The title of a grant proposal is the first chance to woo peer reviewers. Investigators often create a title that is creative and innovative, while aptly describing the nature of the project. While proposal titles should be relevant and results-driven, such as “TESTY: Testing the Effects of Saccharin on Testosterone-Y,” titles must also conform to sponsor limitations, which may include titling conventions and character limits. For instance, NSF collaborative proposals from multiple organizations must begin with “Collaborative Research:” whereas Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site proposals must begin with “REU Site:”

Additionally, some submission portals may not allow for certain characters in the title or filename, such as hashtags, scientific symbols, accent marks, and currency symbols. Also, some systems may truncate titles that are more than a set number of characters. For example, the SF 424 Title field is limited to no more than 200 characters including the spaces between the words. Always check sponsor and portal guidance for project title specifications and limitations.

In addition to sponsor and portal limitations, OSP has KR PD title conventions for certain proposal types, such as proposals to the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs) and proposals in response to stimulus funding. These titling conventions allow OSP to identify and report on certain proposal types and are for OSP internal use only. They do not count toward the sponsor title limitations, nor are they provided in the proposal title for submission. Examples include:

CESU-RM: for Rocky Mountains region CESU proposals

CESU-CP: for Colorado Plateau region CESU proposals

CESU-GP: for Great Plains region CESU proposals

CESU-XX: for use when the region is unknown

CCTSI: for proposals to the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute

COVID-19: Title information is for all KR PD records related to COVID-19 funding opportunities (e.g., new, or supplemental funding).

HICAHS proposal: Any proposals submitted to the High Plains Intermountain Center for Agricultural Health and Safety should end with (HICAHS) in parenthesis.

For Fellowship or Scholarship predoc/post-doc proposals, the title should begin with name of the student or post-doc in order to match the KR PD record with the correct PI-student pairing (e.g., Fred Flintstone: Testing the effects of foot-driven cars on the environment).

While the PI will select a title that is appealing and indicative of the purpose of the project, we can help ensure titles conform to sponsor limitations and are easy to identify for reporting purposes.