Helpful Gatekeepers: Positive Management of the Limited Submission Process‪.‬

Introduction With sponsor budgets flattening as universities ramp up their research agendas, intensified competition has become the norm. In 2003 NSF underwent a near budget freeze, while the number of proposals increased 14 per cent, thus lowering their average success rate from 25 to 20 percent in one year (NSF 2004). Similarly, universities are witnessing an increasing number of limited submission grant programs with more internal candidates competing for each opportunity. In January of 2005, for example, the research office at Virginia Tech posted twelve programs on its limited submission calendar for the month, one of which had eleven research teams wing for a single slot! In this environment, research administration is under heightened pressure to manage limited submissions in a manner that is perceived as fair by all constituencies. The following are ten rules for implementing a positive management philosophy in this sensitive arena.