Limited Submissions

What is a Limited Submission?

Limited submissions are funding opportunities where the sponsoring agency or, in select cases, by the University, has limited the number of applications from an institution. Research & Innovation (R&I) facilitates limited submissions to federal, state, corporate, and foundation opportunities. Faculty interested in applying for a funding opportunity that is considered a limited submission must apply through InfoReady and follow the guidelines established by R&I.

Go to InfoReady  

Guidelines

Research & Innovation (R&I) follows a selection process to identify individuals representing the University in Limited Submission (LS) opportunities. The objective of these guidelines is to provide a consistent, fair, and transparent process that encourages planning and iteration that results in competitive research proposals representative of the University’s areas of interest. The steps in the internal LS process include: identifying the opportunity and launching in InfoReady, application and white paper submission, external review, R&I determination, follow-up, and proposal submission.

Funding opportunities may be deemed as “Limited Submission” by the sponsoring/funding agency or, in select cases, by the University. Sponsoring/funding agencies may be federal, state, corporate, or foundation. Limitations may vary by opportunity and many include limitations or restrictions on the following:

• Number of applications submitted per institution and/or by discipline
• Specific role or background of individual applicant(s)
• Funding cycle or track
• Institutional eligibility

In general, the Vice President for Research and Innovation (VPRI) will organize an internal competition to select the University's most competitive applicant(s) to submit a proposal to the sponsor/funding agency. When an internal competition is held, an "Internal Deadline" will be posted.

In other cases, the University's applicant will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis, and there will be no internal deadline posted. If there is no internal deadline posted, the researcher is responsible for emailing the Associate Vice President for Research at avpr@utep.edu with their intent to submit as soon as possible.

Depending on the agency timeline and the level of expressed interest, permission to submit may be granted on a first-come, first-served basis. Alternatively, an internal competition may be organized and an internal deadline announced.

General Timeline – Standard Selection and Submission Process

The following sequence of events and deadlines reflects the optimal LS announcement, submission, and selection process.

1. A LS opportunity is advertised six (6) months in advance (or as soon thereafter as possible) by launching it in InfoReady and advertising in the Limited Submissions Opportunities bulletin (sent out biweekly on Thursdays)
2. R&I collects applications and white papers (3 weeks)
3. External review of white papers (up to 3 weeks)
4. Review and selection by VPRI and notification of selected project(s) (up to 1 week)
5. Proposal development (with optional support from UTEP Proposal Development Team) and submission of final draft of the proposal for external review (11 weeks)
6. External review of proposal (3 weeks)
7. Reviewed proposal is returned, final revisions are made to address reviewers’ comments, and PI submits the final version to the Research Administrator (RA) (2 weeks)
8. All proposals must be submitted to the assigned RA 5 business days before the funding agency deadline.

Identifying LS Opportunities

InfoReady, a web-based platform, will manage the LS workflow for UTEP users regarding these opportunities. Current and future LS opportunities can be viewed from UTEP’s InfoReady webpage. Opportunities from the Pivot funding database are the primary source for the LS opportunities uploaded to UTEP’s InfoReady’s dashboard.

R&I will send out a bi-weekly email announcement with LS opportunities. If you are a UTEP faculty or staff member currently not receiving those emails, please contact ls@utep.edu to be placed on the distribution list.

R&I works to post opportunities at least 6 months from the due date set by the sponsor.

Submission Process

Interested individuals should apply by logging into UTEP’s InfoReady site , selecting the desired opportunity, entering the required information (e.g., name, email address) and uploading a white paper. InfoReady Applicant Guide . If the opportunity is a team effort, only one application is necessary.

White papers must be uploaded to the InfoReady Platform for the desired opportunity. A white paper template is available for every opportunity in the “Supporting Documents” section. R&I adjusts the criteria in the white paper based on the announcement from the sponsoring/funding agency.

Other Requirements:

1. If the proposal was previously submitted to the sponsor in response to the same Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), a PDF file of the reviewer(s) comments and a one-page summary of the PI’s response to those comments must be uploaded or shared.
2. Acknowledgement that if the PI is not able to submit by the sponsor deadline, they will notify ls@utep.edu immediately of this decision. Failure to send notification could result in ineligibility to reapply for future cycles of the same limited submission funding opportunity. Persistent failure to submit to the funder, after being internally selected for a limited submission, could result in ineligibility to reapply for future limited submissions.

All white papers must be submitted by the posted deadline in the InfoReady platform.

External Review

R&I works with an external firm to secure reviews based on the merits of the proposals. External review of all LS proposals will be conducted.

All individuals who submit a white paper will be provided feedback on their submission.

In general, reviewers utilize these broad criteria to evaluate white papers:

• Responsiveness to the NOFO
• Scientific merit
• Alignment with the sponsor’s funding priorities
• Assessment of competitiveness within the context of the funding landscape
• Responsiveness to review comments from previous submission, if applicable
• Any other criteria deemed important to the particular funding opportunity

R&I Determination

The VPR will make the final decision on whether a LS proposal is submitted to the sponsoring entity.
The decision criteria includes:

• Ranking and evaluation by external review service/review panel
• Alignment with UTEP’s strategic research objectives
• Any other criteria deemed important to the particular funding opportunity

Each PI will be informed of the decision, whether approved to submit or not.

Follow-Up

PIs selected to submit their proposal must submit an NOI (https://research.utep.edu/noi) and work with the appropriate RA to ensure their full proposal is as competitive as possible.

Each faculty member selected to apply for a limited submission has the following responsibilities:

1. Notify R&I by email to ls@utep.edu immediately if they will not submit their full proposal to the funder by the deadline. If time permits, another pre-proposal may be selected to proceed. Failure to submit the selected proposal to the sponsor by the deadline will result in notification to the PI’s dean and chair, and persistent failure to notify R&I could result in the PI’s ineligibility to reapply to future cycles of the same limited submission funding opportunity.
2. A change in lead PI must be submitted to R&I for approval.

Updated 11/04/2024