Letters of Intent
Definition: Some program solicitations require or request submission of a letter of intent (LOI) in advance of submission of a full proposal.
An LOI is not a binding document. The predominant reason for its use is to help gauge the size and range of the competition, enabling
earlier selection and better management of reviewers and panelists. In addition, the information contained in an LOI is used to help avoid
potential conflicts of interest in the review process.
Letters of Intent Internal Routing and Submission Procedure
- Depending on the specific sponsor and their requirements, LOIs will contain a variety of information. An LOI normally contains the Principal Investigator's (PI's) and co-PI's names, a proposed title, a list of
possible participating organizations (if applicable), and a synopsis that describes the work in sufficient detail to permit an appropriate selection of reviewers. The solicitation should detail how the letter should be submitted and what information is required.
- If an LOI for a proposal is being submitted, the LOI must be routed using the LOI form in the GSU Research Portal.
- A G&C will use the following steps in the GSU research portal to route an LOI for approval/submission when applicable:
- Use the "Create a New Submission" feature and select Letter of Intent/Pre-Proposal
- Complete all the fields
- Upload the relevant documents
- If any special instructions are required by the sponsor, these should be noted as a comment
- Signoffs and Approvals of LOIs
- If there are budgetary commitments such as cost share, F&A limitations, or other commitments that require departmental and college approval, the LOI should be routed in accordance with the college/department's internal requirements. Typically, the workflow would include:
- PI
- Department Chair
- Research Administrator
- Associate Dean of Research
- If there are no budgetary commitments, the LOI should be routed in accordance with the college/department's internal requirements. Typically, the workflow would include:
- PI
- Research Administrator
- Final Submission of LOI:
- If the sponsor requires submission of the LOI directly from an AOR, the OSP Pre-Award Officer assigned to the submitting department will submit the LOI to the appropriate sponsor official. This should be noted by selecting "OSP" in response to the question "Who is submitting the proposal?" Include in the comments section the sponsor contact information to whom the LOI should be sent.
- If the sponsor does not require submission directly from an AOR, the LOI can be submitted by the PI once approved by the OSP Pre-Award Officer. This should be noted by selecting "PI" in response to the question "Who is submitting the proposal?". Once submitted, the PI should notify the G&C and OSP Pre-Award Officer that the final submission has occurred and the submission email to the sponsor should be uploaded to the Portal request.
- Automatic email confirmation from the GSU research portal will be sent to the G&C who created the research portal form when the LOI is marked Complete in the Portal.
- If a proposal is to be submitted as a result of an LOI that has routed through the GSU research portal, the G&C will locate and open the LOI form in the research portal. They will select the "Create Proposal from LOI" button and a proposal form will open. Information from the LOI form will auto-populate into the proposal form.
- When the proposal routes to OSP and a CON# is entered into the proposal form, that CON# will automatically be entered into the LOI form as well.