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Grants

Office of Research Grant Support

The College of Arts and Science Office of Research provides administrative oversight and support for externally sponsored research activities throughout the award life cycle, from developing proposals to grant management.

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Funding Opportunities

The Office of Research is dedicated to working with A&S scholars to identify funding sources and expand the college's funding portfolio. In addition to the opportunities listed below, investigators can also contact the A&S Office of Research or Vanderbilt’s Research Development and Support for additional support.

Grant Writing Tips

The grant or fellowship proposal is a persuasive genre of writing that should resemble a plan of action more than an academic paper. Because most sources of funding are highly competitive, reviewers—faced with tall stacks of proposals to assess in a limited time frame—seize any opportunity to narrow the pool of contenders. Your challenge is to ensure that your application ends up in the pile of finalists!

  • Preparing Your Proposal
    • Read the funder’s website in its entirety. Most sites include considerable amounts of useful information about the purpose of the grant/fellowship, previous winners, thematic foci, webinars, writing tips, FAQs, and detailed submission instructions that you can use to tailor your proposal to the reviewers' criteria and preferences.
    • Start drafting your proposal 3–6 months before the submission deadline. The most competitive proposals undergo a series of revisions to make them as clear, logical, and persuasive as possible. Ask peers and advisors from both your own and other disciplines to review and comment on your drafts.
    • Follow the instructions/prompts exactly. Some funding organizations reject proposals automatically if certain criteria—such as word or page length, font, margin size, or number of letters of recommendation—are not met.
    • Draft a checklist of proposal requirements. Using a checklist will help prevent you from inadvertently omitting sections or key issues, missing deadlines, or forgetting to complete required tasks.
    • Inform your recommendation letter writers at least a month before the letters are due. You can save your letter writers time and ensure more targeted content by providing them with an overview of the fellowship/grant, and suggesting which points about you and your work you would like them to emphasize. Some application guidelines include specific information about what should be included in the letters.
    • Be conscious of your audience. The content and style of your application should differ depending on whether the reviewers will be specialists in your discipline or generalists. Often, the application website will specify the characteristics of the reviewers, and many funders advise applicants to write proposals that can be understood by an audience outside of your discipline.
    • Read the evaluation/selection criteria before you start drafting. Keep those criteria in mind as you draft your proposal to ensure you are supplying the information needed to assess the value and feasibility of your proposed project. Review the criteria again when you have finished, to confirm that you have covered the requirements.
    • Keep jargon to a minimum, define your terms, and translate relevant terms from other languages into English. This step is particularly important for proposals that are more likely to be read by generalists rather than specialists in your discipline. Reviewers who cannot fully understand your topic or what you propose to do are not likely to give your application a high score.
    • Convince your reviewers that your project is feasible. Make it clear that you can accomplish what you are proposing to do in the allotted time period, and that you have the requisite skills to carry out the research/writing.
  • What to Include in Your Proposal

    The content of your proposal should always follow the funder's guidelines. If the funder does not provide proposal guidelines, or if the guidelines provided are limited or very general, the following sections or points are likely to cover much of the information your reviewers will want to know.

    • A short overview of your project, similar to an abstract, that describes your central question, hypothesis, or research topic; the theoretical and methodological framework in which it is situated; how, where, and when you plan to carry out your work; the key ways your research will contribute to your discipline and others; and any other characteristics that distinguish your work. Some applicants use a provocative question, problem, or story to engage the reader.
    • A background section that describes the context of your work, why you decided to focus on this topic or question, and why it is significant.
    • A theory section that covers the main conceptual framework and key scholarly works upon which your work is based, or to which it is reacting. How does your proposed research build upon or depart from this body of work? How will your research change how your discipline and other fields of research think about your topic?
    • A methodology section that describes the way you plan to carry out your research. Justify your choice of site(s) and sources and how you plan to approach your data or materials. If you are using a new or unusual methodology, be sure to mention it, and explain how your choice of methodology represents an optimal way to approach your central question, hypothesis, or focus.
    • A preliminary work section that details any work that has led to this phase of your research/writing, including dates, places, and sources of funding.
    • A skills and preparedness section that describes any expertise that you have acquired that has prepared you to undertake the proposed research: language and technical skills, training, certificates, classes, etc.
    • A work plan that describes the work you plan to achieve in the proposed time frame, where you plan to travel and for how long, and what you plan to accomplish and/or produce.
    • Where appropriate, details about individuals with whom you plan to collaborate, key advisors and institutional affiliations, and their associated strengths. Describe how your relationship with these entities will facilitate and strengthen your research.
  • Additional Resources

    The following articles provide useful guidance on grant writing. Though some are tailored to the funding process for specific organizations, much of the information they include is also useful for general grant-writing purposes.

    • Porter, Robert. “What Do Grant Reviewers Really Want Anyway?” 2005. Journal of Research Administration 36(2): 5–13.
    • Porter, Robert. “Why Academics Have a Hard Time Writing Grant Proposals.” 2007. Journal of Research Administration 38(2): 37–43.
    • Sword, Helen. 2012. “Inoculating against Jargonitis.” (Chronicle of Higher Education)

Budget Creation Tips

Many funding applications require you to submit a budget for your proposed activities. Depending on the nature of your proposed activity, you may be asked to list only basic costs (e.g., transport, room and board, fees, tuition, miscellaneous costs), or to create a detailed research budget that includes personnel and equipment costs. Carefully follow the instructions in the budget section of the application guidelines. Ask to review the budgets of colleagues’ winning proposals to learn what types of information to include. Grant and office administrators in academic departments have extensive experience preparing budgets, and the Vanderbilt Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) also has very helpful guidance about budget information.

  • Creating a Grant Budget

    If the funder’s website offers a template for the budget, use it. It will save you the effort of trying to figure out what budget items should be listed and in what format the information should be presented. If a sample budget is available, review it carefully. On some sites you will be able to download the sample and substitute your own figures.

    Budgets should be clear and very easy to read. Some basic rules apply:

    • Organize the information logically by budget category.
    • Don’t repeat information.
    • Line up figures so that they can be reviewed and calculated easily.
    • Include appropriate units, including length of time.
    • Provide exchange equivalents in U.S. Dollars (USD) unless instructed otherwise, and provide the exchange rates and amounts if you use foreign currency. Usually, USD is sufficient.
    • Provide a budget justification that explains why you are spending money on items. If your budget includes atypical items, provide additional detail to justify those.
    • Include all applicable expenses. If you don't include something, you will have to pay for it yourself. Be sure to include transport costs to and from airports, baggage fees, visa expenses, and library card/research access fees, for example.
    • Determine and list exact figures rather than guessing or rounding up arbitrarily. Reviewers typically react unfavorably to padded budgets.
    • Do not budget for a lower standard of living than you will be comfortable maintaining for the period of the award. For example, don't try to reduce the amount of your budget by proposing to live in sub-standard housing and eating street food for weeks or months if you are not used to this standard of living. Also, take into account the amount of time your research and study activities will take. For example, you may not have the time to prepare three meals a day for yourself. Don't forget to incorporate the costs of hosting colleagues for meals where appropriate.
    • In some cases, you may prefer to present a budget of all your expenses—which are usually higher than the funds available through the grant or fellowship—and then specify which costs you are asking the organization to cover and why.
  • Sample Basic Budget

    See an example of a very basic budget for a two-week research trip to the National Archives in Mexico City, based on costs as of June 2016. The budget justification that would accompany the table would include brief explanations for specific line items, where needed (if, for example, you need to buy specialized equipment, or if a cost is unusually high or low).

  • Large, Complex Budgets

Financial Support for Developing Grant Proposals

  • Research Faculty and Postdoctoral Scholars

    Full-time research faculty (those with titles Research Associate, Senior Research Associate, Research Assistant Professor, Research Associate Professor, and Research Professor) may receive salary support from the College of Arts & Science for effort devoted to preparation of grant proposals. The support requires written permission from the department chair and is limited to no more than one half a month's effort per twelve-month period. (The effort need not be all in one uninterrupted period.) All effort charged for proposal preparation must be devoted exclusively to that purpose.

    Please work with your department’s administrative team to request support.

  • Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty Using Faculty Funds During Summer

    Purpose

    The College of Arts and Science allows limited salary support from faculty funds, provided that the time is used for the development of grant proposals. These guidelines outline the eligibility and procedures for salary support.

    Eligibility and Procedures

    • Full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty whose primary appointment is in the College of Arts and Science.
    • Must have an active faculty fund balance sufficient to pay for one full month of salary plus benefits in tasks 10 or 60.
    • Initial requests should be made from the PI via this REDCap form.

    Guidelines

    Employees and students are not permitted to charge salary to federal grants or contracts for time spent writing proposals. This prohibition also applies to graduate students, but it does not apply to postdoctoral scholars and graduate students supported by federal training grant stipends that require no specific service in return for that support.

    1. Eligibility related to qualifying funding opportunities:
      • Faculty may request one full month of proposal writing effort irrespective of their prior academic year effort funding. Requests for less than one full month will not be granted.
      • Requests must be pre-approved by the Dean’s Office, as not all types of funding opportunities qualify for this type of proposal writing support.
      • Eligible proposal submissions must total (all project years combined) at least $150,000 in direct costs.
      • Proof of a grant proposal submission to an external sponsor must be provided.
    2. Notes:
      • Effort charged to faculty funds must be devoted exclusively to proposal development. Other activities, such as administrative duties or vacations, are not eligible for compensation by this fund. Faculty must certify on the Summer Pay Form that all charges for summer salary each month correspond to its intended effort.
      • Any eligible effort may not exceed one month summer effort per year.
      • The proposal must be submitted before applying again for summer salary from a faculty fund.
      • Faculty who fail to meet any of the conditions outlined in this policy will be barred from taking advantage of this policy for three years.
    3. Additional considerations:
      • For faculty qualifying under this policy, summer salary (effort) previously budgeted on externally funded projects may be re-budgeted to other budget categories subject to sponsor guidelines and sponsor approval, if applicable.
      • For summer salary re-budgeted on externally sponsored projects, care should be taken to ensure that the faculty member’s effort proposed on the project is correctly recorded as being cost shared on the project (charged to the faculty fund) to meet effort reporting requirements of the sponsor, especially federal sources.
  • Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty with Academic Effort on Externally Sponsored Projects During Summer

    Faculty who wish to receive summer salary while preparing grant proposals may charge up to one month’s worth of effort to the Arts & Science Fund for Proposal Development, provided that they have allocated and charged at least an equal amount of effort to grants as direct cost during the preceding academic year. Charges to grants for effort that otherwise would be required to devote to teaching (“buying out of courses”) will not count toward eligibility for support from the Arts & Science Fund for Proposal Development. [Salary charges to grants that are counted toward eligibility for support from the Arts & Science Fund for Proposal Development will not count toward eligibility for the Sponsored Research Incentive Program (SRIP).]

    Effort charged to the Arts & Science Fund for Proposal Development must be devoted exclusively to proposal development. Other activities, such as administrative duties or vacations, are not eligible for compensation by this fund. Faculty must certify on the Summer Pay Form that all charges for summer salary each month correspond reasonably to intended effort.

    Faculty who intend to charge summer effort to the Arts & Science Fund for Proposal Development should notify their departmental administrators of their plans as early as possible, preferably by early April. Departmental administrators should convey to the Dean’s Office a summary of intended charges.

    Please complete the REDCap form to communicate summer salary plans.

Pre-Award Process

Grant Proposal Timeline: 3-2-1 Submission Policy

Note that basic research applications require 3 weeks notice. Broader applications require 6 weeks notice.

Principal InvestigatorA&S Research Team
3 weeks
(15 working days)

● Notify A&S Research Team

● Submit NOI

● Review FOA

● Send out SSCI to sub-recipients
2 weeks
(10 working days)

● Draft of budget details

● Confirm participants

● Collect SSCI's

● Begin VERA
1 week
(5 working days)

● Finalize budget, title & dates

● Final business elements

● Initial review

● Route VERA
3 working days

● Final narratives

● Upload final narratives

● Final review
2 working days

● Final review

● Submit proposal
1 working day

● Sponsor confirmation/acceptance

● Corrections, as needed

  • Pre-Award Notice

    When a possible external funding opportunity is identified for a research project or fellowship, please complete the Notice of Intent (NOI) online form as soon as possible prior to the sponsor’s submission deadline. Once your information is entered via the NOI portal, an A&S Grant Manager will contact you and assist with the preparation and submission of your application.

    For standard, single investigator applications, please submit the NOI form no less than three weeks prior to the sponsor’s due date.

    For broader applications, such as multi-investigator, multi-project, or trans-institutional research, please submit the NOI form no less than six weeks prior to the sponsor’s due date.

  • Submission Timeline

    The college has established a separate timeline for the following categories of externally funded research proposals:

    Intra-school collaborations

    Defined as a research proposal which may include the participation of one or more departments within the College of Arts and Science, these types of proposals generally must follow a “3-2-1-submit” formula for the submission to be completed successfully.

    • Three calendar weeks prior to the due date of the proposal: The college’s online Notice of Intent to submit a proposal should be completed. This notice of intent will be routed to the appropriate lead department’s research administrator, who will begin coordinating efforts to assemble the application’s components.
    • Two calendar weeks prior to the due date of the proposal: Budget details, including a complete list of participants, are provided to the lead department’s research administrator. The department research administrator may proceed with sending final requests for documents approved and signed by sub-recipient institutions.
    • One calendar week prior to the due date of the proposal: The project title, proposed dates, and budget are finalized, with no further changes allowed. This is required for a record of the application to be routed via Vanderbilt’s internal proposal-development software for university review and approval.
      • Three business days prior to the due date of the proposal: Final documents are provided to the lead department’s administrator.
      • Two business days prior to the due date of the proposal: Final review and approval is completed. The application is submitted, allowing time for post-submission communications (including errors and corrections identified by the external sponsor).
      • One business day prior to the due date of the proposal: Confirmation of receipt by sponsor. Post submission corrections addressed, as needed, and application accepted by sponsor.

    All other proposals (training grants, trans-institutional collaborations, etc.)

    Defined as a research proposal which may include the participation of one or more colleges, schools, universities, or institutions, these types of proposals generally must follow a “6-4-2-submit” formula for the submission to be completed successfully.

    • Six calendar weeks prior to the due date of the proposal: The college’s online Notice of Intent to submit a proposal should be completed. This notice of intent will be routed to the appropriate lead department’s research administrator, who will begin coordinating efforts to assemble the application’s components.
    • Four calendar weeks prior to the due date of the proposal: Budget details, including a complete list of participants, are provided to the lead department’s research administrator. The department research administrator may proceed with sending final requests for documents approved and signed by subrecipient institutions.
    • Two calendar weeks prior to the due date of the proposal: The project title, proposed dates, and budget are finalized, with no further changes allowed. This is required for a record of the application to be routed via Vanderbilt’s internal proposal-development software for university review and approval.
      • Six business days prior to the due date of the proposal: Final documents are provided to the lead department’s administrator.
      • Four business days prior to the due date of the proposal: Final review and approval is completed. The application is submitted, allowing time for post-submission communications (including errors and corrections identified by the external sponsor).
      • Two business day prior to the due date of the proposal: Confirmation of receipt by sponsor. Post submission corrections addressed, as needed, and application accepted by sponsor.
  • Review and Approval

    For each proposal submitted by the university on behalf of a faculty member or student, a separate internal record is created in the university’s electronic application and routed for internal approvals.

    Once the departmental or A&S Grant Manager routes the internal proposal record, each department (and school) included in the proposal will electronically review and approve it prior to the proposal reaching the college.

    The Office of Research reviews and approves each of these internal proposal records on behalf of the college.