The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) works with faculty and staff to locate funding opportunities, prepare applications and budgets, submit requests to funders, and manage award and compliance items. While we approach this work with great flexibility and enthusiasm:
- OSP kindly reminds faculty and staff that completed funding application materials are required at least three days prior to a funder’s posted deadline. More lead time is strongly encouraged.
- If materials are incomplete or missing within this three-day window, OSP cannot guarantee internal approvals, sufficient review time, and proper submission by the funder’s deadline.
- If a faculty member or staff person first alerts OSP of their intention to apply for a grant in less than three days of a funder’s deadline, requests are unlikely to be processed and submitted.
These approaches ensure a proper workflow for our small but mighty staff as well as proper care and precision for each application.
OSP wants to ensure your application is in the best position of strength! It is commonly known across the research administration community that the instances of errors on both sides (applicants and funder portals) increase when materials are developed last-minute and submitted hastily. Additionally, it is common for last-minute applications to lack the strength they’d otherwise have with the PI’s/PD’s proper time investment.
The good news is that it’s never too early to talk to OSP about a possible funding opportunity. When possible, we encourage faculty to plan months or a year+ out from a funder deadline!
If you’d like guidance or additional resources, please don’t hesitate to contact ospgrants@hartford.edu or you can work directly with Julie Barnofski or Allison Joslyn.