Routing and Signatures

Approval routing is required for all projects funded by an external sponsor.

Principal Investigator (PI) Certification. The PI, by certifying the proposal in Kuali Research, promises to perform the project and to follow the relevant compliance, reporting, and other award requirements for that sponsor. Certification in Kuali Research documents the written assurances required of the PI by federal agencies and other sponsors, and meets standards for a dated electronic signature.

Approvals. Internal approvals for proposal submission and award acceptance are obtained via Kuali Research. Office of Research and Development institutional officials are authorized to commit the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and its resources to the project, and to accept an award or agreement on behalf of UMB. 

Certification and approval instructions

Internal (intramural) grant proposals are not entered in Kuali Research. Use the internal routing form to route these proposals if Sponsored Projects Accounting and Compliance (SPAC) will need to set up a Project and submit financial reports.

Progress reports and continuation funding

Letters of intent and pre-proposals

Routing Timeline ▾

Internal routing deadlines are summarized as follows:

  • The completed, certified Kuali Research proposal is submitted into routing for approvals.
  • All proposals will be submitted to the appropriate Dean’s Office at least seven (7) business days prior to the sponsor deadline for review and approval.
  • The Dean’s Office will forward the proposal to the Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) office at least five (5) days prior to the sponsor deadline for review, validation and approval.
  • Proposals that reach SPA in FINAL form at least five (5) business days prior to the sponsor deadline will be submitted by SPA at least three (3) days prior to sponsor deadline to allow sufficient time for sponsor review/validation and (if necessary) submission of a change/corrected proposal.

For more information review the proposals section of SPA Business Practices.

General instructions for proposals ▾

Enter the proposal details in Kuali Research.

Develop the budget using Kuali Research, or, if a detailed budget is not required by the sponsor, you may develop the budget outside of Kuali Research and enter "high level" values.

Upload attachments (such as biosketches, narratives, budget justification, internal documents) into Kuali Research.

Use the proposal checklists linked on the Forms page to help organize your proposal.

Notify the PI(s) to certify. The PI is ultimately responsible for proposal content and should always review the proposal (attachments, questionnaires, special review) before certifying to ensure that it is complete and accurate for submission to the sponsor.

Use the Kuali Research Validation tool before submitting the proposal into routing. For S2S (Grants.gov) proposals, go to the Basics > S2S Opportunity Search > Forms tab, and print each form to identify any errors. Work with your SPA team to resolve validation errors.

Need more help? Kuali Research User Resources include downloadable guides for proposal development and budget. Contact your SPA team with questions related to sponsor application instructions.

Instructions for proposals related to corporate funding ▾

1) Sponsor is a corporation; ALL funding is corporate.  Examples: Corporate research agreement supporting investigator-initiated studies; corporate-sponsored clinical trial. 

  • Enter the information in UMBiz as instructed by the Center for Clinical Trials and Corporate Contracts (CCT). Access UMBiz via the myUMB Portal.
  • Enter the proposal in Kuali Research.

2) ANY other source of funding is involved.  Examples: Corporate sponsor but prime source of funds is federal; sponsor is another university but the prime source of funds is corporate. 

  • Contact SPA to verify that SPA will take the lead on the proposal review.
  • Enter the proposal in Kuali Research.