Set

Search, collaborate, and secure support

You’re ready to enter the arena, but there’s still some strategic work to do if you want to successfully compete for sponsored funding. Grants Hub will help you identify aligned opportunities and prepare for a quick launch at the starting line.

Finding External Funding and Collaborators

Our consultation shows you where and how to search, find, and share opportunities with collaborators.

What’s included . . .

• Tailored walkthrough of sponsor sites and funding databases
• Saved Pivot searches and email alerts based on your topics
• Searches performed in databases like Instrumentl that are not broadly available to Iowa State faculty
• Tips for evaluating fit and competitiveness
• Guidance on finding collaborators at Iowa State and beyond
• Introduction to industry and community partners

Internal Funding

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) offers a number of seed grants and other funding opportunities for interdisciplinary research, specialty research advancement, bioscience platform research, arts and humanities scholarship, cost sharing, and publication subvention. Grants Hub manages the competitions for these programs.

Limited Submissions

These are funding opportunities where the sponsor limits the number of proposals each institution may submit. Exceeding the limit can disqualify all of the institution’s proposals. Grants Hub will publicize opportunities and manage Iowa State’s internal competitions, as well as provide proposal‑development support to selected Iowa State nominees

Why sponsors use limited submissions . . .

• Reduce the number of proposals received
• Increase the quality of proposals
• Promote collaboration within institutions
• Reduce sponsor review time and costs

How the Iowa State limited submission process works . . .

• Announcement. New limited submission opportunities are posted to InfoReady and sent out every Tuesday through the OVPR Opportunities and Announcements newsletter.
• Expression of interest. In most cases, interested applicants must complete a simple expression of interest form in InfoReady. If significant interest is expected, the OVPR may skip this stage and require pre-proposals upfront.
  • If Interest exceeds available institutional slots:
    • Pre-proposal. Applicants are asked to submit a pre-proposal via InfoReady, typically a three-page summary aligned to the program plus any required documents (e.g, CV, participant list, budget outline).
    • Internal review. A panel of faculty peers, OVPR leaders, and/or associate deans for research (ADRs) evaluates fit and competitiveness per sponsor criteria and guidelines. When appropriate, the OVPR may recommend merging overlapping teams.
  • If interest does not exceed available institutional slots:
    • Selection. Applicants are selected directly from the expression of interest stage.
    • First-come, first-served selection.  If there are still open institutional slots after the internal deadline has passed, or if a limited submission opportunity is announced with insufficient time to run a competition, applicants may complete an expression of interest form to be selected on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Notification. PIs are notified by email whether or not they are approved to submit to the sponsor. The PI’s ADR, pre-award unit, and OSPA are cc’ed on this email.

Team Formation and Facilitation

Federal and other sponsors are increasingly prioritizing interdisciplinary research (IDR). Building a high-functioning and high-impact IDR team requires much more than just recruiting collaborators. Grants Hub offers the following support . . .

• Workshops/meetups for team formation
• Tools/templates for communication, collaboration, and conflict management
• Strategy discussions and ideation for IDR teams

 Societal Impacts of Research

Many sponsors require proposals to address the broader societal impacts and not just the intellectual merit of the research. Grants Hub can help you prepare a substantive and meaningful plan to generate and communicate these impacts . . .

• Identify education, outreach, or community engagement areas that can be integrated into your research enterprise
• Connect with existing outreach programs at Iowa State and advise how to effectively work with them
• Collaborate with workforce/economic development partners
• Develop evaluation resources for these activities