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Home / Research and Service / Office of Sponsored Programs and Research / Research Policies and Procedures / Proposal Preparation and Submission / Letter of Intent

Letter of Intent

This section outlines the necessary steps for the preparation and submission of proposals that require or have an optional Letter of Intent/Interest (LOI).

Scope

These procedures are relevant to the following:

  • CUNY SPH Faculty Members and Grant Principal Investigators who wish to submit a proposal that either requires a Letter of Intent or provides a means for submitting an optional LOO; and
  • SPH Grants Officers (GOs) who are assisting them with the preparation and submission of such a letter.

Prerequisites

  • A request for proposals (RFP) with the requirement/option to submit an LOI; and
  • PI and CUNY meet the eligibility requirements stated in RFP

Responsibilities

Principal Investigators (PIs) are responsible for notifying the SPaR team of their intent to submit an LOI no less than 3 business days prior to submission, particularly if any or all of the following are applicable to the submission:

  1. The LOI requires a budget and/or proposed cost share.
  2. The sponsor (or opportunity) requires the use of a reduced F&A rate.
  3. One or more external partner(s) are mentioned by name in the LOI.
  4. The LOI has to be submitted by the Grants Office or is a limited competition.

PIs are also responsible for drafting the narrative of the LOI and working collaboratively with the GO to develop a budget, if required by sponsor.

Campus Grants Officers (GOs) are responsible for assisting the PI with development of a project budget if a dollar figure is required by the sponsor, and for the review and/or submission of the LOI.

Procedure

  1. PI notifies GO of plan to submit an LOI: PI emails spar@sph.cuny.edu and provides a link to the grant opportunity.
  2. GO reviews RFP and notifies PI of LOI requirements: The GO reviews requirements for page length, formatting, sponsor deadline, and any other elements which must be submitted, including budget. The GO also develops an internal deadline with the PI to ensure timely submission to the sponsor.
  3. PI meets with GO to develop budget: If a line-item budget is required by the sponsor, the PI and GO should work together to compile a budget that follows all relevant CUNY, RF, and campus requirements. PIs should note, in most cases that an LOI requires specification of the total amount that will be requested, even if a corresponding line item budget is not required in the LOI, the campus GO must review a corresponding budget to ensure that the amount is sufficient for the project being proposed.
  4. PI drafts LOI narrative and submits to GO for review/approval: The PI ensures that the narrative keeps to the specified formatting and page length requirements. If required, the PI then submits the final narrative to the GO for campus approval by the agreed upon internal deadline.
  5. GO submits LOI to sponsoring agency: If required by sponsor or campus policy, the Grants Officer submits; otherwise, and with advance agreement from the SPaR Office, the LOI can be submitted directly by the PI with spar@sph.cuny.edu in copy.

Letter of Intent Template

Please refer to the Letter of Intent template found on this page to draft your letter of intent/interest.

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