
Definition: same research topic with an amended application or research plan rather than a new research topic and new research plan.
Requirements: Please use up to one extra page to introduce your revised proposal, addressing the issues raised in the review, and any additional changes to your proposal. Make sure the new changes are highlighted in bold or italic font so the reviewers can easily see where and how the proposal has changed. Do not use track changes. A new letter of support from the Department Chair or other Unit Head is always required.

Feedback to the applicants
At the end of each cycle, all applicants, funded and not-funded, will receive written reviews and final scores via the RAP Portal. Note that final scores are made by the entire review committee after the review discussion. Recall that funding decisions are made independently by each funding agency based on several factors – scientific review score and comments, alignment of proposal to funder’s strategic goals, proposal research area of focus, and specifically called out eligibility or other requirements like membership in a center, affiliation with a specific school or relevance to a stated auxiliary topic.