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Proposals On-line

Table of Contents

1. Proposals On-Line instructions

General instructions:

Once an application is registered, you can login and add to it or change it as often as you like. The sections can be worked on in any order.

All the navigation links are down the left-hand edge of the page. Do not use the “Back” button on your web browser.

Each page displays a generic set of buttons. These will be greyed-out when they are not relevant to a particular page or appropriate for the information being added.

For each section, information is not saved until the SAVE button has been pressed. When you are adding information to a text box (for the Summary, for example), unless you save regularly information can be lost through timing out, which is set at 20 minutes.

Start entering or changing information by clicking the ADD or EDIT buttons. On some pages you do this a number of times, e.g. for each researcher on the FTE table.

For most pages, you can see what the printed document will look like by clicking the PREVIEW / PRINT button. To get back to the application, click the link “Return to Application” at the top left of the page.

The SAVE, EDIT, ADD, DELETE and REFRESH buttons may be at the bottom of the page below your screen. Scroll down to find them.

Don’t forget to LOGOUT when you have finished. Failure to do this maintains a link to the server, which can slow it down at peak times.

For Institutional Coordinators

  1. Registering an application: Click Register Application link at top left of page. Choose proposal type and click the ADD button.
  2. Identification details: Enter the title, initials, last or family name and first or known name of the applicant, their email address and the Authorised Agent (the person who will sign or authorise the proposal for your institution). Then click the SAVE button.

    Note: For Dr AB Costello, the initials are “AB”, not “ABC”.

  3. Sending login details: To send the login details to the applicant click the Mail To link. Your email program will start and you can add any message you like. We recommend that you draw the applicant’s attention to the instructions and guidelines that are available at the bottom of the left-hand menu (and particularly the instructions for bookmarking Proposals On-Line that are at the start of the Instructions for Applicants – below).

    Note if you are using Eudora as your email program, the full URL will not be inserted automatically. You will need to paste it into the email you send to the applicants.

  4. Registering more than one proposal: To register another proposal click the Application List link to return to the main page. Follow the instructions as per point 3 above.
    Note that once a proposal is registered, it cannot be deleted. If an error has been made in choosing the proposal type, register a new proposal with a new application number. Save the incorrect one for another applicant. If this is not possible, mark the proposal as “Cancelled” (See below for changing the status of a proposal).

    If you need to find an applicant’s URL again, click the proposal ID to highlight it and click the Edit Application link. (Note: not the EDIT button.)

  5. Navigating through the proposals: To navigate through the proposals use the locate feature on the left-hand column of the page. You can find a proposal by proposal number, ID number or surname. Proposals are listed in proposal number order.
  6. Filtering proposals: You can filter the list of proposals so that either all the proposals or those that have a particular status are shown. The DEFAULT button allows you to keep a particular filter selection for the whole session.

    The two links in the proposal list (ID and Contact PI) work differently. Click on ID to highlight a proposal for administration purposes (e.g. finding the login details or for previewing the entire application). Use the Contact PI to act as the applicant’s agent to complete or alter details in the proposal itself.

  7. Templates: Generally, templates are retrieved from within a proposal, but if a set of generic templates is needed, these can be obtained by clicking the Templates link on the upper left-hand edge of the page.
  8. Changing the status of a proposal: When you create a proposal it will automatically be given a status of “NEW”. Once someone starts working on it, the proposal status will change to “WIP”. When the applicants have finished preparing the proposal, they will mark it as completed. Coordinators can reset the status or mark it as “RELEASED”, “CANCELLED” or “WITHDRAWN” by clicking the appropriate proposal in the ID column, then clicking the EDIT button and using the Status dropdown menu.

    Note: Cancelled means the number is not being used. Withdrawn means the applicant has decided not to submit the proposal.

  9. Exporting data: Coordinators can obtain a list of their institution’s proposals and also a list of the PIs associated with proposals by clicking the Export Data link. A data file in CSV format is generated which can be opened in Excel.

For applicants

  1. Login and Bookmark To login, use the URL emailed to you by your Coordinator. If you bookmark your URL (or add it to your “Favorites”), you will need to modify it to ensure that the Location (or URL for “Favorites”) of the bookmark is the URL sent to you in your email. This is to remove the encryption that appears in the web address when you are using Proposals On-Line. Having created the bookmark, you should right-click on the bookmark, select Properties, and then paste the URL from your email into the Location, and Save. Further instructions, for example on bookmarking in Macs, can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions, available from the bottom of the left hand menu in Proposal On-Line.
  2. Using Templates: Four of the sections of the proposal; CV, research leadership, research, and budget are completed by attaching documents prepared using the applicant’s own word-processor. Templates for these documents are provided. The opening page offers you an opportunity to download all document templates needed to complete a proposal. The same documents can also be downloaded one by one from the specific pages where they are used. We recommend this latter option because then the files will already be named for each individual.
  3. Downloading templates: In the “Get Template” column, click the link for the required template. A page will open offering you templates in a choice of formats; MS Word (DOC), RTF, LaTeX. Click on the format you want and a “File download” box will open. Save the file to the folder you have created for all the proposal documents. Do not choose the Open option as you may be disconnected from the system. Once your file is saved, use your own software to open the file and produce the information for that part of the proposal. Save the file before attaching it to the proposal.

    If retrieving all the templates from the opening page, click the Application Templates link at the top of that page.

  4. Attaching documents: Documents can be attached as MS Word (DOC or DOCX), RTF or, if necessary, in PDF format. If using DOCX files, please load them onto Proposals On-Line directly, rather than converting to PDFs first. If, for some reason, it is necessary to load a PDF created from a DOCX file, please refer to the instructions in the Frequently Asked Questions (available from the bottom of the left hand menu in Proposal On-Line). However, applicants who have prepared their information using LaTeX will need to convert them to a PDF file before attaching them.

    To attach a document to the proposal, click the BROWSE button and a Choose file box will open. Go to the folder where your documents are saved and select the appropriate file. The path to the file will appear in the space beside the BROWSE button. Click the ADD ATTACHMENT button to add the document. The name of the attached file will now show next to Uploaded File. Note that the entry in the adjacent “PDF Ready” column will probably say “False”. This is because a PDF writer in Proposals On-Line will be working in the background on the server converting your document to PDF format so that it can be displayed or printed. Click the “Refresh page” button (repeatedly if necessary) until the “PDF Ready” entry shows “True”. Now you can view what your entry will look like when printed by clicking the “Preview Page” button.

  5. Please note that some symbols in web text boxes (such as inverted commas) will create rogue symbols in the PDF; the solution is to enter the symbols directly from the keyboard into the web text box (rather than pasting them in from a word processor). When typing symbols into web text boxes, it may be useful to make use of the character map (Start menu / Programs / Accessories / System Tools). In some cases (such as with macrons and umlauts, you will need to improvise). This problem does not occur in the sections of the proposal that are written in a word-processed document and then attached to Proposals On-Line.

Completing the Proposal

  • 1. Identification: Click the EDIT button and then enter the applicants details. Click the SAVE button to save it.
  • 2. Eligibility: Click the EDIT button and then enter the PhD details. Click the SAVE button to save it. To attach a document, e.g. your academic transcript, to the proposal click the BROWSE button and a Choose file box will open. Go to the folder where your documents are saved and select the appropriate file. The path to the file will appear in the space beside the BROWSE button. Click the ADD ATTACHMENT button to add the document. The name of the attached file will now show next to Uploaded File. Follow these instructions for a copy of your citizenship certificate or residency permit.
  • 3. Research area: Click the EDIT button and then choose the appropriate tier for your proposal. Select the appropriate panel for your proposal. For a full description of tiers and panels please see the Guidelines for applicants.

    The FOR Codes are a new, standardised Australian and New Zealand set used to classify research. A link near the top of the page takes you to a list of all the codes available. You can enter up to 3 codes These (initially set at “0”) have already been created. Click on each “0” in turn and then EDIT and enter the code. Check that you have entered the correct code from the description which appears when you SAVE. The key words are common to all 3 codes and only need be entered once. Use commas or semicolons to separate key words or phrases. The same instructions apply for SEO codes describing socio-economic objectives.

  • 4. Vision Mātauranga: Please select EDIT, tick the appropriate boxes, and SAVE. A comment box is included on the portal for applicants to explain their rationale, whether they choose N/A or one or more themes.  Collection of the % contribution of each Vision Mātauranga theme to the proposed research will form part of our reporting obligations for NZRIS. If you have ticked one or more themes, please consider one at a time and indicate the proportion of the proposed research that aligns with that theme. PLEASE NOTE: If one or more themes apply to your proposed research programme, up to one additional page will be available for the research section (Section 9-12) of the application. Alternatively, applicants may to choose to gather all relevant Vision Mātauranga information under a separate heading (Section 11) under the Research Programme template, or use any combination of information across sections 9-12. Aspects of Vision Mātauranga relating to relevant experience can be included in Section 6 – Research leadership.
  • 5. CV: The Marsden Fund, along with FRST and the HRC, has worked with MoRST to simplify funding procedures. All funding agencies are using a common template for CVs which can be uploaded from this page. The Rutherford Discovery Fellowships will also use this common CV template.

    Attach your CV in the same manner as attaching other documents.

  • 6. Research leadership: This has to be added as an attached document in the same way as for the CV.
  • 7 – 8. Programme title and summary: Click the EDIT button and then enter the Title and Summary of the proposal (500 words maximum). Click the SAVE button to save it. Unless you save regularly information can be lost through timing out, which is set at 20 minutes.
  • 9 – 12. Programme of research: This has to be added as an attached document in the same way as for the CV. Please note that there is a maximum of 4 pages for sections 9-12 if you have ticked one or more Vision Mātauranga themes in section 4, or a maximum of 3 pages for 9-12 if you have ticked N/A in section 4. 
  • 13. FTE table: Complete this table. Click the EDIT button and then enter the FTE information for the personnel involved in the proposal. Click the SAVE button to save it.
  • 14. Budget: This has to be added as an attached document in the same way as for the CV. The name of the attached file will now show next to Uploaded File. There are four worksheets to complete. Each worksheet can be located on its own tab at the lower left of the spreadsheet.
  • 15. Referees: Sample documents for download appear at the top of the page. Click the ADD button to bring up the first and subsequent referees, and the SAVE button on each to enter their names and contact details.
  • 16. Declaration: If a name has not already been entered by your institution, ensure you enter the name of the person from your institution who will be signing the application.
  • 17. Statistics: Click each in turn followed by the EDIT button to enter details.

Preview/Print Application: Clicking each button will bring up a PDF file showing each part of the proposal. You can print from here to have a physical copy.

Once you are happy with the proposal click the MARK PROPOSAL AS COMPLETED button to flag to your institution coordinator that the proposal is completed. It is possible to make changes to a proposal after it has been marked as Completed but you must confer with your research office first.

Enquiries

Your first point of enquiry should be your institution’s research coordinator.

If you require further information about the Rutherford Discovery Fellowships, please email us at rutherford.discovery@royalsociety.org.nz or phone 04 470 5764.

 

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2. Proposals on-line FAQ

If you need extra assistance using Proposals On-Line, consult these FAQs before contacting your research coordinator or the Rutherford Discovery Fellowship staff.

Instructions

Q. Where are they?

A. Generic instructions are available from all pages. They can be found by clicking on the link Instructions in the left-hand menu.

Guidelines for applicants

Q. Where are they?

A. They can be found by clicking on the link Guidelines in the left-hand menu.

Browsers

Q. What browsers can be used?

A. Most browsers can be used, including Firefox, Safari, and Explorer, although if you are using an old version you should update to a more modern one (for instance, old versions of Explorer do not work).

Logging On

Q. Why can’t I log on?

A. The server might be down, there might be a problem with your password or, most likely, you have bookmarked your URL incorrectly. Please get in touch with your research coordinator or the Royal Society as soon as you can, as other people may be experiencing the same problem too.

Bookmarking Proposals On-Line

Q. How do I make a bookmark for the Proposals On-Line web page?

A. Make a bookmark (or “add to favourites”) in the normal way. On a PC, then go to the Bookmark or Favourites menu at the top of your browser, right-click on the bookmark and select Properties, and then paste into the Location/Address the URL that you have received in an email from your coordinator. Then “Save” or “Okay”. (On some versions of Internet Explorer you may have to select Organise Favourites from the Favourites Menu and then select the bookmark). On a Mac, go to the Bookmark or Favourites menu at the top of your browser, select Organise Bookmarks or Organise Favourites, highlight your Rutherford Discovery Fellowship bookmark, go to File/Get Info and then paste into the Location/Address the URL that you have received in an email from your coordinator. Then “Save” or “Okay”. If your bookmark takes you to the login page, rather than straight into the application, it has not been set up correctly.

Error messages

Q. Why am I getting an error message?

A. There could be a number of reasons. Try the following, in order.

  1. Your browser is incompatible with Proposals On-Line. Avoid early versions of browsers. Try Firefox or Explorer (see Browsers, above).
  2. You have bookmarked Proposals On-Line incorrectly (see preceding FAQ).
  3. Your browser is automatically inserting an incorrect password (perhaps that from last year). When you are on the login page, replace the series of asterisks in the password box by pasting in the letters and numbers that follow “pid=” in your URL.
  4. There is a problem at the Royal Society end. Please let your research coordinator know asap or contact the Rutherford Discovery Fellowship Secretariat. False alarms okay!

Editing

Q. Why can’t I edit the form?

A. Editing cannot take place until Edit has been clicked.

Timing out

Q. How long before the web page times out?

A. 20 minutes.

Research leadership not fitting on 1 page

Q. Why does my leadership section not fit on 1 page when I click Preview page?

A. If you use the leadership template provided, one page of text should correspond to one page of PDF. If you are copying and pasting from another document, you will need to ensure that the margins are the same as for the abstract template (i.e. 20 mm on left and right).

Formatting your CV

Q. Can I change the space allocated to each section of the CV?

A. Yes.

Repeating contact information in your CV

Q. Why do I have to enter the contact information in the CV when I have provided that information earlier in the application?

A. The Marsden Fund, along with FRST and the HRC, has worked with MoRST to simplify funding procedures. The Rutherford Discovery Fellowships will also use this common CV template. All funding agencies are using a common template for CVs. This will cause duplication on the first occasion that the template is used by a researcher.

DOCX documents

Q. Does Proposals On-Line accept DOCX documents?

A. Yes. However, please load the document as a DOCX, rather than as a PDF created from the DOCX document. You should not need to load a PDF as Proposals On-Line will create a PDF for you automatically. However, if for some reason you wish to upload the PDF directly, please observe the following instructions.

Click the “Options” button on the “Save As” dialog. Then tick the “ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A)”. This greys out the “Bitmap text…” option. Also untick the “Create bookmarks…” and “Document structure…”.

Funny looking symbols in the PDF

Q. Why do some symbols go wrong in the PDF?

A. When text is pasted from programs such as Word into text boxes on the web, the creation of the PDF sometimes corrupts the symbols. To avoid this, replace those symbols by ones that are typed directly into the web text box from the keyboard. For example, inverted commas pasted onto the web from a word processing program should be replaced by inverted commas typed directly from the keyboard. When typing symbols into web text boxes, it may be useful to make use of the character map (Start menu / Programs / Accessories / System Tools); however, the character map doesn’t help when entering macrons.

Macrons and Umlauts

Q. When I enter macrons and umlauts on the web, why aren’t they reproduced in the PDF?

A. The technology is not up to it, so please improvise. Macrons can be included in documents that are uploaded (Sections 5, 8 – 10 and the CV) as they are faithfully reproduced in the PDFs.

Help!

Q. Who do I contact if I am having trouble?

A. Your first point of enquiry should be your institution’s research coordinator. If you require further information about the Rutherford Discovery Fellowships, please email us at Rutherford.Discovery@royalsociety.org.nz or phone 04 470 5773.

Suggestions

Q. Who do I contact if I have a suggestion for improving Proposals On-Line?

A. Suggestions are welcomed to the following email address: Rutherford.Discovery@royalsociety.org.nz

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3. Proposals On-line addresses and postcodes

A list of some of the institutional postcodes and addresses to be entered into Proposals On-Line.

Universities

University of Auckland (UOA)

The University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019
Victoria Street West
Auckland 1142

The Liggins Institute
The University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019
Victoria Street West
Auckland 1142

Auckland University of Technology (AUT)

Auckland Institute of Technology
Private Bag 92006
Victoria Street West
Auckland 1142

University of Canterbury (UOC)

University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch Mail Centre
Christchurch 8140

Lincoln University (LIU)

Lincoln University
PO Box 84
Lincoln 7647

Massey University (MAU)

Massey University Albany
Private Bag 102904
North Shore
North Shore City 0745

Massey University Manawatu
Private Bag 11222
Manawatu Mail Centre
Palmerston North 4442

Massey University Wellington
PO Box 756
Wellington 6140

University of Otago (UOO)

University of Otago, Dunedin
PO Box 56
Dunedin 9054

University of Otago, Christchurch
PO Box 4345
Christchurch 8140

University of Otago, Wellington
PO Box 7343
Wellington 6242

Victoria University of Wellington (VUW)

Victoria University of Wellington
PO Box 600
Wellington 6140

University of Waikato (UOW)

The University of Waikato
Private Bag 3105
Waikato Mail Centre
Hamilton 3240

The University of Waikato at Tauranga
Private Bag 12027
Tauranga Mail Centre
Tauranga 3143

Crown Research Institutes

AgResearch (AGR)

Corporate Office, Lincoln Research Centre
Private Bag 4749
Christchurch 8140

Ruakura Research Centre
Private Bag 3123
Waikato Mail Centre
Hamilton 3240

Grasslands Research Centre
Private Bag 11008
Manawatu Mail Centre
Palmerston North 4442

Hopkirk Research Institute
Private Bag 11008
Manawatu Mail Centre
Palmerston North 4442

Invermay Agricultural Centre
Private Bag 50034
Mosgiel 9053

Environmental Science and Research (ESR)

Mt Albert Science Centre
Private Bag 92021
Auckland 1142

Kenepuru Science Centre
PO Box 50-348
Porirua 5240

Christchurch Science Centre
PO Box 29181
Fendalton
Christchurch 8540

GNS Science (GNS)

GNS Science
PO Box 30368
Lower Hutt 5040

Wairakei Research Centre
Private Bag 2000 
Taupo Mail Centre
Taupo 3352

Dunedin Research Centre
Private Bag 1930
Dunedin 9054

Landcare Research (LCR)

Private Bag 92170
Auckland Mail Centre
Auckland 1142

Private Bag
Waikato Mail Centre
Hamilton 3240

Private Bag 11052
Manawatu Mail Centre
Palmerston North 4442

Private Bag 6
Nelson Mail Centre
Nelson 7042

Head Office
PO Box 40
Lincoln 7640

Private Bag 1930
Dunedin 9054

NIWA (NIW)

Corporate Office
Private Bag 99940
Newmarket
Auckland 1149

Private Bag 109695
Newmarket
Auckland 1149

PO Box 11115
Hillcrest
Hamilton 3251

Private Bag 14901
Kilbirnie
Wellington 6241

PO Box 893
Nelson 7040

PO Box 8602
Riccarton
Christchurch 8440

Private Bag 50061
Omakau 9352

Plant and Food Research (PAF)

Mt Albert Research Centre
Private Bag 92169
Auckland Mail Centre
Auckland 1142

Fitzherbert Science Centre
Private Bag 11600
Palmerston North 4442

Canterbury Agriculture & Science Centre
Private Bag 4704
Christchurch Mail Centre
Christchurch 8140

Plant Extracts Research Unit
Dept of Chemistry
University of Otago
Box 56
Dunedin 9054

Scion (FRI)

Te Papa Tipu Innovation Park
Private Bag 3020
Rotorua Mail Centre
Rotorua 3046

PO Box 29237
Fendalton
Christchurch 8540

 

Others

Cawthron Institute (CAW)

Cawthron Institute
Private Bag 2
Nelson Mail Centre
Nelson 7042

Malaghan Institute of Medical Research (MIM)

Malaghan Institute of Medical Research
PO Box 7060
Wellington 6242

 

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