Proposals are submitted to external sponsors by the designated Stanford Institutional Officer (IO) after they are reviewed and endorsed. 

• In the School of Medicine, the Research Management Group (RMG) reviews, endorses and submits proposals. 
• In  all other schools, the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) reviews, endorses and submits proposals. 

All proposals are tracked and approved via the Stanford's Electronic Research Administration (SeRA) system. An electronic form called the PDRF (Proposal Development and Routing Form) gets initiated, completed and routed together with each proposal submitted on behalf of Stanford University. For more information on the PDRF, see section below.

A complete proposal must be submitted to RMG (School of Medicine) or OSR (Other Schools) via the Stanford Electronic Research Administration (SeRA) System and released in the relevant sponsor portal as applicable by at least 5 business days (9:00 AM)  prior to the sponsor's deadline. Be sure required forms have been completed. Your IO will review the application, notify you if errors are found, and submit the application to the sponsor once errors are corrected.

Grants.gov is an online system that allows organizations to electronically find funding opportunities from all federal agencies as well as apply for competitive grant opportunities. 

 On January 1, 2018, Grants.gov will no longer offer PDF application packets for proposal electronic submission. Grants.gov will fully implement their own proposal preparation and submission portal called Workspace. However, Stanford University has decided not to use Workspace but rather implement the following submission methods included in the table below: 

The SF424 Research & Related (R&R)

Every grant application contains some version of the standardized SF424 form. This form should be completed first, because information you enter here feeds into some of the other form pages within the application package. The SF424 provides specific information about the application (type, title, etc.), the Institution (Stanford), the PI, and the IO.

The following sample information is not a substitute for reviewing the specific FOA application instructions. Always review both the instructions and the solicitation for the correct information.

NSF Grants.gov Application Guide

 SF424 (R&R) Applicant Guide for NIH and Other PHS Agencies ( this changes often make sure you are using the appropriate Guide)

Stanford Instructions for Completing the SF424 R&R

SF424RR Instructions

SF424 RR Instructions for NIH K Career Awards

The Stanford Institutional Facts required in the SF424

Many federal and private sponsors accept and even require you to submit applications through their online submission system.

 Federal Agencies

• NSF FastLane is the National Science Foundation online systemthat supports all functions of the proposal process: submission, review, award, and reporting. Effective March 18, 2013 NSF Fastlane system will perform  automatic compliance checking for all GPG (Grant Proposal Guide) required sections of proposals.  View the NSF presentation. NSF FAQs on automatic compliance checking 
• Grants.gov is the official grant announcement and proposal submission system for the federal government.
• NASA NSPIRES - NASA utilizes this online system to announce NASA funding opportunities. In some instances, pre-proposals and/or full proposals are accepted via NSPIRES.
• NIH ERA Commons is an investigator registration system that works in conjunction with Grants.gov to insure receipt of applications by the National Institutes of Health. All investigators must be registered in the Commons prior to submitting proposals to NIH and other Public Health Service agencies.

Private Agencies

• Proposal Central supports a variety of non-profit funding agencies in proposal submission. Agencies that utilize this system include the American Cancer Society, the Arthritis Foundation, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.