Manage research grant applications systematically with our free grant application manager. No registration, no fees - just comprehensive tracking for all your funding opportunities.
Why Manage Grant Applications?
Grant seeking involves juggling multiple opportunities with different deadlines, requirements, and stages. Without systematic tracking, deadlines get missed, required documents forgotten, and opportunities lost. Professional grant management maximizes funding success while minimizing stress and last-minute scrambles.
Benefits of Grant Tracking
- Deadline management - Never miss submission deadlines or reporting requirements
- Document organization - Track all required materials for each application
- Task coordination - Manage complex multi-person proposal development
- Success analysis - Calculate funding rates and identify productive opportunities
- Strategic planning - Make informed decisions about which grants to pursue
- Reporting - Document grant activity for annual reviews and institutional reports
Grant Opportunity Information
Basic Details
Track essential opportunity information:
- Grant title - Full program name
- Funder - Agency or foundation
- Program type - R01, F31, dissertation grant, foundation grant, etc.
- Award amount - Typical or maximum funding
- Award duration - Project length (1-5 years)
- Eligibility - Who can apply (career stage, institution type)
- Opportunity number - RFA, PAR, or program announcement number
Deadline Tracking
Monitor critical dates:
- Letter of intent deadline - If required
- Full proposal deadline - Final submission date and time
- Internal deadline - Institutional review before submission
- Award notification - When decisions announced
- Project start date - When funded work begins
Funding Details
Document financial information:
- Requested amount - What you're asking for
- Budget type - Modular, detailed, fixed
- Indirect cost policy - F&A rate and restrictions
- Cost sharing requirements - Institutional match needed
- Payment schedule - Lump sum or installments
Application Status Stages
Planning Stage
Opportunities under consideration:
- Evaluating fit with research agenda
- Assessing competitiveness
- Deciding whether to apply
- Identifying collaborators
- Estimating effort required
Development Stage
Active proposal writing:
- Gathering required documents
- Drafting proposal sections
- Obtaining letters of support
- Developing budgets
- Coordinating with collaborators
Internal Review
Institutional approval process:
- Office of Sponsored Research review
- IRB approval if human subjects
- IACUC approval if animal subjects
- Budget office review
- Authorized official signatures
Submitted
Under funder review:
- Submission confirmation received
- Application in review queue
- Reviewer panel assigned
- Site visit scheduled (if applicable)
Awarded/Declined
Final outcomes:
- Award notification received
- Grant agreement executed
- Funding transferred
- OR decline letter received with reviewer feedback
Required Documents Checklist
Standard Components
Track completion of required materials:
- Project narrative - Research plan/statement of work
- Specific aims - Objectives and hypotheses
- Bibliography - Cited references
- Biosketches/CVs - For all senior personnel
- Budget - Detailed financial plan
- Budget justification - Explanation of costs
- Facilities and resources - Available infrastructure
Supplementary Materials
Additional requirements vary by funder:
- Letters of support - From collaborators or institutions
- Data management plan - For NSF and NIH
- Postdoctoral mentoring plan - For training grants
- Human subjects protocols - IRB documentation
- Animal subjects protocols - IACUC approval
- Environmental impact - For certain projects
Institutional Forms
Internal paperwork:
- Proposal routing form - Internal tracking
- Conflict of interest disclosure - Financial relationships
- Cost share commitments - Institutional contributions
- Space allocation - Laboratory/office assignments
Task Management
Assignment Tracking
When proposals involve teams:
- Who is responsible for each component
- What they're producing (specific aims, methods, etc.)
- When their contribution is due (internal deadlines)
- Status of their work (not started, in progress, complete)
Milestone Planning
Break proposal development into phases:
- Week 1-2: Outline and aims development
- Week 3-4: Methods section drafting
- Week 5-6: Budget preparation and letters of support
- Week 7: Internal reviews and revisions
- Week 8: Final assembly and submission
Collaborative Coordination
For multi-PI or multi-institution grants:
- Lead institution and subaward institutions
- Communication schedule (weekly calls, shared documents)
- Division of labor and integration points
- Document version control
Post-Submission Tracking
Review Timeline
Monitor review process:
- Review period - How long until decisions (3-6 months typical)
- Panel meeting dates - When reviewers convene
- Status checks - Following up with program officers
- Resubmission opportunities - If declined
Reviewer Feedback
Document review comments:
- Strengths - What reviewers praised
- Weaknesses - Concerns and criticisms
- Priority score - Numerical ranking (for NIH)
- Funding decision - Award or decline
- Resubmission invitation - Allowed or not
Award Administration
If funded, track:
- Notice of award - Official funding notification
- Account setup - Financial systems activated
- Progress reporting - Required reports and frequencies
- No-cost extensions - Deadline extensions without additional funds
Success Rate Analysis
Application Metrics
Calculate success indicators:
- Total applications submitted - Overall grant activity
- Awards received - Successful proposals
- Success rate - Awards ÷ Applications × 100
- Total funding secured - Dollar amounts awarded
- Average award size - Typical grant amount
Funder Analysis
Track which funders are most productive:
- Foundation A: 3 applications, 2 awarded (67% success)
- NIH: 5 applications, 1 awarded (20% success)
- NSF: 2 applications, 0 awarded (0% success)
Data reveals where to focus future efforts.
Temporal Patterns
Identify trends:
- Success rates improving or declining over time
- Seasonal patterns in submissions and awards
- Time from submission to decision by funder
- Resubmission success rates
Strategic Planning
Portfolio Management
Maintain balanced grant portfolio:
- Multiple applications to different funders (don't rely on one)
- Mix of small, medium, and large grants
- Range of submission deadlines (avoiding clustering)
- Combination of new and resubmitted proposals
Effort Planning
Estimate proposal development effort:
- Small foundation grants: 20-40 hours
- Federal R03/R21: 80-120 hours
- Federal R01: 200-400 hours
- Training grants: 150-250 hours
Realistic effort estimates inform which opportunities to pursue.
Success Projection
Based on historical success rates, estimate:
- If success rate is 25%, submit 4 proposals to get 1 award
- To secure $200K, submit proposals totaling $800K
- Plan proposal timelines to maintain funding pipeline
Resubmission Management
Declined Applications
For unsuccessful proposals:
- Archive original application - Save complete submission
- Analyze reviewer feedback - Identify addressable concerns
- Evaluate resubmission - Worth revising or move on?
- Plan revisions - What needs changing?
- Target resubmission deadline - Next submission cycle
Revision Tracking
Document changes between submissions:
- Major revisions - Significant conceptual or methodological changes
- Minor revisions - Clarifications and improvements
- Response to reviewers - How each concern was addressed
- Version control - Original vs. revised proposals
Export and Reporting
Annual Reports
Generate summaries for:
- Faculty annual reviews
- Tenure/promotion dossiers
- Department productivity reports
- Institutional grant office statistics
Funding Projections
Create timelines showing:
- Current active grants and end dates
- Pending applications and decision dates
- Planned future applications
- Anticipated funding gaps
Productivity Metrics
Document grant activity:
- Applications per year
- Success rates by funder type
- Total funding secured
- Trends over career
Transform Your Grant Management
Stop losing track of opportunities, missing deadlines, and forgetting proposal details. Manage grant applications systematically from initial planning through award administration.
Visit https://www.subthesis.com/tools/grant-application-manager - Start tracking your grants today, no registration required!