About Proposal Development Support
The Office of Research Development (ORD) offers proposal development services to help faculty turn their research idea into a competitive grant proposal.
Faculty may request ORD services by completing our Request Grant Support form or email: rd@uml.edu.
ORD’s services vary for each project depending on the amount of time to the deadline, the experience and needs of the team, the importance and impact of the project, and the availability of staff and other resources as needed. However, our services can be generally categorized into three tiers:
Tier I: Funding opportunity identification and project refinement
- Advising Principal Investigators (PIs) on developing a one-page project summary, refining and focusing proposal ideas, consulting with program officers, and sketching out a project plan
- Identifying and connecting PIs with necessary proposal partners and resources
- Brainstorming funding opportunities appropriate for your research idea and providing guidance interpreting solicitation requirements
- Researching prior awardees, funders, and other teams to understand your project’s competitiveness
- Sourcing example proposals for target funding opportunities and offering premade templates for common proposal documents in our Proposal Support Toolbox
- Connecting teams to the Office of Sponsored Programs for budget development, proposal routing and submission, and compliance questions
- Consulting with PIs on how to address prior reviewer comments in preparation for a resubmission
Tier II: Proposal preparation support
- Strategizing with PIs to strengthen core proposal elements, such as education and workforce development efforts, broader impact activities, and team composition
- Reviewing and providing detailed feedback on drafts of proposal narratives and supporting documents for clarity, consistency, and responsiveness to solicitation
- Drafting of support letters and other non-technical proposal language
- Compiling university data and other metrics needed for submission
- Coordinating proposal graphic design assistance from consultants or students
Tier III: Large-scale proposal project management
- Providing complete project management services to coordinate timelines, deliverables, writers, editors, reviewers, and other key components needed to develop and assemble a competitive proposal
- Creating custom templates or outlines for proposal narrative and supplementary documents, tailored to your funding opportunity
- Facilitating team meetings and tracking proposal development progress
- Coordinating and managing reviews throughout the proposal development process, including reviewing for competitiveness, compliance, and post-submission debriefs
Because of our office’s limited bandwidth, we typically prioritize proposal support based on the following factors:
- Institutional priorities: ORD prioritizes assisting with proposals of strategic importance to the goals of the university and campus leadership
- Size and complexity: Proposals that involve multiple departments, colleges, external partners, and/or involve a large budget request are typically ORD priorities.
- Timeline: ORD offers a broader suite of services the earlier PIs reach out and can only offer limited support close to submission deadlines.
| Service | Timeframe | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 months in advance | 2-3 months in advance | 3 or more months in advance | |
| Tier I: Funding opportunity identification and project refinement | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tier II: Proposal preparation support | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Tier III: Large-scale proposal project management | ✓ | ||
Testimonials
"I wanted to take a moment to express my deep appreciation for the support provided by ORD this summer. As someone with a clinical background, I have often found the grant proposal process to be challenging. However, the guidance and resources from your office have been instrumental in boosting my confidence and preparing me for future submissions."
– Maryum Zaidi, Grant Proposal Development Workshop participant.
"Grateful for the ORD team – I think your work shepherding us really helped to push the proposal from a somewhat vague collection of ideas into the solidly ‘fundable’ category."
– Juliette Rooney-Varga, Department Of Education (DOE) Climate Resilience Center proposal.
"I wanted to personally thank you for the tremendous help [ORD] provided for my recent grant proposal development…Your team's dedication, patience, and resilience has been remarkable, and it’s been an absolute pleasure working with you."
– Romy Guthier, Grant Proposal Development Workshop participant.
"[ORD’s] assistance and dedication during my grant application process have been invaluable, and I deeply appreciate the time and effort you have invested in supporting my endeavors. Your expertise and encouragement have not only guided me through the complexities of the application process but also reinforced my confidence as I pursue my research goals."
– Fanfei Meng, Searle Scholar application and multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposals.
"I wanted to say a huge thank you to all of you, and especially [ORD] for managing what became an extremely dense and storied collaboration roster for the [Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention] PIPP grant application…[and for] sourcing several open access repositories that made both the narrative and our supplemental documents much more rigorous. I think the grant simply wouldn’t be competitive in the way it is now without those contributions."
– Nick Evans, NSF Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention proposal.