USCeRA is the University of South Carolina's electronic research administration software system. It includes electronic grants routing and approval of proposals as well as human subjects applications submission and routing.

1. You must submit your completed proposal packet through USCeRA before 5 p.m. on the deadline date.
2. Application receipt dates vary. See the specific grant program guidelines.
3. Select “create new proposal” in USCeRA. Begin by filling out the information on the proposal/award processing form (PAP). The top part of the form includes information such as your project title, dates of performance and your total requested budget.
4. IMPORTANT: Under “internal requests,” you must select “yes.” Then check the box next to the word “provost,” and select the appropriate provost’s funding opportunity from the drop-down menu. Failure to do so will prevent your proposal from being saved and processed.
5. Make sure you answer all of the “yes/no” questions on the PAP form.
   For question No. 12, “Does your project involve human subjects?,” if your project involves human subjects and you do not have IRB approval, click the “lookup” button, then the “select” button and type the word “pending” in the box that says “other.”
6. Click “save” on the PAP form when you have entered all of the information. The system will alert you (at top of the form in red) if you have failed to complete any required information.
7. On the next page, select “internal commit form.” The internal commit form should be used to list the amount that you are requesting from the Office of the Provost. Do not enter an amount in the start-up box. Enter in the amount that you are requesting for each year in the corresponding box. The total will calculate automatically for you. Do NOT use this form to enter cost share.
8. Upload your proposal using your surname as the file name.
9. Click "start approval procees" to complete. You will receive e-mails from USCeRA indicating when your proposal has been approved by your department chair, dean etc. You can login to the system to check on the status of your proposal.

It is the responsibility of the faculty member to ensure that his/her proposal is properly submitted and all approvals are obtained. The Office of the Provost is not responsible for proposals that are not properly submitted.

Need Help?

For specific USCeRA questions, contact Debbie Kassianos at kassiano@sc.edu or 803-777-6421.