Develop Proposal

Proposals must be prepared in coordination with funding agency guidelines and Northeastern’ policies and procedures.

Proposals are prepared by Principal Investigators with assistance from their Department Administrators and routed for institutional review in our Electronic Proposal Approval & Workflow System (ePAWs). NU-RES Grant Officers are responsible for reviewing all proposals for compliance and submitting them to the funding agency on behalf of the University.

1) Are you eligible to be a Principal Investigator?

The privilege to act as a Principal Investigator (PI) or a Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) on an externally-funded project is automatically conferred upon all Northeastern tenure track/tenured faculty members. Those without the specific faculty titles listed below must work with their college administration to determine if the college’s policies and procedures allow the college to confer temporary PI status. By approving the ePAWs record, the college will convey to NU-RES that they approve of the named PI. See the best practices document for additional guidance.

As defined at Northeastern, the Principal Investigator or Project Director:

  • Directs the scientific aspects of the project
  • Authorizes all expenditures of project funds to assure that costs charged are appropriate and benefit the project
  • Oversees the budgetary management of the award
  • Completes required technical reports
  • Is responsible for compliance with applicable University policies and federal regulations and laws

Faculty with the following titles are automatically eligible:

  • Professor
  • Research Professor
  • Associate Professor
  • Associate Research Professor
  • Assistant Professor
  • Assistant Research Professor

2) Get familiar with the proposal requirements:

  • Read the directions: most proposals are rejected simply because the directions were not followed correctly.
  • Submission Methods: Most (but not all) funding agencies require electronic proposal submission. Methods and requirements will vary depending on the agency and solicitation. Keep in mind, submission through an online portal will require a user log-in which can take time to obtain.
  • To avoid system issues, many agencies recommend that proposal be submitted 2 days prior to the official deadline.
  • Need help? Check out our fact sheet NU Quick Facts on our webpage Policies & Guidelines

3) Proposal Submission Tools

Last Updated on February 28, 2024