What are "limited submissions?"
Limited submission programs are competitive funding programs that restrict the number of proposals that may be submitted from one institution. Institutional applicants for programs with limited submission restrictions are determined through an internal review process.
Sign up for Funding Focus to receive a weekly digest of limited submission opportunities available to the University of Iowa community.
What if I do not see the limited submission opportunity in InfoReady?
Every effort is made to identify and post most limited competitions in InfoReady. However, the following sponsors have received a low number of applications historically, therefore these opportunities will not be posted individually. If you are planning to apply to a limited submission opportunity from any of these agencies, please see the guidelines in each application site:
- U.S Agency for International Development (USAID)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Department of Justice (DOJ)
- Department of State (DOS)
- Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
If you become aware of a funding opportunity with a limited submission requirement that is not listed, please email vpr-limsubs@uiowa.edu with the program title, due date and the sponsor’s URL. Please also contact us if you are interested in an opportunity and the internal deadline has expired but the sponsor's deadline is current. If contacted three weeks or more ahead of the sponsor deadline we will run an internal competition to ensure we do not exceed our institutional limit. If we are notified of a competition less than three weeks from the sponsor deadline, we will ask for internal application materials prior to submission. Applicants will be selected on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please contact our office as soon as possible to ensure we do not have another applicant.
How does the institutional nomination process work?
The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) initiates an internal competition if a competitive grant program restricts the number of proposals that may be submitted from one institution, and the competition is open to faculty and staff members of more than one college. The OVPR sets an internal deadline by which interested individuals must apply to be the institutional applicant. The application materials are reviewed by the applicants' collegiate Associate Deans for Research, senior staff members from the OVPR, and selected faculty. The selected applicant(s) submit a full proposal to the sponsor by the program deadline.
Internal nomination competitions, whether they are conducted by individual colleges or through the OVPR, are advertised in the Grant Bulletin as well as through Funding Focus, a weekly email digest of limited submission opportunities available to the University of Iowa community. The collegiate Associate Deans for Research also distribute news of each competition within their colleges.
Grant Limitation and Action Examples
Route your proposal through the Division of Sponsored Programs at least five days in advance of the deadline.
Apply through UI Limited Submission Opportunities; applications are reviewed by appropriate Associate Deans for Research (ADR), faculty and OVPR senior staff.
Each college or school to organize its own review process, contact your collegiate Associate Dean for Research for more information.
Contact the department chair before applying.
Contact vpr-limsubs@uiowa.edu with the program title, due date, and sponsor's URL. If time permits as indicated above, an internal competition will be run to ensure we do not exceed the institutional limit.
Contact vpr-limsubs@uiowa.edu. You may still be able to apply if there was no initial interest or if the number of applicants who plan to formally submit is less than the number permitted by the sponsor.
Calendar of Select Recurring Opportunities
Please note that months are approximate and all eligibility criteria subject to change.
Spring Announcements
Sponsor name: National Endowment for the Humanities
Program name: Summer Stipends
Month program announced (campus): March
Month of sponsor deadline: September
Institutional application limit: 2
Applicant eligibility: Tenured - Tenure Track Faculty
Research category: Scholarly
Sponsor name: Keck Foundation Grant Program
Program name: Research Program
Month program announced (campus): May
Internal concept deadline: June
Month of sponsor deadline: November
Institutional application limit: 4 concept papers per category (8 total); 1 Phase 1 per category (2 total)
Applicant eligibility: Faculty
Research category: Basic
Sponsor name: Brain Research Foundation
Program name: Scientific Innovations Award
Month program announced (campus): April
Month of sponsor deadline: June (LOI)
Institutional application limit: 1 LOI (Full proposals are by invitation only)
Applicant eligibility: Established Investigators
Research category: Basic, Applied
Summer Announcements
Sponsor name: Greenwall Foundation
Program name: Faculty Scholars Program in Bioethics
Month program announced (campus): July
Month of sponsor deadline: September (LOI)
Institutional application limit: 2 LOIs
Applicant eligibility: Junior faculty
Research category: Basic, Applied
Sponsor name: Simons Foundation Investigators
Program name: Math, Physics, Astrophysics, and Computer Science Program
Month program announced (campus): July
Month of sponsor deadline: October
Institutional application limit: 2 per category
Applicant eligibility: Tenured faculty
Research category: Basic
Fall Announcements
Sponsor name: National Science Foundation
Program name: Major Research Instrumentation Program
Month program announced (campus): July
Month of sponsor deadline: November
Institutional application limit: 4 (no more than two in Track 1, one in Track 2, one in Track 3). Note funded sub awardees also count against the institutional limit.
Applicant eligibility: Faculty
Research category: Instrument Acquisition or Development
Sponsor name: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Program name: Inventor Fellows Program
Month program announced (campus): September
Month of sponsor deadline: December
Institutional application limit: 2
Applicant eligibility: Faculty and other fulltime UI affiliates w/in 10 years of terminal degree
Research category: Basic, Applied
Sponsor name: Keck Foundation Grant Program
Program name: Research Program
Month program announced (campus): September
Internal concept deadline: December
Month of sponsor deadline: May
Institutional application limit: 4 concept papers per category (8 total); 1 Phase 1 per category (2 total)
Applicant eligibility: Faculty
Research category: Basic
Sponsor name: Damon Runyon Foundation
Program name: Clinical Investigator Award
Month program announced (campus): September
Month of sponsor deadline: February
Institutional application limit: 5
Applicant eligibility: Independent assistant professor or equivalent
Research category: Applied
Sponsor name: Mallinckrodt Foundation
Program name: Scholars Program occurs every other year on even years
Month program announced (campus): October
Month of sponsor deadline: January
Institutional application limit: 2
Applicant eligibility: 5th to 8th year tenure track
Research category: Basic
Sponsor name: Brain Research Foundation
Program name: Fay/Frank Seed Grant Program
Month program announced (campus): September
Month of sponsor deadline: December (LOI only)
Institutional application limit: 1
Applicant eligibility: Full time assistant or associate professors
Research category: Basic, Applied
Winter Announcements
Sponsor name: Whiting Foundation
Program name: Public Engagement Fellowship Program
Month program announced (campus): December
Month of sponsor deadline: June
Institutional application limit: 1
Applicant eligibility: Early-career, full-time humanities faculty
Research category: Engagement
Sponsor name: National Institutes of Health
Program name: Biomedical Research Facilities (C06)
Month program announced (campus): January
Month of sponsor deadline: March
Institutional application limit: 1
Applicant eligibility: Tenured faculty
Research category: Infrastructure
Sponsor name: Pew Scholars Program
Program name: Biomedical Sciences Program
Month program announced (campus): February
Month of sponsor deadline: October
Institutional application limit: 1
Applicant eligibility: Fulltime assistant professor - less than four years
Research category: Basic, Applied
Sponsor name: Searle Foundation
Program name: Scholars Program
Month program announced (campus): February
Month of sponsor deadline: September
Institutional application limit: 1
Applicant eligibility: Applicants should be within one year of post-assistant professor appointment. The appointment must be their first tenure-track position at an invited institution.
Research category: Basic
Sponsor name: Mallinckrodt Foundation
Program name: Grants Program occurs every other year on odd years
Month program announced (campus): February
Month of sponsor deadline: August
Institutional application limit: 1
Applicant eligibility: Tenure track faculty in their first to fourth year. Applicants with current R01 funding are not eligible.
Research category: Basic
Questions?
Please email vpr-limsubs@uiowa.edu with any questions. Sign up for Funding Focus to stay up-to-date on upcoming limited submissions opportunities here!