Bid and Proposal Fund Guidelines

The Institution has negotiated the inclusion of funds in our General & Administrative overhead pool for support of Bid and Proposal efforts. Principal Investigators writing new proposals (not renewal proposals) to all but internal funding entities must separately identify these efforts on biweekly time cards. Each scientific department and the Marine Policy Center have separately budgeted accounts for the principal investigators in the department. In addition, there is an account for use of Principal Investigators that are members of other departments in the Institution. The total amount of overhead funds budgeted for Bid and Proposal is determined during the annual budget process based on historical use and projections of upcoming proposal preparation needs.

Guidelines for Bid and Proposal Charges

1. The salary costs associated with writing a NEW proposal by any Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution employee who is allowed to be a Principal Investigator must be charged to Bid and Proposal. This number is department-specific and may be obtained from the department office.
   
   
2. Time used in writing a renewal proposal may not be charged to Bid and Proposal. A renewal proposal is defined as a proposal for which funds are in hand for the first period and the allocation of funds in successive periods is contingent on the completion of the first period's objectives. Thus, a renewal is part of a multi-year submission. Renewal proposal writing should be charged to the specific grant or contract being renewed.
   
   
3. There should always be a proposal number associated with Bid and Proposal charges. The Principal Investigator should obtain a proposal number from his/her department office prior to writing the proposal. This number should be written in the Comments box in your Uninet time card, indicating the date(s) and hours charged to B&P (consult with your Dept Administrator as to how they wish to see this documented). Both the Principal Investigator and the Department Administrator should be ready to provide the proposal number and copy of the proposal if requested to do so by an auditor.
   
   
4. Bid and Proposal charges include Salary and associated Fringe Benefits and Laboratory Overhead.
   
   
5. Bid and Proposal may not be used when writing proposals for Internal awards.
   
   
6. While the actual time that each individual charges to Bid and Proposal may differ from proposal to proposal, the following are WHOI guidelines. In exceptional cases up to 50% more time may be allowed at the discretion of and with written approval by the Department Chair:
   
   

   Organization	# days
   NSF	5 days
   ONR	3 days
   NOAA	4 days
   DOE	4 days
   NASA	3 days
   Sea Grant	3 days
   Other Government	3 days

    
   This chart represents the number of days per proposal; multiple PI’s must allocate the allowed time among themselves.
   
   Revised January 2013