United States Federal Funding

Information to support your US Funding Application & Managing your grant

Eligibility and Submission

For application and submission support notify Research Grants and Contracts (RGC) of your intent to apply as soon as possible. All applications from UNSW Staff and Students must be submitted via the RGC. The internal deadline for submission of grant applications to the RGC is 4 weeks prior to the Sponsors deadline, this time frame allows the RGC to ensure applications comply with UNSW policies and sponsor requirement and submission.

United States Funding Guidelines

US Government funding agencies have clear guidelines relating to allowable costs. While these may vary slightly from scheme to scheme, there is a clear expectation across all agencies that US Federal funding should not be used to meet the indirect costs of institutions.

Applying for US Funding

all grant applications through the Grants.gov website. Applicants should also refer to the Grants.gov Application Guide and information in the relevant Application Package and Program Announcement. See resources and Information to support your application.

Use of Grant Funds

US Federal Government funding agencies have clear guidelines relating to allowable costs. While these may vary slightly from scheme to scheme, there is a clear expectation across all agencies that US funding should not be used to meet the indirect costs of institutions.

Costs must be:

Allowable (see below);
Reasonable: ‘prudent person test’ / specific circumstances;
Allocable: The cost can be easily identified and assigned to the activity on some reasonable basis;
Incurred solely to advance the work under the sponsored agreement / not for convenience or to cover over-expenditures.

What costs are allowable?

US Federal Government funds for a research activity may only be expended on Direct Research Costs. I In most instances, the direct research costs you incur should align to the budget you put forward in your application.

The costs must be specifically and readily identifiable to a specific project with a high degree of accuracy.
The costs are required by the project scope, due to the project’s special purpose or circumstances.
The costs must be specifically budgeted as a line item in the proposal budget and justified in the proposal narrative.

Indirect Costs

Facilities and Administration (F&A) costs are the infrastructure support or indirect costs (MECR) that are include on US Federal funding awards.

UNSW has a formal agreement with the US on the rate we should include in our budget requests. In line with this agreement, researchers should include an F&A rate of 48.9% in the budget request for all US Federal Awards. This F&A percentage will be deducted from your grant at setup as per standard MECR (minimum economic cost recovery) process. Facilities and Administration costs are not to be used to support the acquisition of, or provide for depreciation on, any capital expenditures.

Travel

The US Federal Government requires you to ‘Fly America’ where possible when booking travel utilising their funding. UNSW travel policy and procedure must also be followed for all travel expenditure incurred.

Time and Effort Reporting

Time and Effort Reporting is required by US federal regulation and University policy for all individuals who are paid from US federally funded projects.The lead UNSW investigator on the project is responsible for certifying annually that effort supported (paid) by a US federally sponsored project has been performed as promised.(Effort expended in support of a US federally sponsored project as promised in the proposal, but not paid by the project, should also be verifiable if requested.) Anyone certifying effort for another individual must credibly have first hand knowledge of the individual’s actual effort.

Further Information on Policy

The White House Office of Management and Budget provides documentation on Circulars https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grants and Contracts Guides and policies | https://grants.nih.gov/funding/searchguide/index.html

National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant Policies & Procedure Guide | https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappg18_1/index.jsp

United States Federal Funding

Resources and Information to support the application process and management of your US Federal Government Grant.

The below document provides information and guidance on the application procedures for funding from four key US Defence research agencies: Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Army Research Office (ARO), Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This Guide was produced to consolidate the aforementioned agencies’ websites and publications.

You will be required to use your UNSW zID and password to access the below documentation

GMO Guide: How do I submit a US Defense grant application?

Managing your US Federal Funding

GMO Guide: How do I Manage my US Federally Funded Grant?

Further Information

US Department of Defense - Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) Funding Opportunities Guide | http://cdmrp.army.mil/pubs/pips/CDMRP%20Funding%20Opportunities%20Brochure.pdf
CDMRP frequently asked questions | http://cdmrp.army.mil/cwg/faq

United States Charities & Trusts

International grantmaking by U.S. foundations jumped 29 percent, from $7.2 billion to a record $9.3 billion, between 2011 and 2015, a report from the Council on Foundations and Foundation Center finds.

Based on grants data from a thousand of the largest U.S. foundations, the report, The State of Global Giving by U.S. Foundations (19 pages, PDF), found that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation accounted for 50.7 percent of total international grantmaking during the five-year period, or $17.9 billion — $6.5 billion of which supported projects in sub-Saharan Africa. That region received 25.4 percent ($9 billion) of all international giving by the foundations in the study, followed by Asia and the Pacific (18.7 percent, $6.6 billion) and Latin America and the Caribbean (7.7 percent, $2.7 billion).

Other Useful Information and Services

Resources, information and support to assist you with International Funding

UNSW Pricing Tool - Calculate UNSW indirect costs on externally funded research grants & contracts
UNSW Budget Preparation Resource Page - Tool & Resources to assist in the preparation of a budget for grant applications
Research Policies, Procedures & Forms
Managing your Funding - Support, information and services to help manage your research funding
Research Strategy Office (RSO) - The RSO is available for strategic advice on the scope, nature and suitability of any proposed projects, how to address the selection criteria including track record, and general grantsmanship
Research Grants & Contracts (RGC) - RGC provides pre and post award support, including Compliance and eligibility review and Advice.
Research Contracts Office (RCO) - The RCO provides Services and resources to assist with scoping, pricing, review and execution of contracts and consulting research agreements and submission of research proposals and tenders

United States Funding Sponsors and Opportunities

Find US Government Funding Sponsors and Opportunities

Search all United States Federal Departments and agencies via Grants.gov

Department of Defense - Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)
Research Office of the US Army
US Office of Naval Research
US Air Force Office of Scientific Research
US National Science Foundation

Search NIH Funding Opportunities and Subscribe to NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices

Search NSF Browse Funding Opportunities

Search US Charities and Trusts