# Grant Proposal Requirements

Funding requirements are controlled by the current solicitation or notice of funding opportunity (NOFO), the effective agency guide, and the submission portal. A general agency summary never overrides the call.

**Reviewed:** 2026-07-20

## Required Order of Authority

Use sources in this order:

1. current solicitation, NOFO, or Broad Agency Announcement (BAA);
2. amendments and agency notices;
3. effective agency application guide and form set;
4. submission-portal validation; and
5. institutional sponsored-research guidance.

Record the source URLs, versions, and date checked in the proposal workspace.

## NSF

### Current policy basis

- PAPPG landing page: https://www.nsf.gov/policies/pappg
- Proposal preparation overview: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/preparing-proposal
- Current PAPPG Chapter II: follow the version marked current on the landing page
- SciENcv: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sciencv/

As reviewed on 2026-07-20, **NSF 24-1** remains the current PAPPG for proposals submitted or due on or after 2024-05-20, with later supplemental policy notices listed on the PAPPG landing page. Recheck this status for every deadline.

### Verified common research-proposal rules

Unless the solicitation modifies them:

| Component | Current general rule |
|---|---|
| Project Summary | No more than 1 page; include Overview, Intellectual Merit, and Broader Impacts |
| Project Description | Up to 15 pages for a standard research proposal |
| References Cited | Separate section; follow PAPPG content rules |
| Data Management and Sharing Plan | No more than 2 pages |
| Biographical Sketch | Generated in SciENcv for each senior/key person; no old three-page cap |
| Current and Pending (Other) Support | Generated and certified in SciENcv |
| Synergistic Activities | Separate document, up to 1 page and up to 5 examples per senior/key person |

**General formatting**

- Times New Roman or Computer Modern at 11 points or larger under the current general rule.
- No more than six lines of text in one vertical inch.
- Margins of at least one inch in every direction.
- Portal-generated forms and solicitation-specific instructions may control individual sections.

### Important change from older guidance

Do not use the obsolete “three-page NSF biosketch with Synergistic Activities inside it” pattern.

Current workflow:

1. prepare and certify the Biographical Sketch in SciENcv;
2. prepare and certify Current and Pending (Other) Support in SciENcv; and
3. upload Synergistic Activities as its own one-page document.

### Project Summary

Clearly label:

- **Overview** — proposed activity, objectives, and methods;
- **Intellectual Merit** — potential to advance knowledge; and
- **Broader Impacts** — potential to benefit society and produce desired societal outcomes.

The summary should be understandable to a broad scientific audience and is not merely the proposal abstract.

### Project Description

A practical drafting structure is:

1. problem, prior work, and gap;
2. objectives or hypotheses;
3. research plan and methods;
4. expected outcomes, risks, and alternatives;
5. timeline and team roles;
6. Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts; and
7. Results from Prior NSF Support when required.

This is writing guidance, not a required section order. Follow the solicitation.

### Data Management and Sharing Plan

Address applicable plans for:

- data and other research products;
- standards and metadata;
- access, sharing, and any justified restrictions;
- reuse and redistribution;
- preservation and archiving; and
- roles and responsibilities.

Directorate, office, division, or program guidance may add requirements.

### Bundled NSF scaffold

`assets/grants/nsf_proposal_template.tex` is a planning scaffold for common narrative components. It is not an NSF-issued upload package. Split content into the appropriate Research.gov or Grants.gov fields and use SciENcv/common forms where required.

## NIH

### Current policy basis

- Application Guide: https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/how-to-apply-application-guide
- Attachment formatting: https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/how-to-apply-application-guide/format-attachments
- Page limits: https://grants.nih.gov/grants-process/write-application/how-to-apply-application-guide/page-limits

Use the form set and instructions applicable to the due date. The NOFO always takes precedence over general page-limit tables.

### Verified common page limits

As reviewed on 2026-07-20:

| Attachment | General limit unless the NOFO says otherwise |
|---|---|
| Specific Aims | 1 page |
| R01 Research Strategy | 12 pages |
| R21 Research Strategy | 6 pages; combined mechanisms can differ |
| Introduction to resubmission/revision | 1 page |
| Project Summary/Abstract | 30 lines |
| Project Narrative | 3 sentences for most activity codes |
| Legacy Biographical Sketch | 5 pages |
| Biographical Sketch Common Form and Supplement | No hard page limit; length is controlled through SciENcv data entry |

Not every activity code uses every attachment. Check the NOFO and activity-code instructions.

### Attachment formatting

Verify the current guide for:

- accepted PDF format;
- paper size and margins;
- approved fonts and minimum size;
- file naming;
- hyperlinks;
- headers, footers, and page numbers; and
- whether a format page or common form is mandatory.

Do not compress text or figures to evade a page limit.

### Specific Aims

A useful writing pattern is:

1. significance and unresolved gap;
2. long-term goal and proposal objective;
3. central hypothesis or guiding premise;
4. concise aims with approach and expected outcome; and
5. impact and next-step payoff.

The pattern is not an NIH-mandated outline. Adapt it to the mechanism and science.

`assets/grants/nih_specific_aims.tex` is a writing scaffold for the one-page attachment. Confirm the current font, margin, and PDF rules before use.

### Research Strategy

For R01-style research applications, organize around:

- Significance;
- Innovation; and
- Approach.

Address rigor, feasibility, analysis, expected outcomes, potential problems, alternatives, milestones, and relevant biological variables where applicable. Mechanism- and NOFO-specific instructions can add or replace requirements.

### Biosketch and common forms

Do not rely on the old assumption that every NIH biosketch is a manually edited five-page PDF. Determine whether the application uses:

- a legacy biosketch format page; or
- the Biographical Sketch Common Form and NIH supplement through SciENcv.

Use the current forms directory and due-date-specific instructions.

## DOE

### Official starting points

- Office of Science funding opportunities: https://science.osti.gov/grants
- DOE funding opportunities: https://www.energy.gov/funding-financing
- SAM.gov: https://sam.gov/content/opportunities

DOE requirements vary substantially by Funding Opportunity Announcement. Extract exact rules for:

- pre-application or concept paper;
- project narrative;
- resumes/biosketches and support disclosures;
- data management or data-sharing plan;
- budget files and cost sharing;
- current/pending support;
- milestones, deliverables, and technology readiness; and
- submission system.

No DOE template is bundled in this skill.

## DARPA

### Official starting points

- Opportunities: https://www.darpa.mil/work-with-us/opportunities
- SAM.gov: https://sam.gov/content/opportunities

Every BAA defines its own volumes, page limits, abstract/full-proposal stages, security markings, cost package, and submission channel. Do not apply a generic “20–25 page DARPA proposal” limit.

Use the Heilmeier questions as a thinking aid when relevant:

- What are you trying to do?
- How is it done today, and what are the limits?
- What is new, and why might it succeed?
- Who cares, and what difference will success make?
- What are the risks, cost, schedule, and measurable tests?

The BAA controls the actual proposal structure. No DARPA template is bundled.

## Private Foundations

Foundation programs change frequently. Start from the exact open call and capture:

- eligibility and geographic restrictions;
- concept-note or invitation stage;
- narrative questions and character limits;
- indirect-cost policy;
- budget template and currency;
- required partners or letters;
- data, open-science, and intellectual-property terms; and
- portal deadline and timezone.

Do not use remembered award sizes or historical success rates as current facts.

## Proposal Compliance Matrix

Create a matrix before drafting:

| Requirement | Source and section | Limit/format | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project narrative | NOFO §IV | Example: 12 pages | PI | Drafting |
| Biosketch | Agency guide | SciENcv common form | Each senior/key person | Pending |
| Budget justification | NOFO §IV | Portal PDF | Administrator | Pending |
| Data plan | Policy + NOFO | Example: 2 pages | Data lead | Drafting |

Use the exact source language rather than paraphrasing ambiguous limits.

## General Proposal Checklist

- [ ] Solicitation/NOFO number and amendment date recorded
- [ ] Effective agency guide and form set confirmed
- [ ] Eligibility and registration complete
- [ ] Every component mapped to a portal field
- [ ] Page, character, font, margin, and file rules verified
- [ ] Biosketch/support forms use the required current system
- [ ] Budget and cost-sharing rules reviewed institutionally
- [ ] Human/animal subjects, export control, security, and data rules addressed
- [ ] Required letters and certifications collected
- [ ] Portal validation and institutional review completed before the deadline

## Timing

Begin compliance mapping before writing. Build in time for:

- collaborator and subaward documents;
- SciENcv/common-form certification;
- institutional budget and compliance review;
- PDF conversion and portal validation; and
- correction of errors before the deadline.

Never use a generic template as evidence that the final package is compliant.