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Office of Research & Economic Development

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Initiative on Expert Review of Grant Proposals
Office of Research & Graduate Studies

Policy:
 To foster the success of competitive proposals for external funding, the Office of Research will provide assistance in obtaining peer review of federal grant proposals prior to submission.

Provisions:

  • The investigator must commit to preparing a complete draft of the proposal including budget at least one month before the deadline for proposal submission.
  • Three months prior to the submission date, the investigator must submit a completed Request for Expert Proposal Review and a list of external experts on the topic of the proposal. A draft of the goals/aims and project summary of the proposal must be attached to the request.
  • Compensation for external reviewers will be provided by the Office of Research.

Procedure:

  1. At least three months prior to the submission date, the investigator consults with the department chair and secures the chair's support for the project, based on the investigator's commitment to a timeline in which a complete draft of the proposal will be completed one month before the submission date. The investigator, in consultation with the chair and colleagues in the field, generates a list of appropriate external (at least 5) peer reviews.
  2. No later than three months prior to the submission date, the investigator completes the Expert Review Request Form (with the needed materials) and submits electronically to the Office of Research website.
  3. The Office of Research secures the external reviewers. Typically, two external experts would be invited to review the proposal and provide an in-depth critique of its strengths and weaknesses. Feedback will be provided to the PI within two weeks.
  4. At least one month prior to the submission date, the investigator submits an electronic version of the complete proposal to the Office of Research by email to unlresearch@unl.edu.
  5. Reviewers are sent an electronic copy of the proposal one month before the submission date and provide the review within 14 days.
  6. The investigator has approximately 14 days to incorporate the recommended changes.
  7. Final proposals, including budget and completed routing form, must be submitted to Office of Sponsored Programs at least 48 hours before the deadline.