Configuring a funding opportunity end-to-end

This article describes all of the steps required and things to think about when configuring a funding opportunity.

If you wish to implement a multi-stage round (e.g. Expression of interest through to Full proposal), you will need to create a Funding Opportunity for each stage, and accurately configure each so that they tie together as you are expecting.

General guidance on configuring Funding Opportunities is available in this support article, and the different processes for single- v. multi-stage proposals are described here.

There are three configuration types available:

• Initial Expression of Interest

  • Expects a following EOI stage

  • Successful outcome is invitation to a fuller, next stage Expression of Interest

• Expression of Interest

  • Expects a following full Proposal stage

  • Successful outcome is invitation to next stage full Proposal

• Proposal

  • Is final stage

  • Successful outcome is award of funding

If it is a multi-stage funding opportunity and you wish to copy Proposal content from one stage to the next, you need to ensure a mapping is set up between form templates.

Guidance on setting up mappings is available in this support article.

Beyond flagging a Funding Opportunity as 'Internal' , it is also important to ensure you select the appropriate 'Proposal outcome workflow' when configuring the Funding Opportunity.  This determines whether you will be going through an internal only process for a particular stage, whether submission to funder and funder outcomes need to be captured, and what metadata is to be captured at each stage.

You need to decide:

• Eligibility criteria

  • Do you want to employ eligibility criteria?

  • If so, which Eligibility form template do you want to use?

• Proposal form

  • Which Proposal form template do you want to use for this opportunity?

Guidance on proposal and eligibility form templates is available in this support article.

Details on configuring reviews and approvals are available in this support article.

Note that it is possible to have different default review and approval configurations for each stage (if a multi-stage process).  For example, for an EOI you may only want / need Head of Department approval, but for the full Proposal, you may also need Research Finance sign off prior to submission to funder.

Add the Funding Opportunit(ies) to the Approval Decision meeting - guidance is available here.