Application Guides & Resources

ORCiD ID

What is ORCiD ID?

ORCiD is a registry of unique identifiers for researchers and scholars that is open, non-proprietary, transparent, mobile, and community-based. It provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other contributor and supports automated linkages among all your professional activities. https://orcid.org/

Researchers are encouraged to obtain an ORCiD ID. As federal agencies begin to standardize the disclosure process, this will help facilitate in maintaining information about your affiliations, grants, publications, peer review, and more. For instance, an ORCID will facilitate pre-population of your current and pending/other support and biosketch information using SciENcv.

Why should you register?

Your ID:

Distinguishes you and ensures your research outputs and activities are correctly attributed to you
Reliably and easily connects you with your contributions and affiliations
Reduces form-filling (enter date once, reuse it often)
Improves recognition and discoverability for you and your research outputs
Is interoperable (works with many institutions, funders, and publishers)
Is persistent (enduring)
Is free!
External sponsors are beginning to require a persistent identifier, such as ORCiD, as part of standardizing disclosure requirements

Additional Information

Information regarding ORCiD, including creating an account, can be found on the UNT Libraries website.

Many sponsors require an ORCiD ID in the bio, including NIH, so it is encouraged that you create one. It is also recommended that you set the information visibility to “everyone,” which allows your profile details to be public.

ORCiD FAQs are located here, including what to do if you have a duplicate ORCiD: https://info.orcid.org/researcher-faq/

SciENcv

What is ScIENcv?

SciENcv webpage

Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) is an electronic system offered by the National Library of Medicine that helps researchers assemble the professional information needed for participation in federally funded research. SciENcv gathers and compiles information on expertise, employment, education, and professional accomplishments. Researchers can use SciENcv to create and maintain biosketches that are submitted with grant applications and annual reports. SciENcv allows researchers to describe and highlight their scientific contributions in their own words.

An increasing number of sponsors require the use of SciENcv to use the common forms format to generate and certify Biosketches and Current and Pending (Other) Support, including NSF and NIH.

Tips:

Be Consistent: Choose one sign-in method and stick with this consistency to avoid losing data or creating duplicate profiles

Link Accounts: Create an ORCiD to facilitate the pre-population of your current and pending/other support and biosketch information. Link ORCiD ID to SciENcv (see tutorial below)

What to do if you have multiple accounts or need support troubleshooting?: Contact NCBI Help Desk (info@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

To integrate your SciENcv with ORCiD, please see the tutorial here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_cKSRr7TJ4&t=2s

Additional Resources available here: https://ncbiinsights.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/linking-an-orcid-account-to-sciencv/

For sponsor-specific guidance, please refer to the sponsor tab.

Current NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide and Supplements

Pre-Award has created a UNT Pre-Award NSF Checklist (PDF) that may be helpful when preparing an NSF proposal. Please note that specific solicitations may have additional guidance that deviates from the standard information outlined in the checklist.

Responsible Conduct and Ethical Research (RCER) Requirements: All principal investigators, co-principal investigators, senior personnel, undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) must complete Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research (RCER) training, including training in mentorship. Please contact RIC for more information.

NSF has partnered with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to use SciENcv: Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae as an NSF-approved format for use in preparation of the Biographical Sketch & the Current & Pending (Other) Support section of an NSF proposal. SciENcv will produce an NSF-compliant PDF version of these documents. Refer to the SciENcv webpage for more information on SciENcv.

Resources:

NSF SciENcv FAQs

NSF Current and Pending (Other) Support FAQs

NSF Current and Pending (Other) Support Resources

Guidance on NSF Off-campus and Off-site Research Requirements

NSF's PAPPG includes a requirement for the AOR to certify that the grantee organization has in place a plan for safe and inclusive research workplace environments for any proposal, including off-campus or off-site research. For purposes of this requirement, off-campus or off-site research is defined by NSF as “data/information/samples being collected off-campus or off-site, such as fieldwork and research activities on vessels and aircraft”.

The plan must describe how the following types of behavior will be addressed:

Abuse of any person, including, but not limited to, harassment, stalking, bullying, or hazing of any kind, whether the behavior is carried out verbally, physically, electronically, or in written form; or
Conduct that is unwelcome, offensive, indecent, obscene, or disorderly.

The plan also should identify steps the proposing organization will take to nurture an inclusive off-campus or off-site working environment, e.g., trainings; processes to establish shared team definitions of roles, responsibilities, and culture, e.g., codes of conduct; and field support, such as mentor/mentee support mechanisms, regular check-ins, and/or developmental events.

Communications within the team and to the organization should be considered in the plan, minimizing singular points within the communications pathway (e.g., a single person overseeing access to a single satellite phone), and any special circumstances, such as the involvement of multiple organizations or the presence of third parties in the working environment, should be taken into account. The process or method for making incident reports, as well as how any reports received will be resolved, should also be accounted for.

The organization's plan for the proposal must be disseminated to individuals participating in the off-campus or off-site research prior to departure. Proposers should not submit the plan to NSF for review.

To support Principal Investigators (PIs) in meeting this requirement, GCA has created a template that PIs should download, complete for their project, and disseminate to individuals participating in the off-campus or off-site research prior to departure.

For proposals involving off-campus or off-site research, the PI must provide GCA with a copy of the project specific Plan prior to the submission of the proposal.

Please note: In general, NSF does not require the plan to be submitted to NSF. However, several solicitations from the NSF Directorates for Biological Sciences (BIO) and Geosciences (GEO) may require submission of a Safe and Inclusive Work Environments Plan as a Supplemental Document.

NSF Safe and Inclusive Work Environment Plan for Off-Campus or Off-Site Research

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What does “off-campus” or “off-site” mean. If I'm housed in a leased building adjacent to UNT campus, does this new requirement apply to me?

NSF's definition of off-campus/off-site is: data/information/samples being collected off-campus or off-site, such as fieldwork and research activities on vessels and aircraft.

This requirement intends to provide guidance and protection for participants when they do not have ready access to the on-campus in-person resources they normally do. If your participants continue to have such access, no plan is needed. If participants are sufficiently distant from campus that access to these resources is more limited than it would be if they were on campus, then a plan is likely needed.

“Day trips” or excursions (e.g., to public places, schools, museums, a mall) where participants are returning without an overnight stay would not normally require a plan, but a plan should be created if the nature of the off-campus research activity is likely to create a larger-than-normal opportunity for harassment to occur (e.g., studies looking at sexual activities, incarcerated individuals, prior knowledge of harassment in the same setting, etc.). If there is any doubt, create a plan.

Attendance or presentation of research results at a conference does not require a plan; if participants will also engage in the conduct of research activities while attending a conference, a plan would be required.

Is it possible to name a backup point of contact listed on the plan form?

Yes, in fact, it is advisable to have a primary and a secondary point of contact available. The Principal Investigator must be listed on the form, but may delegate the primary point of contact responsibility to another individual who is present at the off-campus location. Make sure to include the cell phone and email of the alternative contact and outline the parties in the plan.

What should happen if the person doing the alleged misconduct is the named point of contact?

As described above, it is helpful to list contact information for two individuals (e.g., the PI and a second delegated person) so that there is a local second point-of-contact readily available. Assuming there is internet or cell phone service, the participant can also use one of the other reporting mechanisms to contact their supervisor or a University official responsible for handling misconduct concerns. If the participant is unable or unwilling to notify the primary point of contact and the standard reporting options are not available, the participant may defer reporting until access is available (if they feel it is safe to do so), or approach another senior person on the off-campus team to assist them in appropriate next steps.

Current NIH Application Guide: General Application Guide for NIH and Other PHS Agencies - Version I

Notice of NIH Policy Changes that may supersede the General Application guide are located here: https://grants.nih.gov/policy-and-compliance/notice-of-policy-changes

NIH has adopted the Biographical Sketch Common Form and the Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Form for applications and Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs). Additional information about this change can be found on NIH’s Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support webpage and their FAQ page.

SciENcv will produce an NIH-compliant PDF version of a biosketch. Refer to the SciENcv webpage for more information on SciENcv.

Biosketch

Current and Pending (Other) Support

Current and Pending (other) Support (CPOS) Common Form Resources

Common Forms Biosketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support FAQs

Pre-Award has created UNT Pre-Award NIH Checklists that may be helpful when preparing an NIH proposal. Please note that specific solicitations may have additional guidance that deviates from the standard information outlined in the checklist. Checklists available are below.
NIH F Series Checklist
NIH K Series Checklist
NIH R Series Checklist
NIH HSCTI Checklist

Please note that the GCA Internal deadline for NIH Multi-Project Submissions deviates from GCA's typical 6-business-day deadline. If you are anticipating submitting an NIH Multi-Project application, please review GCA's NIH Multi-Project Submission Timeline to ensure you plan accordingly.

Data Management & Sharing Plan

NIH’s Data Management & Sharing Plan requires researchers to prospectively plan for how scientific data will be preserved and shared through submission of a Data Management and Sharing Plan and to implement the approved plan. Plans should explain how scientific data will be managed and describe which scientific data and accompanying metadata will be shared in common repositories. It applies to all NIH-funded research that directly results in the generation of scientific data, regardless of funding level or mechanism. This expands upon NIH's previous data sharing requirement that applies to projects with $500,000 or more in direct costs in any single year.

Under the DMS policy, NIH expects that investigators and institutions:

Plan and budget for the management and sharing of data
Submit a DMS plan for review when applying for funding
Comply with the approved DMS Plan

Individual NIH Institutes, Centers, or Offices may have additional policies and expectations (see NIH Institute and Center Data Sharing Policies).

NIH Resources:

UNT Resources:

Just-in-Time (JIT)

NIH Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) for Undergraduate-Focused Institutions (R15)

UNT is eligible to apply for the NIH Research Enhancement Award (R15). This opportunity supports small-scale research projects at educational institutions that provide advanced degrees for research scientists but have not become major recipients of NIH support.

UNT meets the eligibility criteria for the Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) for Undergraduate-Focused Institutions (R15):

The applicant institution must be an accredited public or non-profit private school that grants baccalaureate degrees in biomedical sciences.
• At the time of application submission, all the non-health professional components of the institution together have not received support from the NIH totaling more than $6 million per year (in both direct and F&A/indirect costs) in 4 of the last 7 fiscal years.
• Academic component must have a greater undergraduate student enrollment than graduate student enrollment.

For this program, UNT considers all academic components on campus to be Non-Health Professional Schools.

The goals of the AREA grant program play to UNT's areas of strength:
•   support meritorious research
•   expose students to research
•   strengthen the research environment of the institution

Key Points:
•   Be sure to use the appropriate FOA for your project type (i.e., Clinical Trial vs Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
•   Be sure you meet the principal investigator eligibility requirements
•   Your Grant and Contract Specialist in GCA will obtain the required institutional eligibility letter when assembling the application package.
•   AREA grant is permitted to have a subcontract to a non-AREA-eligible institution. However, applicants should keep the goals of the AREA program in mind when preparing the application, which include strengthening the research environment of eligible institutions and engaging students from eligible institutions in research. The majority of the research must be directed by the PD(s)/PI(s) at the grantee institution.

For more information about the NIH R15 funding opportunity, review the NIH websites:

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/r15.htm

https://grants.nih.gov/faqs#/Research-Enhancement-Award-R15.htm

NIH Salary Cap

Salary Cap Resource Website

What is the NIH Salary Cap?
The NIH salary cap is a limitation placed on the salary rate that can be charged to an NIH grant.

The cap is not imposed on the total number of dollars that can be charged to an NIH grant, but rather, the cap applies to the monthly pay rate that can be charged to an NIH grant.

How often does it change?
The Federal Executive Pay scale changes on January 1st, each calendar year. The rates are set by Congress as part of the annual federal budget appropriations process. See the above Salary Cap Resource Website for current rates.

How should the salary cap be addressed in a proposal?
NIH instructs applications preparing a detailed budget to base the personnel request on actual institutional base salaries (not the cap) so that NIH staff have the most current information in hand at the time of award and can apply the appropriate salary cap at that time. In cases where the institutional base salary requested is above the salary cap, NIH will reduce that line item to the salary cap in effect at the time of the award, resulting in a reduced total award amount.

NIH policy office understands that some institutions have chosen, based on their organizational policies and procedures, to base their budget requests on the NIH salary cap instead of the actual institutional base salary (e.g., to avoid exceeding direct cost limits in grant applications). This approach is acceptable if it is consistent with your organization's policy.

Effective in FY26, UNT will allow personnel to be budgeted at the salary cap vs. institutional base salaries, when applicable. This is not addressed in the proposal as a cost share commitment from UNT.

How should the salary cap be addressed at the time of award?
In cases where the institutional base salary requested is above the salary cap, NIH may reduce that line item to the salary cap in effect at the time of the award, resulting in a reduced total award amount.

The salary cap does not limit total compensation but only the portion of compensation that is charged to the award.

For UNT senior/key personnel whose salaries are over the salary cap, salary cap companion accounts are set up, which allow for institutional funds to cover the remaining portion of salary support.

How does the NIH salary cap relate to effort?

Effort proposed in a grant application becomes a commitment (or obligation) that the University must fulfill unless explicitly modified during award negotiations with the sponsor.

The cost associated with committed effort may be borne by the sponsor (charged to the grant or contract) or by the institution (documented traditionally as cost-sharing).

Therefore, when planning effort, ensure the proposed and awarded effort is fulfilled, whether or not reimbursed by the sponsor.

What are UNT's obligations with regard to the salary cap?
As the grantee, UNT is responsible for having in place mechanisms to ensure that the NIH salary cap is being implemented and monitored in accordance with the NIH requirements.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Other Support Training

All Senior/Key Personnel on applicable proposals to or awards from the NIH must fully understand their responsibility to disclose all resources made available to them in support of and/or related to all of their research endeavors, regardless of whether or not they have monetary value and regardless of whether they are based at the institution the researcher identifies for the current grant.

Please review the following information:

NIH Grants and Funding - Other Support topic page: Other Support | Grants & Funding
NIH Pre-award and Post-award Disclosures Related to the Biographical Sketch and Other Support: NIH Disclosures Table (PDF)

Training Process:

All Senior/Key Personnel must complete the CITI Research Security online training module prior to proposal submission.
Any new Senior/Key Personnel added during the course of an existing NIH award must complete the CITI Research Security online training module prior to charging salary to an NIH award.
The CITI Research Security online training must be renewed annually for all Senior/Key Personnel.

U.S. Department of Agriculture - National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA)

The NIFA Grants Application Guide provides guidance for the preparation and submission of NIFA grant applications. This guide provides general information and references pertaining to the grant application process and NIFA-specific instructions and requirements.

Additional Guidance or application instructions provided in specific funding opportunity announcements should be followed and supersede general guidance in the NIFA Grants Application Guide.

When applying for an NIFA award, it is important to reference the version of the guide included in the specific funding opportunity application package. Click here to see where the NIFA Grants Application Guide is located in the Grants.gov funding opportunity package.

Indirect Cost Limitation Information:

Indirect Cost Rates vary by USDA program. Please refer to the solicitation for specific limitations. NIFA also maintains a chart at the following link: https://nifa.usda.gov/resource/indirect-cost-chart.

Most USDA-NIFA projects are subject to the NIFA-19-010 2018 Farm Bill. This bill requires that indirect costs are limited to the rate that yields the lesser Indirect Cost amount: Either (a) 30% of the Total Federal Funds Awarded (TFFA); or (b) the applicable Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) rate.

To figure out which rate to charge, you will need to calculate both and use the lesser of the two. Contact your GCA Pre-Award Specialist for assistance. If there are no exclusions (i.e., equipment, tuition), then TFFA is typically going to be less than the university's official negotiated indirect costs rate. But if you have significant exclusions in your budget, it is likely that the university's official indirect costs rate will be less.

If Subawards are included in the budget, the subawards' indirect costs need to be factored in when determining if the restricted rate has been met. If UNT is the Lead applicant and includes subawards, the project budget may be over the allowable IDC amount, even when using the lesser IDC rate. This is due to assessing IDC on the first $25k or subawards. If this is the case and the project budget is over the allowable IDC amount, UNT will further restrict its IDC rate used to ensure the indirect costs for the entire project budget do not exceed the USDA NIFA restrictive rate of 30% of TFFA.

Subawards included in UNT's budget will not need to further restrict their IDC if they are appropriately using the lesser of (a) 30% of the Total Federal Funds Awarded (TFFA), or (b) the applicable Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) rate.

In the event cost sharing is required, the prime awardee is responsible for ensuring the maximum indirect cost allowed for the award is not exceeded when combining IDC for the Federal portion (i.e., prime and sub-awardee(s)) and any applicable cost-sharing unless noted otherwise in the RFA (see 7 CFR 3430.52(b)). UNT will assess allowable indirect costs on the federal portion of the project budget.

GCA Pre-Award has a spreadsheet to help with the reduced IDC rate calculation. Contact your assigned Pre-Award specialist for assistance.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

The NASA Proposer's Guidebook outlines the policies and processes for submitting responses to a NASA NOFO, which are also known as NASA Research Announcements (NRA), Cooperative Agreement Notices (CAN), Broad Agency Announcements (BAA), or solicitations.

To submit a research proposal to NASA, individuals must be registered in the NASA Solicitation Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES). Individuals may register at any time. Contact your GCA Specialist if you have questions.

NASA has implemented common forms for the Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support forms. Templates and information regarding accepted signatures can be located under Grant Forms on the NASA website.

U.S. Department of Defense (DoD):

Department of Defense (DoD) encompasses a myriad of agencies/offices that make funding announcements and accept proposals in many different formats and through different portals. The two largest sources of funding information for DoD are Grants.gov and SAM.gov.

When planning for a proposal, you must pay close attention to the sponsor solicitation. Note that the funding source can be a grant, cooperative agreement, or contract. UNT preference is a grant or assistance agreement (cooperative agreement).

It is not uncommon that many DOD organizations won’t have general guidance for their area (they fall under a variety of federal acquisition rules, Office of Management and Budget, Code of Federal Regulation, etc.) – but they don’t normally have general guidance like NSF, NASA, or NIH. Normally, the specific solicitation is all-inclusive for the proposal submission, unless there is portal/system guidance available. They generally will host webinars and include FAQs for additional proposal support.

Most DoD awards include federal cybersecurity or data‑protection requirements. When those clauses are part of your agreement, UNT System IT must complete a compliance review before the project can be fully set up.

What This Means for PIs

If your award triggers an IT review, you can expect:

A few required training modules related to cybersecurity and handling controlled information
A request for a diagram showing the systems, software, and data flow you will use for the project
Coordination with your College IT Manager as they work with UNT System IT to complete required security documentation (such as a System Security Plan)

Why This Is Important

We cannot finalize your award until the review is complete. Early communication and prompt responses help prevent delays and ensure we meet federal security standards.

Our goal is to make this process as smooth as possible. UNT System IT and GCA Contracting will guide you every step of the way.

U.S Department of Energy (DOE)

Faculty seeking external funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) should begin by reviewing the DOE Office of Science Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs), which provide detailed eligibility requirements, proposal instructions, and merit‑review criteria.

The Office of Science issues multiple FOAs throughout the year, along with a standing, cross‑cutting open solicitation available year‑round. All applications are evaluated through a rigorous peer‑review process to ensure alignment with DOE research priorities and scientific merit. More information on current opportunities can be found on the DOE Office of Science Funding Opportunities page.