Obtaining Research Support: Full Proposal Submissions

Submission of the full research proposal should always be preceded by submission of a pre-proposal and a discussion of that pre-proposal with the assigned program officer. If encouraged by the assigned ONR program officer, a formal research proposal may be submitted to the attention of that program officer. Format instructions for the formal research proposal are provided in the broad agency announcement to which you are applying. Current opportunities are available via ONR's broad agency announcement (BAA) listing.

The Department of Defense (DoD) animal use requirements should be taken into consideration when submitting proposals. The review process can take two to three months, proposal processing may require four months total. Proposals cannot be funded until all animal use documentation, permits, and protocols are received by the program officer and approved. Some of this documentation can take months to acquire, so investigators need to plan ONR proposal submissions accordingly.

If you have any collaborators or co-investigators who will conduct their efforts in their official capacity with the U.S. government (i.e., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Science Centers, NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries, Navy labs, etc.), the government co-investigator must submit a SEPERATE proposal and budget specific to their portion of the project.

• Contracts: Submission procedures for contracts is to use the contract template (which will include the technical proposal template, technical content, and cost proposals) and send it to the program officer who reviewed your pre-proposal via our secure, web-based online document submission area.
• Grants: Submission procedures for grants via Grants.gov are provided under the “Application and Submission Information” section of the BAA,

Full Proposal Checklist

• One-page budget summary listing all sub-awards, and/or co-investigations  (i.e., government labs), with subtotals and total budgets for each. Please make sure these budget figures match numbers submitted in required Grants.gov forms (grants only). If you have a government partner that is to receive their own funding they must submit their own proposal and budget separate from yours (follow this same checklist).
• Detailed spreadsheet or accounting of program budget – personnel salaries, supplies, equipment, travel, etc. Please make sure these budget figures match numbers submitted in required grants.gov forms (grants only). Each budget year should follow the federal fiscal year (Oct. 1 – Sept. 30).
• Equipment justifications and a quote from the vendor to justify the specified price for each commercially available piece of equipment (what is equipment as opposed to a supply or incidental cost is defined by your own institution)
• Travel costs stating number and location of trips, duration, estimated airfare, per diem, auto rental, etc., or a basis for estimate (i.e., based on past experience, based on previous efforts, etc.). Proposers are advised to budget for at least one trip annually to the Washington, D.C., area to allow review by or consultation with ONR personnel.
• Animal-use or -care permits and other documentation if they are applicable (see above link to see if your project needs DoD veterinarian approval). Include the following: a copy of the full permit (the approval letter and the permit itself), a copy of your IACUC (the approval letter and the protocols), Bureau of Medicine form (see the above link for DoD Animal Use Requirements for the forms and instructions). Make sure all signature blocks are filled in.