Service Topics

This page contains information related to the preparation and processing of research grants, contracts, and other funded projects. The items have been organized based on most frequently asked questions. If you would like to see any other details on this page, please send your suggestion to Monica Cohn. 

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1. Proposal Deadlines	7. Graduate Operating Fee (Tuition)
2. Indirect Cost Rates	8. Employee Benefit Rates
3. General Budget Categories	9. Principal Investigator Eligibility
4. Subcontracts	10. Institutional Numbers & Codes
5. Projecting Salary Increases	11. UW Rate Agreement
6. Student Salaries	12. Other Helpful Links

 

   1. Proposal Deadlines for Oceanography and Office Sponsored Programs (OSP)

Contact your grants manager at least 13 business days before the sponsor deadline in order to arrange internal deadline plans for proposal preparation. The items you need to prepare may differ from the list below, depending on the sponsor and type of proposal. In general, deadline milestones will include: 

13 Business Days Prior to Sponsor Deadline

• Submit a Draft Budget, Draft Budget Justification, and Proposal Worksheet

10 Business Days Prior to Sponsor Deadline

The following final documents are due:

• Budget and Budget Justification

• CVs for all key/senior personnel

• C&Ps for all key/senior personnel

• Facilities, Equipment, and Other Resources Information

• Data Management Plan

• Post-doc Mentoring Plan 

• Copy of UNOLS Request 

• Subcontract paperwork: Signed Cover Page, Scope of Work, Budget & Budget Justification 

• Letters of Recommendation

7 Business Days Prior to Sponsor Deadline (eGC1 routing date)

• Submit a Draft of Project Summary/Narrative, Project Description, and References Cited   

4 Business Days Prior to Sponsor Deadline

• ​ALL FINAL DOCUMENTS MUST BE SUBMITTED 

3 Business Days Prior to Sponsor Deadline

• OSP deadline = NO EXCEPTIONS! No further changes to the proposal will be accepted. OSP requires 3 full days to review a proposal. OSP will not submit a proposal to the sponsor if new items are submitted beyond this deadline. Please refer to GIM 19 for more information.
   

   2. Indirect Cost Rates

Also known as IDC or F&A (Facilities and Administrative Costs).

A full description of IDC categories and rates can be found in the most recent DHHS Agreement Letter, HERE. If you believe that your proposed project qualifies for one of the categories or rates not itemized below, please contact your grants manager for more information. 

Certain costs are exempt from indirect costs. Exempt categories include equipment, equipment fabrication, graduate operating fees, portion of subcontracts, daily use charges for University research vessels, vessel charters in excess of $25,000, and participant support costs on NSF grants. 

Research, On-Campus, after July 1, 2018	55.5% MTDC
Research, Off-Campus	26.0% MDTC

Equipment thresholds increased from $2,000 to $5,000 for IDC exemption (effective July 1, 2016).

• Federal Sponsors $5,000 per unit

• Non-Federal Sponsors $5,000 per unit

(Be sure to budget any items costing less than the per-unit cost described above as supplies.)
Please reference GIM 13, Attachment A, for full definition of MTDC.
 

   3. General Budget Categories

01	Salaries and Wages
02	Personal Service Contracts and other Purchased Services (this category is rarely used; includes areas such as royalties, financial services, information or technical research services, marketing, employee training, or miscellaneous professional services, etc.)
03	Other Contractual Services (includes long distance, fuel, advertising, freight and express, licenses and permits, registration and conference fees, copying, vessel usage charge, campus services, postage, outside services, subcontracts, meals and light refreshments, software site licenses, etc.)
04	Travel (private auto mileage, motor pool or outside car rental, domestic or foreign travel, etc.)
05	Supplies and Materials (awards, books, chemicals and products, non-capitalized equipment under $2,000 such as computers, computer software, office supplies, etc.)
06	Equipment (equipment $5,000 or more, library materials, other equipment, etc.)
07	Fringe Benefits
08	Student Aid and other Grants and Subsidies (scholarships, stipends, prizes and awards, tuition, etc.)

A complete listing of categories and descriptions is available online.
 

   4. Subcontracts

Also known as subawards.

Learn more about incoming and outgoing subcontracts HERE. 
 

   5. Projecting Salary Increases

Suggestion: Project 4% annually for all faculty and staff positions. In the case of classified employees, mandatory step increases should also be budgeted if the employee has not reached the top of the range. 
 

   6. Student Salaries

Salary for Oceanography graduate students is based on Variable/Tier II rates.
For proposals and projections, assume annual increases of 4% on salary effective July 1 of every year.  

Non-Oceanography graduate students are paid at a rate determined by their department. Additional rates can be found at the UW Graduate School's website. 
 

   7. Graduate Operating Fees (Tuition)

Resident Graduate Students, Full-Time Enrollment: $5,143.00/quarter

Summer  (2 credits); Full-Time Enrollment)

Suggestion: Project increases at 3% annually (effective every Fall).
Reminder: These fees are excluded from indirect costs.

Additional rates can be found at the Office of Planning and Budgeting's website. 
 

   8. Employee Fringe Benefits Rates

GIM 3: http://www.washington.edu/research/osp/gim/gim3a.html

The following rates have been finalized for Fiscal Year. When using SAGE budget (required), the rates will be updated automatically.

   9. Principal Investigators

A person holding any one of the following titles is eligible to serve as a P.I.:

Professor	Associate Professor	Assistant Professor
Research Professor	Research Associate Professor	Research Assistant Professor
Emeritus Professor

 

   10. Institutional Numbers and Codes

Certain University of Washington numbers or codes are required on proposals and other research-related forms. You can find this information at the Institutional Facts and Rates site, managed by UW Office of Research. 

The most commonly required codes include: 

• DUNS Number: 605799469
• IRS / Entity Number: 91-6001537

 

   11. University of Washington Rate Agreement

Most Recent DHHS Agreement Letter: July 21, 2017
(Remains recent as of June 2018.)

Sponsors occasionally ask for the official university rate agreement. It is located at: http://finance.uw.edu/maa/sites/default/files/fa/FA-FB-Rates-2017-07-21.pdf

 

   12. Other Helpful Links

• UW Researcher's Guide: http://www.washington.edu/research/guide/

• SAGE eGC1 (requires UW NetID): https://ucs.admin.washington.edu/sage

• OSP (Office of Sponsored Programs): http://www.washington.edu/research/osp/

• Grants Information Memoranda (GIMs): http://www.washington.edu/research/osp/gim/

• Award Status Checker: https://ucs.admin.washington.edu/sagenet/uwnetid/reports/awardTracker/tracker.asp

• NSF Funding - How to Prepare Your Proprosal: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/preparing/

• NSF Funding: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/

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