Nursing Research and Sponsored Programs

Along with your mentor/advisor, Nursing Research and Sponsored Programs (NRSP) is here to help you grow your research, scholarship, and outreach programs. We support technical aspects of proposal submission and budget development. After the project is funded, NRSP will support you with project management, regulatory needs, and reporting lifecycle.

Talk with us early!  Successful proposals often benefit from several month of learning and preparation.

Frequently Asked Questions: Grant applications and award management

Contact us to share your project ideas or ask questions, research@son.wisc.edu, or reach out to your mentor.

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What types of grants does NRSP help students with?

NRSP assists with a wide range of research project proposals and scientific training grants (e.g., federal, foundation, intramural) that include budgets and regulatory matters. Most proposals are approved by a faculty mentor, School of Nursing, and the UW-Madison’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP). Certain kinds of financial aid and scholarship grants do not require NRSP involvement. Please contact NRSP to confirm for your specific grant.

I’ve never submitted a research grant before. Where do I start?

Congratulations! Research grants are an important part of intellectual life. Start with conversations with your mentor and NRSP:  research@son.wisc.edu. Read and understand the funding announcement requirements, review criteria and examples of recently awarded grants that are similar. Research grants have a lot of moving parts. Coordinating each step with your mentor and NRSP will help ensure a competitive application that is submitted on time.

What’s the process for submitting a letter of intent (LOI)?

It depends on the LOI requirements. If an authorized organizational signature is required, if budget information is included, or if there are terms and conditions listed in the LOI instructions, UW-Madison’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP), must review the LOI before it is submitted.  NRSP will work with you and RSP to ensure the LOI contains all the necessary information.

NRSP requests records of all LOI even if it does not require campus-level review so we can start preparing for the full application.

I don’t have an eRA Commons account. The website says to contact my organization's accounts administrator. Who is that?

NRSP is your contact for setting up an eRA Commons account.  The first step is to choose a unique profile name. Many people use their NetID. NRSP can ensure your profile name is not already in use. After you confirm a profile name, it takes about 15 minutes to complete the registration and activate your Commons profile.  Your Commons profile will stay with you for your entire career and be updated as you acquire new degrees or affiliations.

I received my notice of award. Now what?

Congratulations! Receiving an award is very exciting. Share the news with NRSP, your team members, and collaborators. NRSP will work with campus on project set-up so you can begin spending your award. A number of things are typically needed before campus will activate the account. See the Award Status Checklist for additional guidance.

What is NRSP’s role in the loan repayment program?

NRSP plays a minimal role in the loan repayment program, but it’s good to know who is applying since UW-Madison’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) may contact us to verify certain employment data. We can also help with biosketch or related documents if you wish.

Below is information about the institutional certification process:

The post-doc will create an Loan Repayment Program (LRP) account and then complete the application. RSP will receive an email containing instructions on how to access the institutional support forms and confirm the information below.

  • Assures the applicant will be provided the necessary time and resources to engage in the research project for the period of the Loan Repayment Program award (two years for a new award and one or two years for a renewal award)
  • Assures the applicant is or will be engaged in research for an average of 20 hours per week (a total of 240 hours during a 12-week quarter or a total of 260 hours during a 13-week quarter)
  • Certifies the sponsoring entity is a domestic nonprofit institution (exempt from tax under 26USC 501)
  • Confirms the applicant’s institutional annual base salary
  • Confirms the applicant is a U.S. Citizen, U.S. National, or Permanent Resident of the U.S.

RSP works with the departments/dean’s offices to confirm the information. RSP can view the assurances and whether the application has been submitted or not. RSP can not see the entire application.

Institutional information:

  • Campus legal name: The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
  • Address:  University of Wisconsin-Madison
    Research & Sponsored Programs
    21. N. Park Street, Suite 6401
    Madison, WI  53715-1218
  • Institutional Contact:  Brenda Egan, preaward@rsp.wisc.edu

See campus guidance:  frequently used information.

Why is so much time required for proposal development?

Proposals are an investment in time for you, mentors, NRSP, and campus. Each proposal requires different kinds of information. Most applicants are learning about proposal development as they develop their proposals. Like other skills, learning involves set-backs, refinements. This skill involves many quickly evolving ideas, perspectives, research, and reading. Proposals involve a very a different kind of writing, so there is often a fair amount of rewriting. Most successful proposals benefit from a careful mock review. Additional time is needed to fully respond to the review before submission.

UW-Madison’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) requires submission to their unit 5 business days prior to the sponsor’s due date to accommodate the volume of applications they review for campus and the wide range of special considerations, corrections, and resubmission needs that arise during submission.

What is Cayuse?

Cayuse is a web-based tool to submit proposals via Grants.Gov. Cayuse ensures no box is left unchecked and all components are fulfilled. We generate a PDF of the complete application in Cayuse for your review prior to submission. NRSP will use Cayuse to assemble your federal application. You will not have to work in Cayuse.

What is WISPER?

WISPER is a campus tool used to route, approve, and track extramural grant and contract activity. All proposal related communication between NRSP, RSP, and collaborating UW departments is generally handled through WISPER, not email. You will receive email notifications with links to act on your pending WISPER records. The information in WISPER is for campus use only and serves as a permanent record for PI proposal activity.

What’s the process for submitting a letter of intent?

It depends on the LOI requirements. If an authorized organizational signature is required, if budget information is included, or if there are terms and conditions listed in the LOI instructions, campus RSP must review the LOI before it is submitted.

NRSP requests records of all LOI even if it does not require campus-level review so we can start preparing for the full application.