Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A PI works with a pre-award officer for six weeks to assemble an ERC Starting Grant proposal.
- Is an instance
An institution authorises pre-award costs incurred 90 days before the official start date under expanded authorities.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
Activities after the project start date are post-award, not pre-award.
- Not an instance
Routine closeout reporting is in the closeout phase, not pre-award.
Editorial commentary
Pre-award is the grant lifecycle phase running from the point a specific funding opportunity is chosen through to the start of the period of performance. It is broader than the proposal phase: proposal phase covers drafting and submitting the application itself and ends at submission, while pre-award continues past submission through the sponsor’s decision and, for a successful application, award negotiation and acceptance — right up to the point the account is set up and spending is authorised.
What it covers
Typical pre-award activity includes opportunity scouting and eligibility screening, scientific-case and budget construction, internal institutional approvals and sign-off, submission to the sponsor, and, if funded, negotiation of any special award conditions before the grant agreement is signed. Many US federal awards permit pre-award costs — expenditure incurred before the official start date, typically under a 90-day look-back — but only with formal institutional authorisation, since the sponsor relationship is not yet contractually in force.
What institutional review adds
Internal sign-off during pre-award is not a formality: it typically includes budget and rate compliance review, conflict-of-interest disclosure, cost-share commitment approval, and, where human or animal subjects are involved, at least a provisional ethics review before submission. Institutions that require full IRB or IACUC approval before submission, rather than before the award starts, add real lead time to this phase, which is one reason pre-award timelines vary so widely between institutions even for the same funding call.
Organisational split and what follows
Larger research institutions commonly split sponsored-programs staff into a pre-award office (proposal development, budgeting, submission, negotiation) and a separate post-award office; smaller institutions and departmental administrators often combine both roles for the same award. Pre-award ends, and post-award begins, at the hand-off from award negotiation to account activation — the point at which the funded work can actually start. It follows the informal idea phase and precedes execution.
Also known as
Pre-grant phase
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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