Phoebe Proposal

Phoebe Proposal Basics

Please read the instructions below for help with Phoebe Proposal preparation and submission. If you have questions about Phoebe, please send email to phoebe-help@lists.berkeley.edu or contact your SPO Contract and Grant Officer or IAO Representative.

Access to Phoebe Proposal

Phoebe Proposal is designed to meet the needs of different types of campus users. The level of access for each type of user is intended to correlate with the user’s contract and grant responsibilities.

New proposals can be created by BRS or Department Research Administrators. Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs who have been added to a proposal can view and edit their proposals. Other key personnel who have been added to a proposal can be given access to view and edit. Anyone with a CalNet ID may log in to Phoebe and have an account automatically created with limited permissions. Other permissions need email confirmation from a supervisor or unit manager.

BRS/Department Research Administrator Access

If you are a research administrator and do not have permission to create a proposal or if you cannot access your proposal in progress, please send email to phoebe-help@lists.berkeley.edu or contact your SPO Contract and Grant Officer or IAO Representative.

Other Research Administrators in your team will have access to view and work on a proposal you create up to when you submit it for approvals. After that, only you and anyone you add as an “aggregator” on the Permissions tab will be able to make changes.

PI Access

After a proposal has been created, the Key Persons tab is used to enter the Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator(s), and Key Person(s). PIs and Co-PIs will be able to view and edit their proposals.

Logging In to Phoebe Proposal

You can find a link to Phoebe Proposal on the main Phoebe page, or you can use the URL https://phoebe.rac.berkeley.edu/kc to go there directly. Phoebe uses CalNet authentication, so you will need your CalNet ID to log in.

The first screen you see provides links to create and search for proposals and access your Action List and Outbox.

Do not use the “back” or “forward” button or arrow in your browser to navigate. You should navigate within Phoebe by clicking the appropriate tab and panel.

When you are finished working on a proposal, click on the Close button at the bottom of the screen to leave the proposal. If you do not close the proposal, you may lock the document so that others will not be able to edit it.

Action List and Outbox

The Action List contains unsubmitted proposals created by you and submitted proposals routed to you. You can configure the refresh rate (in minutes), number of rows displayed, and the fields displayed in the Action List by using Workflow Preferences on your Home screen. Proposals may be routed for three distinct types of actions:

  • For your information (FYI): Proposals routed FYI do not require review or response. You may choose to view the document but are not required to do so. Selecting “FYI” from the Take Action drop-down menu in the Action List will clear the proposal from your Action List.
  • For your acknowledgement: You will be required to open the proposal, navigate to the Proposal Actions tab, and click the Acknowledgement button.
  • For your approval: You will be required to open the document and view at least the summary screen. The proposal may be approved from this screen. Further in-depth review may also be done if desired. Example: Department chairs for principal investigators will receive an Approve action for proposals prior to submission to SPO.

The Outbox contains proposals you have already acted upon.

Route Log

The Route Log (or Log), available in the right column of your Action List and when you use Doc Search, shows past and future action requests. You can see who has worked on and who has approved or is next to approve your proposal. The Route Log is also available on the Proposal Actions tab in your proposal.

Workflow Preferences

The Workflow Preferences link allows you to set the following preferences.

  • Automatic Action List refresh frequency: defaults to 15 minutes
  • The number of items appearing per page in your Action List: defaults to 10
  • The fields displayed in the action list
  • Color codes for Action List documents based on status (initiated, saved, enroute, approved, etc.)
  • Email notification preferences

Searching Within Phoebe Proposal

The guidance below is for help using the search features within Phoebe Proposal. Please see the Phoebe Search instructions for help using Phoebe Search.

It is generally best to use only one or two fields at most, rather than filling out all available fields, to return the correct result. Two common searches will be performed when creating a proposal.

magnifying glass icon
Click on magnifying glass icons in Phoebe to open search screens.

Search Sponsors Within Phoebe Proposal

Search using only Acronym or Sponsor Name fields if possible. Asterisks may be used as wildcards. A short string from the sponsor name surrounded by asterisks is most likely to return the correct result. Example: searching acronym ‘darpa’ returns DOD Advanced Research Projects Agency; searching acronym ‘doe’ returns the Department of Energy; searching sponsor name *energy* returns over 30 sponsors with the word Energy in the name. If you cannot find a sponsor, use sponsor code 009850 “New Sponsor” and add enough information in the Sponsor Contact field for SPO to create a record of the new sponsor.

When you are creating a proposal, the Sponsor Code search on the Proposal tab goes to the Sponsor Lookup screen.

Search People Within Phoebe Proposal

It is best to search using a short string from the first or last name surrounded by asterisks. For example, to search for John Paul Longlastname, Jr., try searching *Longlast* in the Last Name field.

When you are creating a proposal, the Person search on the Key Persons tab goes to the Person Lookup screen.

Other Searching Options in Phoebe Proposal

Document ID Search

The Document ID search box in the top left section of your screen provides a quick way to search for proposals if you know the Document ID - the Doc Nbr that is found in the box at the top right of a proposal.

Doc Search

Every record created in Phoebe Proposal has a unique document number. The document number is displayed in the upper right corner of the screen and is different from the proposal number. You can easily find a proposal using the document number in Doc Search.

Search Proposals

It is best to use one or two fields only to initiate a search. Wildcards (e.g., *, %) are allowed and should be used when searching proposals using fields that contain long strings of text (i.e., sponsor name, lead unit name, title). If the search returns too many results, narrow it by adding other criteria one at a time.

For help with navigating and searching within Phoebe Proposal, please send email to phoebe-help@lists.berkeley.edu or contact your SPO Contract and Grant Officer or IAO Representative.

For additional guidance, see the following instructions:

 

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