When planning a proposal for a certain funding opportunity, be sure to confirm that ASU (or ASU Foundation, as applicable) would be eligible to apply for funding. Verifying ASU’s/ASUF’s eligibility to apply upfront can save effort on the part of PIs, RAs, and GCOs.
- Refer to the Institutional Eligibility sitelet
- When searching grants.gov for funding opportunities, utilize the “eligibility” sort feature on the left-hand sidebar to ensure that you are only searching for opportunities where ASU is an eligible applicant. This grants.gov blog post offers additional information on the utility of this search tool and applicant eligibility.
Image 1: Eligibility drop-down, on the left side of the page.
- When reviewing a funding opportunity for eligibility, ensure that the text does not limit awards to non-ASU entity types
- Note: ASU as a whole does not yet meet the legal definition of a Hispanic-Serving Institution or Minority-Serving Institution, but not every funding opportunity will apply the legal/US Department of Education definition of an HSI/MSI. Check the ASU HSI Funding Opportunities Tracker to see if ASU might be eligible to apply to certain HSI/MSI opportunities, and contact [email protected] if you don’t see a certain funding opportunity listed.
- You can read more about ASU’s HSI initiatives and steps to become an HSI in our Eligibility for HSI Funding Opportunities news post.
- If you still have eligibility questions after reading the funding opportunity, you can also contact the sponsor for clarification specific to ASU’s situation.
- For federal funding opportunities listed in grants.gov, you can often find the sponsor agency’s preferred contact information under the “Agency Contact Information” section of the preview action located under the “Package” tab:
Image 2: Package Tab, Select Grant Opportunity Package, and click the “preview” option.
Image 3: Preview Opportunity Package Details: Agency Contact Information and Who can Apply. - Refer to the Pre-Award Instructions for Working with ASUF
- If you have any questions or concerns about whether ASU or ASUF should be the applicant, please contact your PNT GCO for a determination.
- Examples of situations where ASUF CAN serve as the applicant:
- Non-federal sponsor will only award to 501(c)3 nonprofits (note: ASU may be able to apply for opportunities that are limited to 501(c)3 organizations as long as the sponsor is contacted to ensure that ASU can apply based on its tax-exempt status)
- Non-federal sponsor has other organizational limitations that exclude awards to universities or would otherwise imply preference for awards to nonprofits
- Examples of situations where ASUF CAN NOT serve as the applicant:
- Sponsor (or Prime Sponsor) is a federal agency
- ASU is a subgrantee (ASUF does not receive sub-awards)
- Award is transferring to ASU from another institution
- The sponsor portal requires that a university/institute of higher education be selected
- Work is not charitable (e.g., work will provide a commercial benefit to the sponsor)
- Note that some foreign sponsors may need to award to ASU instead of to ASUF
By Research Operations