The UW Tacoma Office of Research is committed to assisting faculty in leveraging the rich resources available through the UW Seattle Office of Research and Office of Sponsored Programs, as well as to providing support tailored to the particular context of our campus. Our office specifically supports UW Tacoma faculty in developing sponsored grant and contract proposals through the following services:

  • Identifying possible funding opportunities
  • Support in reviewing grant submission guidelines and understanding university policies and practices and how they will impact your proposal and submission
  • Consultations on project development and conceptualization, in advance of proposal writing, and on research design, methods, and approaches to structuring proposal elements
  • Assistance in creating a budget, budget justification, and other supporting documents
  • Proposal-writing workshops (offered as part of our Faculty Development Series) and peer mentoring groups
  • Assistance with submitting proposals for internal review and submission by OSP through SAGE system

To learn more about these services or schedule an appointment to work with our office, contact uwtor@uw.edu.

Thorton Creek, Ed, Zhenyu, Melissa

Quick tips for developing successful research proposals

Start early! Particularly if you will be submitting your proposal through grants.gov, you need to allow UW OSP enough time to submit during time when the site is very busy. UW OSP uses the following rules per the GIM 19:

As you plan to prepare and submit proposals for sponsored research and other funding opportunities, please remember that the process requires an internal review and approval routing (UWT) AND central Office of Sponsored Programs (UWS) review and approval before submission, therefore:

  • For simple, straightforward proposals, please inform the Office of Research your intentions at MINIMUM 2 weeks/10 business days in advance.
  • For complex proposals, please inform the Office of Research your intentions at MINIMUM 3 weeks/15 business days in advance. 

    • What Comprises a Complex Proposal? A proposal is complex if it includes any one of the following elements: 

      • Cost Share, Subcontracts, Consultants, Vendors and New Proposals, Less than the Federally Negotiated IDC Rate;
      • OR, if it includes any two of these elements: Submission of Proposal on Sponsor Website, Multiple or Complex Sponsor Templates, Co-PI’s outside of [UWT]
  • Please fill out this FORM with information about a proposal you plan to prepare and the Office of Research will reach out to you to set a meeting to review requirements, budget and timelines. 
  • Contact the Office of Research as soon as you decide to pursue funding to learn how our office can support you in developing your project and proposal and to understand the UW OSP deadlines and submission requirements: uwtor@uw.edu
  • Take advantage of the proposal-writing resources available to you at the UW Tacoma Office of Research.  Visit our Faculty Development page to learn more about proposal-writing workshops offered through the office.
  • Discuss your project with your unit Director/Dean prior to submitting the proposal, and ideally, before beginning work on it. Because this person is responsible for approving your proposal, it is important that he/she knows what you are proposing before the proposal routes for approval.  If your proposal involves developing new courses, using additional University space, using departmental resources, or ordering large equipment, your director needs to ensure your activities are compatible with the program.
  • Have your budget reviewed by the Office of Research and also make sure to discuss your budget with the program administrator who handles budgets (and HR issues) in your unit.
  • Plan to be available during the week before the due date to make any last minute changes.

Resources to Support Undergraduate Research

UW Tacoma Research Policies