Limited Submissions
For all active (open) limited submission competitions see InfoReady. Or jump to a scrollable list of federal limited submissions with deadlines in the next six months.
What is a limited submission and why do I need to know about them?
Some grant and fellowship programs limit the number of proposals that may be submitted by an institution (and/or PI). (This information is usually provided in the "eligibility" section of a funding announcement, and is sometimes advertised on the program website.) This is done for a variety of reasons, such as limiting the number of proposals that require review in order to reduce the burden on reviewers; ensuring that submissions have the endorsement of the originating institution; and encouraging submission of the best quality proposals from an institution.
A limited submission to any external funding opportunity such as a grant, fellowship, or other funding requires institutional approval. Sometimes the funder requires specific documentation that is submitted with the proposal or directly to the agency. In all cases, South's Office of Sponsored Projects Administration requires internal documentation submitted with the proposal record in Cayuse SP. Documentation of institutional approval is handled by Research Communications, Development & Learning.
IMPORTANT: If you submit a proposal to a limited submission program without an institutional nomination and the institutional limit is exceeded, your proposal, and other proposals submitted from USA for that opportunity, will very likely be returned without review.
Below are more FAQs about limited submissions.
Some limited submissions are so specific that only a handful of people from a given institution are eligible to apply; however, others are quite broad and receive more faculty interest than the number of allowable proposals. For the latter we usually run an internal competition to determine the eligible institutional nominee(s).
First you should check our calendar of recurring limited submission opportunities, below, to see if the program you want to apply to is one that we regularly run an internal competition for. If it is, you will have a general idea of the timeframe and can check InfoReady for an open competition.
If you do NOT see the program you are interested in listed, contact our office for more information. It is best to contact us early on when you have identified a limited submission you are interested in, before developing your application. That way, if an internal competition must be run we will have adequate time to do so.
Prior to routing the proposal, the nomination memo should be uploaded as a proposal attachment in Cayuse SP with a document type of Representations/Certifications. This will certify institutional eligibility to submit a limited submission application. Proposals routed for a limited submission opportunity without the official memo will not be approved until the memo is received, which could jeopardize a timely submission to the agency.