URA Review and Endorsement

URA Pre-Award Administration is a team of dedicated and expert Pre-Award Research Administrators who provide review, approval, and endorsement of the proposals that are submitted by The University of Chicago for sponsored funding. This team aims to facilitate the submission of strong, compliant proposals by University of Chicago faculty and researchers. The scope of pre-award review activities managed by this team also includes review, approval, and endorsement of pre-proposals, Letters of Intent (LOIs) and Just-In-Time and post-submission materials. Additionally, this team navigates and interprets sponsor policies, guidelines, and requirements as well as enforces pre-award institutional and administrative compliance and policies while acting as an engaging and knowledgeable institutional partner.


The URA Pre-Award Team aims to facilitate the submission of strong, compliant proposals by University of Chicago faculty and researchers. We outline procedures below that aid in this goal.  The review framework described here is to ensure that the University submit compliant proposals of the highest quality and with the highest probability of success. With that in mind, it is highly recommended that proposals be routed to URA as many days as possible in advance of the submission deadline. The level of proposal review by URA is based on the date the proposal is received for review by URA in the AURA Grants system—the date that the FP reaches “Specialist Review”.  Every effort is made to ensure successful proposal submission regardless of when final proposals are submitted to URA. However, preparing proposals and routing them well in advance of the deadline ensures that time is available to address any unanticipated issues, so that proposals may be successfully submitted by the deadline. The levels of review are outlined below, including full and contingent reviews as well as special situations, including ATF reviews and As Is submissions. Above stated, please note the following:

  • While it is URA Pre-Award’s goal to ensure that each proposal routed to URA for review is processed in a timely fashion, the review level provided may be modified by the URA Pre-Award Team based on the type of proposal (i.e., large center proposals and similar) and/or volume of applications on or during an especially busy deadline.
  • Proposals routed for review that do not meet a review level minimum requirements will be automatically returned to provide the required documentation for review. These returned proposals will also require additional unit approval and the type of review may be adjusted depending on when the proposal is returned with required documentation.
  • If a proposal review results in comments to address prior to endorsement being granted, it is requested that you please take care of these in a timely manner and return the application to URA Pre-Award to complete the review process as soon as you can, and in advance of the due date.
  • Proposals with external deadlines earlier in the day (e.g., before 5 p.m.) should be treated as if they are due by 5 p.m. the prior day to ensure timely completion. This must also be appropriately indicated in AURA when routing the proposal for review.
  • Proposals that require acknowledgement or approval of Terms & Conditions at the time of submission should have additional time considerations to ensure appropriate parties may review the document(s) (e.g. contracts team or others).
  • Additional considerations for electronic submissions.