FUNDING & PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT

Managing the business aspects of research takes a team of experts, and your first point of contact should always be your department Research Administrator (RA). Your RA can help with policies, processes, system, forms, and many other aspects of your research proposal.

• The Office of Research & Sponsored Projects (ORSP) can connect you with your department RA through their Blue Pages -- a searchable form that identifies RAs by department.
• The Grant Services & Analysis unit in the Medical School Office of Research also maintains a list of department contacts.

Michigan Research Experts is a searchable database of research expertise across disciplines, offering a rich representation of the research knowledge and talent of over 5,000 faculty members across the University of Michigan.

Use the database to find researchers with specific areas of expertise for collaboration or mentoring, explore co-author networks, and connect with colleagues across the preeminent U-M research enterprise to expand your research network. 

Research Development team members within the Medical School Office of Research design and implement services that help faculty become successful in obtaining and maintaining extramural funding and — once successful — share their expertise to help their colleagues do the same. Faculty members are encouraged to contact them for assistance with pre-award activities related to finding funding opportunities and to proposal development and editing. For more information, visit the Proposal Development page.

Medical School Grant Proposal Sampler – A repository of successfully funded grant proposals provided by Medical School faculty members for NIH, federal, and foundation awards. The examples offer insight into proposal development, including writing (e.g. organization, detail), responding to reviewers’ comments, sample sections (biosketch, budget), etc. The platform also contains resources to assist in the development of NIH Data Management and Sharing Plans, as well as features lists of Medical School faculty members who currently serve or have recently served on NIH Study Sections. The site requires level-2 password access.

The Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR) offers many grant writing services including:

• Research Development Consultations - Free in-person consultations offer personalized support and advice for your grant proposals or research ideas and are available to any U-M investigator.
• Grant Editing - MICHR's editor will carefully review your grant to identify red flags in the content; ensure logic, flow and clarity of ideas; eliminate jargon; improve sentence structure and grammar; and comment on unclear text.
• Letters of Support - Grant proposals may be strengthened by a letter of support detailing MICHR services you will use to meet the research goals outlined in your proposal.

The Office of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies provides information and resources for the preparation of NIH Training Grant applications (e.g. T32, T35, R25, K12), along with resources for Training Program administration (Diversity, Responsible Conduct of Research, Rigor and Transparency in Research, and Professional Development).
 
With almost 70 NIH-supported Institutional Training Grants at the University of Michigan, these grants provide resources for training programs, which include committed participating faculty, competitively appointed trainees, and special events and activities for optimal training in specialized areas of biomedical research. Learn more.

The Medical School Grant Proposal Sampler (level 2 login required) is a repository of proposals and proposal sections donated by Medical School faculty members. Its purpose is to offer insight into proposal development based on successful proposals by your peers, including proposal writing (e.g., organization, detail), responding to reviewers’ comments, sample sections and tables, etc. This site is password-protected with access restricted to Medical School faculty, staff, and postdoctoral fellows.

The U-M Medical School Facility & Resource Profile Templates contain descriptions of units and resources at Michigan Medicine and elsewhere on campus. These boilerplate descriptions of U-M facilities and resources are intended to be copied, pasted, and edited as needed for grant proposals or marketing/recruiting materials.

The goal of the Proposal Preparation Funding Program is to provide funds to support the submission of large-scale, multi-investigator grants; this program is not designed to provide support for submission of individual R01-type grants. The funds may be used to offset the costs of hiring expert consultants or editors; coordinating and hosting brainstorming sessions; paying reviewers; or hiring temporary administrative and/or other services required to assemble and submit large proposals.

Sharpening Your Focus: Tips on Grant Proposal Preparation is a series of tips published in UMMS Research News, the Medical School Office of Research's monthly newsletter. In this series, Jill Jividen, Ph.D., covers proposal planning, proposal development and funding agency specifics.