Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) -
UC MEXUS Grants Program
The Application Process:
- Am I eligible to apply?
- Whom can I contact for additional information or if I have questions regarding the application process or my current grant?
- What format should I use for the project plan?
- Is the bibliography included in the allowed number of pages for the project plan?
- May I send UC MEXUS a draft of my proposal before the deadline for pre-review and comments on how to make it stronger?
- How many copies should I submit?
- Why do I have to send hard copies if I've already submitted my application electronically? Can I just send a diskette?
- When will I be notified of the results of the competition?
- How are the proposals reviewed?
- Can I get reviewer comments back after the competition is over?
Grants Administration:
- Why can't you give me any information about the status of a specific grant?
- When do the grants begin?
- May I postpone a grant from one year to the next?
- How are the grants administrated? Do I need to submit receipts to UC MEXUS?
- How long does it take to get grant funds after the final decisions are made?
- Can I change the budget or extend the project period after the grant commences?
- If the Principal Investigator moves to another institution, can the grant move with him/her?
- Is it possible to change the Principal Investigator for the project?
- If I have funds left over after the project is finished, may I use them toward something else?
- What are the final reporting requirements?
The Application Process:
1. Am I eligible to apply?
University of California faculty and researchers who meet UC requirements for Principal Investigator status are eligible to apply. The eligibility requirements are also included in the program description under "Eligibility."
Please check with your department administrator and/or campus research office (or sponsored projects office) if you have any questions regarding your eligibility.
Lecturers, postdoctoral researchers, and students are not eligible.
2. Whom can I contact for additional information or if I have questions regarding the application process or my current grant?
Andrea Kaus (andrea.kaus@ucr.edu; tel: 951-827-3586) or Martha Ponce (martha.ponce@ucr.edu; tel: 951-827-4773).
3. What format should I use for the project plan?
There is no specified or required format. We suggest that you keep the narrative simple, with at least 1 inch margins all the way around, 11-12 point fonts, and 1.5 or double-spaced. Breaking up the text with subheaders and illustrations or diagrams can also lighten a dense presentation. Keep in mind that reviewers have to read and discuss all the proposals for their particular committee, which may include 20 applications or more. They appreciate a simple, straightforward presentation and are dismayed when someone tries to put 20 pages worth of text into a 10 page narrative.
4. Is the bibliography included in the allowed number of pages for the project plan?
No. The bibliography is considered separately. You have the entire 10 pages for text if you need it but consider that reviewers are grateful for short, clear, concise presentations.
5. May I send UC MEXUS a draft of my proposal before the deadline for pre-review and comments on how to make it stronger?
UC MEXUS does not become involved in proposal preparation, including the pre-review of proposals. As the funding organization and office responsible for overseeing the peer review process, any participation in individual proposal development represents a conflict of interest. UC MEXUS does not encourage specific research emphases or disciplines in these competitions and any individual guidance would create an unfair advantage or unrealistic expectation of funding.
6. How many copies should I submit?
Submit three hard copies following the electronic submission, which would consist of one original (with original signatures) and two copies. When you submit your proposal electronically, you will receive a checklist of what needs to be included in the hard copy packet. A list is also available at the end of the RFP on-line: UC MEXUS Grants
7. Why do I have to send hard copies if I've already submitted my application electronically? Can I just send a diskette?
As the Office of Record, UC MEXUS must retain a hard copy with all the signatures on the Institutional Approval Forms. We also have a set of hard copies on hand for any reviewers who are uncomfortable with accessing or reviewing the proposals from the on-line site.
8. When will I be notified of the results of the competition?
Applicants are not notified until after all the review committees have met and submitted their recommendations to UC MEXUS and CONACYT for the final decisions. Committee meetings are not completed until mid- to late June of the funding year. Notification of the final results are sent out directly afterward, usually at the end of June, but it can be later depending on when committee members are available to meet. You may request information on the status of your proposal at that time. Information is given out ONLY to the Principal Investigators named in the project. No results are released to the students, additional academic participants, or colleagues. Once all the notifications have been sent out, a list of the grant recipients will be placed on the UC MEXUS website under Funded Research.
9. How are the proposals reviewed?
UC MEXUS is committed to the principles of academic peer review. Proposals undergo an initial administrative review at UC MEXUS for completeness and eligibility. They are then divided into broad academic areas, depending on the disciplinary range of the proposals received. These divisions are used to determine the compilation of the grants review committees, usually two: Natural & Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts. UC MEXUS subsequently appoints UC and Mexican faculty to each committee and additionally appoints a committee chair for the final meeting. Committee members read through all the individual proposals for their committee and make initial notes on their qualifications. In addition, each proposal is assigned two primary reviewers within the committee. These committee members review their assigned proposals in detail and present the projects and their corresponding assessments to the rest of the committee when it meets.
Committee meetings are held at the end of the review period, usually at the beginning of June. During the meetings, the proposals are discussed and scored individually, based on their own merits, and subsequently ranked against each other in order of priority for funding. The committees also indicate which proposals are not recommended for support, regardless of available funding. The committee chair presents the rankings to UC MEXUS as a set of recommendations.
10. Can I get reviewer comments back after the competition is over?
UC MEXUS does not provide reviewer comments or committee reviews. While reviewers may make some initial notes on a proposal prior to the committee meeting, the critical review work is undertaken during the final committee meeting. Reviewers’ early assessments of a project may change significantly during the committee discussions, especially as projects are compared against each other. We have found that these discussions cannot be encapsulated in a way that captures the committees’ nuances for an applicant. In addition, the committee recommendations are not the only factors in the final decisions by UC MEXUS, which can include funding limitations and comparisons across committees. Instead, we suggest that applicants look closely at grant writing suggestions specific to this program to see if their proposal might be strengthened in one area or another. These suggestions are posted on the UC MEXUS website on the research page.
Grants Administration:
11. Why can’t you give me any information about the status of a specific grant?
UC MEXUS provides information about an individual grant, its status, its budget, any changes, etc. only to the Principal Investigator, the person responsible for the project. We consider this information confidential for the P.I. and the right of the P.I. to decide who should or should not be privy to specific details regarding the grant. As a result, information about individual grants is not given out to students, administrative assistants, or additional participants unless it is with the expressed, written permission of the P.I.
This policy includes notifying applicants to the grants competitions as to whether they have or have not been funded. Once every applicant has been notified, the final results are posted for public viewing on the UC MEXUS website under Funded Research.
12. When do the grants begin?
The project period begins on July 1 of the same year in which you submitted the proposal and ends on June 30 of the following year.
13. May I postpone a grant from one year to the next?
No. Grants may not be deferred to a subsequent year. UC MEXUS can only hold the funds for a year.
14. How are the grants administrated? Do I need to submit receipts to UC MEXUS?
After all the appropriate signatures for the terms and conditions of a grant award have been received at UC MEXUS, the funds are transferred directly to the P.I.’s UC department for administration there according to individual departmental and campus policies. The receipts would be submitted as required by your department or administrative office responsible for managing your grant account. At the end of the project period, the P.I. and the administrator submit a final narrative and financial report to document what the project accomplished and how the funds were spent in relationship to the approved budget (the guidelines are available on the UC MEXUS website). We strongly recommend that P.I.s discuss what is required with their department administrators before they begin expending funds.
15. How long does it take to get grant funds after the final decisions are made?
After the final decisions are made and the awardees notified, UC MEXUS does a final review and approval of the proposed budgets. If there are any questions about allowable items, justification, or clarity, the P.I. is contacted directly. Once the budget is approved, the award packets are sent out with the official letters of award, the terms and conditions of the award, a departmental transfer form, and an approved budget. The conditions of award and the departmental transfer information form must be sent back to UC MEXUS.
The time from notification to transferring the funds depends on how fast the P.I. can clarify or correct any budget issues for the final budget approval and subsequently get the required forms back to us. Once the forms are received by UC MEXUS, it can take 4-6 weeks for the paperwork to work its way through the systemwide University administration and the funds may not show up in your campus account for up to 3 months. With this in mind, most departments will advance the funds once they receive the transfer information and the account structure is established in your department. Funds can be applied to anything in the approved budget that postdates the start date of the award.
16. Can I change the budget or extend the project period after the grant commences?
UC MEXUS recognizes that unforeseen circumstances or opportunities may require some adjustments in a project’s budget, agenda, or timing and some allowances can be made if the overall project retains the same basic goals and structure as those evaluated by the peer review committee.
Only the Principal Investigator may request changes, and the letter of request must include the P.I.’s original signature.
For budget revisions, refer to the instructions in the conditions of award, item 5, under Project/Budget Modifications. This part of the contract states that you will expend the funds according to the approved budget. You must ask for a budget revision for changes exceeding 10% of any budgeted line item (e.g., salaries, travel, supplies and services, etc.). Requests for budget revisions still need to follow the policies for allowable expenditures and cannot include purchases of equipment, academic salaries (except for student research assistants), indirect costs, or institutional overhead. Send a brief letter of explanation/justification and a revised budget to the address below. Be sure to indicate from where in the old budget the funds will be moved. The request must be received by UC MEXUS at least 30 days prior to the planned expenditure.
For project extensions, send a brief letter of explanation requesting a "no-cost extension" to the address below. You must send this letter at least 30 days prior to the end of the project period. Send all requests to:
Mr. David Kropf
Assistant Director, Operations and Administration
UC MEXUS
3324 Olmsted Hall
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521
Send hard copies only. E-mails or faxes will not be accepted.
17. If the Principal Investigator moves to another institution, can the grant move with him/her?
If the P.I. moves within the UC system, the grant may be moved as well, provided that he/she can provide a new Institutional Approval Form from the new campus’ research office . In this case, the P.I. needs to write a letter of request and include the Institutional Approval Form from the new campus or department. Send the letter of request and form to:
Mr. David Kropf
Assistant Director, Operations and Administration
UC MEXUS
3324 Olmsted Hall
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521
UC P.I.s who move to another institution outside the UC system are no longer eligible as P.I.s and cannot take the grant funds with them. In this case, the grant is terminated and the funds must be returned to UC MEXUS.
18. Is it possible to change the Principal Investigator for the project?
If the P.I. is unable to continue as director of the project, perhaps due to a move to another institution or personal reasons, a new P.I. can be appointed. This requires a written request from the “old” P.I., indicating the reason for the change and a letter (with a curriculum vitae) of acceptance from the new P.I. with co-signature from the campus research office. The new P.I. must meet the eligibility requirements of the program. Both letters should indicate that the original structure of the project as reviewed by the grants review committee will not be altered. If the new P.I. is at another UC campus, an Institutional Approval Form from this campus’ research office will need to be included in the request. Send this packet of information (the two letters, the new P.I.’s c.v., and the Institutional Approval Form, if applicable) to:
Mr. David Kropf
Assistant Director, Operations and Administration
UC MEXUS
3324 Olmsted Hall
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521
19. If I have funds left over after the project is finished, may I use them toward something else?
No. Any funds leftover after the project period ends must be returned to UC MEXUS, as per the conditions of award. Before the project period ends, i.e., at least 30 days prior to the end date of your award, you may anticipate that you will not spend all the funds in your approved budget and might wish to direct them to another part of your project. In that case, you can request a rebudget and no-cost extension. Address requests to:
Mr. David Kropf
Assistant Director, Operations and Administration
UC MEXUS
3324 Olmsted Hall
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521
E-mail requests and faxes will not be accepted.
20. What are the final reporting requirements?
A final narrative and financial report is required three months after the project period ends. There is no standard format for the final report, but we do provide guidelines on our website - look at the bottom of the page and use the faculty grant guidelines. The guidelines are not intended to be forms to fill in but more to indicate what are key points to cover. Keep in mind that we are interested in how the project reached its own goals, how the funds were spent in accordance to the approved budget, and how well the results of the project met the UC MEXUS goals in terms of providing seed funding for research and/or collaboration.