The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP)
The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) is the primary mechanism for providing direct assistance to faculty and staff in identifying appropriate sources of external funds for projects and programs of all types. Our support team is responsible for reviewing and submitting proposals to external sponsors and for reviewing and accepting any sponsored project funds.
We work to facilitate the efforts of faculty and staff to develop and achieve their goals in research, creative, instructional, and program-development activities through successful competition for external funding. The OSP also protects the University’s interests by promoting research integrity and carefully stewarding external funds as directed by university practices and applicable university and funding agency regulations and policies.
Our Services
Calls Announcement
The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) is looking for funding opportunities for the full-time faculty to match their research goals with appropriate sources of funding. Potential funding sources can include international organizations, government agencies, foundations, and corporations. (OSP) then announces on a regular basis relevant funding alerts to faculty members at NU via email and the weekly newsletter.
The process of developing a proposal for a research project begins with the research idea. then putting clear objectives for reaching the project goals and how to carry out the objectives. The sponsored project structures, ideas and objectives must also be consistent with the opportunity’s grantor guidelines and goals. As the Principal Investigator (PI), you should consider the below questions while developing your proposal’s ideas.
- What do you want to achieve with your research or idea?
- Why do you want to do it? What is its significance, and how is it fulfilling a need?
- How is the project important for you/your organization and community?
- What you and/or others have already done?
- How are you going to do it? What are the suggested methods or theories of change to achieve the project goal??
- Who is going to benefit from it? (target population/beneficiaries)
- What are the expected outcomes and impacts of the project?
- Plans for its long-term sustainability.
NU Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) is working on finding opportunities that match the PIs areas of interests and sponsored programs to fund their ideas.
Reviewing Proposal and Budget:
All sponsored proposals must be reviewed and approved by the OSP and Grants office before submission to external funding agencies.
Once the full proposal is ready for submission, the PI send it along with the budget to OSP for reviewing the proposal and sharing the budget with the grants office to review it and making sure it is aligned with the grantor guidelines and the University ‘s policies and regulations. Please check (how to apply process).
Approval Cycle:
Close coordination with OSP is necessary to ensure that all needed approvals are secured prior to submission deadlines.
The OSP will be Circulating the Proposal for Approvals and will work with the PI to address any concerns or comments raised by the approving parties.
The consequence of not getting the approvals prior to submission can lead to the rejection of the award by the University if the conditions for funding are not abiding by NU policies.
Submission of the Proposal to the Sponsor:
When all approvals have been secured, OSP will inform the PI to proceed with the submission, requesting confirmation on the system. After the submission the OSP will follow up on the proposal status to know if it is accepted or rejected.
Grantor's Review of the Proposal:
The proposal review process varies from one grantor to the other. They may evaluate the proposal through peer review, internal committee, or through other ways for evaluation.
Contracting
- Once the University is awarded a grant, the OSP is responsible to get the legal consultant approval then the Legal representative approval and signature and refer the case to the grants office who will stat from there to take care of all the grants details.
Other Services
- Holding Workshops and info session explaining the grants details
- Contacting the grantor and inviting them to a university visit
- Update the university newsletter with the awarded grants
Our Objectives
The Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) is responsible for soliciting and accepting contracts and grants for research and other sponsored projects on behalf of The Regents of Nile University.
OSP works with campus research faculty to prepare budgets, ensure compliance with NU Policy and sponsor guidelines, and sign off on the final submission.
