College Offers Help With Proposals

In order to support dynamic research of the highest quality, USC College will now consider faculty requests for assistance preparing federally funded research proposals. The goal of this new effort is to assist principal investigators (PIs) early in the writing process for proposals that require significant time and effort.

“The College is committed to supporting our faculty, so we can remain at the forefront of critical and current research,” says USC College Dean of Research Donal T. Manahan. “Research plays a vital role in making USC College such a stimulating community, and we want to support our researchers in every way possible.”

Examples where assistance may be granted include the coordination of multi-PI grant applications for large center-type proposals, or the need for funds to host a series of workshops in which PIs, including those from other universities, convene to exchange information and work on proposal preparation. Requests from individual PIs also will be considered. However, funding to obtain preliminary results for future proposals will not be considered.

The requests—up to $10,000—should be submitted to the dean of research at least two months before the agency deadline. They should consist of a one-page narrative justifying the request, the budget of the main proposal, any new space or facilities needs, a list of the participants and CVs—two pages maximum—for each of the PIs. The amount of the request should be commensurate with the size of the effort (multi-PI versus single PI). If approved, the faculty participants, budget—including cost sharing—and space requirements will be established within a month of submitting the request.