Getting Started with Research and Grant Applications

Discuss Proposal Ideas With Your Department

When starting the process of developing a grant proposal, considering a clinical trial, or undertaking other research or public service activities, begin with a conversation with your Department Chair or Vice President about your proposal idea or research interest.

Every Project Must Be Submitted to SPA via IRBNet

We recommend that you contact SPA (Sponsored Programs Administration) to discuss your proposal. You can either email or call your grant manager, or submit your IRBNet Package One to them (see instructions below).

Your project may also require a submission to one of the other three committees:

• Institutional Review Board (IRB)
• Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
• Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)

If you have already been working on a project and IRB, IACUC or IBC submission is imminent, you must first submit your IRBNet Package One to SPA.

As part of this submission you will complete the Core Data Form which provides some basic information for your project. Once you have submitted Package One to SPA, you then submit subsequent packages to the other committees. Those packages will be numbered sequentially, with each package having a unique package number.

> Important information for your Baystate grant proposal

How to Submit Your IRBNet Package One to SPA

The purpose of submitting IRBNet Package One is to establish an institutional record of any and all clinical research projects, community service grants, educational grants, and projects requiring the review of the Institutional Biosafety Committee, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, and/or the Institutional Review Board taking place at Baystate. While projects may differ in nature and content, they must all be registered centrally with the Institution in IRBNet.

Because Package One is the institutional record, it’s important that it include as much information and that it be as accurate as possible. The following steps will allow you to create that complete package:

1. Log in to IRBNet with your username and password
2. Click on “Create a New Project.”  You will be prompted to enter some basic demographic information about the study.
3. Click on “Assemble your document package”
4. Click “Add New Document” and under “On-Line Documents”, select “Core Data Form”
   • Complete the “Core Data Form” following the prompts for “Next” as each page is completed.
   • Sections I, II, and III are self-explanatory. Please, complete them fully, including phone numbers and email addresses as requested. Also, please note that some fields are required, and if not completed IRBNet will direct you back to complete them.
   • Section IV, Determination, must include enough information to assist the reviewer in determining if the project will proceed to another board or committee, or if any external funding is being sought.
   • Section V is applicable to Humanitarian Use only.
   • Section VI, Project Information, must also be completed to assist the reviewers.
   • Section VII, Funding, will allow SPA to determine if a Grant Manager needs to follow up
   • Section VIII, PI Availability, allows your Department Chair to determine if you, as PI, have sufficient time to devote to the proposed effort.
   • Section IX, Additional Resource Requirements, is for the use of your Department Chair to determine whether the proposed research or grant proposal requires resources from the department and if those resources are available. Please be sure to respond to these questions as accurately as possible, to avoid becoming contractually obligated to deliver something the Institution can’t support.
   • Section X, Competing Projects or Studies, allows the Department Chair to determine if the proposed project will compete internally for resources, and how that will affect project success.
   • Section XI, Dissemination of Knowledge, is for the use of the Department Chair and others to determine the required dissemination of the results.
   • Section XII, Institutional BioSafety Committee, provides preliminary information to that committee about the project
5. When “Core Data Form” is complete, click “Save and Exit”.
6. Next, go to Project Administration on the left side of the screen, and  select “Submit this Package”
7. When prompted to “Select a Board”, choose “Baystate Health Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA)” then click “Continue”
8. Select Submission Type, choose from either: New project, or Funding/Grant:
9. Click “Submit” at the bottom of the screen, left side box. You have now completed and submitted your Package 1 to Sponsored Programs.
10. Your next step is to contact your Grant Manager to ensure that your proposal budget is complete and accurate, or that your contract and budget are negotiated properly.