Research and Sponsored Programs

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research

No-Cost Extension Request Procedures

Page Updated: November 15, 2024

To request a no-cost extension (NCE) for all sponsored projects, please use the following instructions to guide you through the process. Notably, a no-cost extension must be requested in advance of the end date of the award (but typically not earlier than 90 days before the end date) based on agency requirements. All requests and materials (as applicable) should be routed through RAMP.

An initial no-cost extension request might only require that UW-Madison notify the sponsor (known as a grantee-approved no-cost extension). Any requests submitted after the sponsor’s designated deadline must be approved by the sponsor. Any second, third, or more no-cost extension request must be approved by the sponsor and may require submission of information such as a progress report and budget/budget justification, in addition to the NCE request itself.

Note that ANY charges incurred after the official end date of the project and before receipt of the Sponsor's final approval are the responsibility of the PI and the Department (similar to expenses on an account-in-advance). See RSP Notice 2011-2, Financial Responsibility for Uncollectable Costs on Extramural Projects.

Reviewing Commitments

With the exception of grant programs that have a specific minimum effort requirement, RSP no longer requires the update of effort commitments when requesting or receiving a no-cost extension. After a thorough analysis of sponsor policies and Federal regulations, it has been concluded that a no-cost extension simply provides additional time in which the originally proposed effort can take place. More information on this can be found here.

Normally, there is no need to adjust commitments during an NCE period. However, there might be rare instances when a commitment is necessary during the NCE period. Specific grant programs may require a specific minimum effort requirement, which should continue in the NCE period. Before preparing the NCE request, review the terms and conditions of your award agreement to determine if a specific commitment must continue.

At this time, RSP is aware of only a few NIH grant programs that require a specific minimum effort requirement. They include NIH award types:

• K awards: PIs are required to devote a minimum of 9 calendar months to the award. Prior approval is required to reduce effort during a no-cost extension period. (See NIH GPS guidance.)
• R35: Minimum effort is described in Funding Opportunity Announcement (search for FOA).
• DP1: Minimum effort is described in Funding Opportunity Announcement (search for FOA).

If submitting a no-cost extension for an award that requires a minimum effort commitment during the NCE period (regardless of whether the NCE requires sponsor approval), please submit a separate prior approval request if you wish to reduce an effort commitment. See instructions.

• For most awards:
• When requesting an NCE, you do not need to address effort commitments.
• RSP will not adjust commitments in SFS during the no-cost extension period.
• If a minimum commitment is a requirement of the award terms and conditions:
• This should be mentioned in the Comments Tab of the RAMP record.
• In these few instances, RSP will make the update to the commitment in SFS appropriately.

When awards have outgoing subawards, the NCE between the sponsor and UW-Madison will cover only the main award with UW-Madison. If the PI and Department wish to grant the subawards NCEs, the Department needs to create subaward modification requests via the Subaward Portal.

Preparing & Routing the No Cost Extension Request

The RAMP record is to be completed by clicking on the “Request Award Modification” button on the RAMP Funding Award page.

Please do NOT submit RAMP requests to a specialist without completing ancillary reviews.

"Request Award Modification" details:

• Short Title = Create a short title for the modification; include “NCE” in the title.
• Date Requested = Automatically fills with current date.
• Full description of requested changes = Enter a description of the award changes being requested.
• Supporting documents = Upload supporting documents – the No Cost Extension Request Letter and/or Sponsor Approval.
• Request Type = No Cost Extension.
• Additional questions will appear– additional questions will conditionally appear based on the Request Type selected.
• Is this the first no-cost extension? Y/N
• Indicate length of extension (xx months) or expected end date (xx/xx/xxxx) of no-cost extension.
• After selecting Finish, the system returns you to the Award Modification Request Workspace. If additional updates are necessary, use the Edit Modification Request button. The award modification request is in the Draft state and has not yet been submitted for RSP review.

All No Cost Extension Modification Requests require an Ancillary Review by the Dean’s Office or Division.

“Manage Ancillary Reviews” details:

• Click the “Manage Ancillary Reviews” button.
• Click Add.
• Select either an organization or a person as reviewer = Select the appropriate Dean’s Office as an Organization or the appropriate person according to Division guidance.
• Review Type = Other.
• Response Required = Yes.
• Comments = Add details as appropriate.
• Supporting documents = Add documents as appropriate.
• Click Ok and Click Ok. This sends the Ancillary Review request.

Once reviewed and approved, the department can submit the Award Modification Request to the Specialist.

No Cost Extension Letter

Download Letter Template

The following bulleted list must be addressed in the no-cost extension request and should be entered into the request letter which needs to be uploaded into the RAMP record. (Please use the Letter Template and put the letter on departmental letterhead. Once prepared, please convert the document to PDF.)

Letter Template

• Agency grant reference number and UW Madison Grant ID (AWD# or MSN#)
• Principal investigator name and contact information
• Project title
• Current grant period and proposed end date
• Signatures (not required for email or electronic signature if available) from the principal investigator, RSP, and sponsor representative

The letter/email should also include a clear justification statement, summary of progress to date, estimate of the remaining funds, what the funds will be used on, a confirmation of continued invoice schedule (if necessary), and timetable for completion of the project.

For NSF: Use Research.gov to prepare a new request for a no cost extension (NCE). The PI must be the one to initiate the request. Enter your information for the no cost extension via Research.gov including the justification text and remaining balance. Forward the no cost extension request within Research.gov to the AOR (i.e. RSP). A RAMP record is still required. Enter the NSF Award Number within the Sponsor Reference Number field on the RAMP record General tab. The number of previous NCE submissions for the NSF award will dictate whether or not a letter is also required, see below:

• If this is the first NCE (which is grantee-approved), then a letter is not required.
• If this is the second or additional NCE (which requires NSF approval), a letter is necessary. Attach the letter to the RAMP record.