Find Funding

finding funding opportunities

The life-cycle of a grant or contract often starts with a search for granting opportunities including fundamental, applied and fellowships.  There are quite a few available through the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health that can pertain to the study of Statistics and/or Data Sciences.  Other sources of funding can be found with the Department of Energy and Department of Justice among other federal agencies.

A number of non-federal organizations also offer including professional organizations, non-profits, and some for-profit organizations.  A couple for-profit organizations are Google and Microsoft.

Grants.gov is a thorough resource for finding federal funding opportunities while Pivot can be used both federal and non-federal funding.

Also, your Grants and Contracts Specialist is happy to keep an eye out for potentially interesting funding opportunities.  Contact them if you have specific areas of interests to specialize a search for you.

Links:

• Grants.gov: You can register to create and save customized searches.
• Pivot: You can customize and save your searches by logging in.  Choose Login, then "Access via My Institution Login", choose "University of Texas at Austin".  This will take you to the familiar EID login page.

Often professional organizations will have funding opportunities including scholarships and travel awards.

Tips for searching for funding

1. Know the sponsor's mission and make sure your research is a good fit.
   • Sometimes it is a good idea to contact the Program Officer for the opportunity to get insight on whether your proposal would be competitive for the opportunity.  In some cases contacting the program official is specifically recommended.
2. Search in short blocks of time (1-2 hours) 2-3 times per semester.
3. Vary your key words and conduct both broad and narrow searches.
4. Sign up for email alerts from relevant funders and professional organizations.
5. Ask your colleagues, mentors, and advisors which grants they apply for.

Propose

Propose for funding (Pre-award)

Prior to putting together your grant application, make sure to review the funding opportunity details to assure your application conforms to all application requirements including eligibility, proposal deadlines and special documents.  At this point, you should contact your Grants and Contracts Specialist.  The G&C Specialist can assist you by

• Being a liason with OSP
• Creating the Proposal Requisition Form (PRF)
• Preparing a draft budget and budget justification as well as other documents including the biographical sketch.
• Assuring the application is complete
• Verifing the application conforms to the sponsors guidelines. 

The Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) must review and approve the proposal before it can get out the door.  A couple steps must be taken to assure this is done smoothly and in a timely fashion.  First, the Proposal Requisition Form (PRF) must be submitted.  This alerts OSP that a proposal will be coming to them for review and allows them to organize their timeline.  

Once OSP is alerted of the proposal, they require a the proposed project's Budget, Budget Justification, and Statement of Work to review and approve.  Your G&C Specialist can assist you to draft and review these items to assure they are complete and adhere to university and the sponsor's policies to assure OSP can quickly give approval of submission of the proposal.

In the case that there will be cost-sharing (e.g. if the base salary of any key personnel exceeds the NIH salary cap), OSP will also ask for cost-sharing forms to be submitted to them before approval.  Your G&C Specialist will primarily create these forms.

What does your G&C Specialist need in order to submit a PRF?

• Title (can be changed later)
• Expected project period
• Estimated requested amount of funding
• Funding opportunity that is being proposed to
• Contacts for prime institution in the case the project is a subaward
• Any other senior/key personnel on the proposed project (e.g. other PI(s), a co-I)
• Any compliance considerations (e.g. animal studies, human studies, use of pathogens, radiation)
• Any known covered individuals (e.g. a postdoc or graduate student already identified for the project)

Needed for OSP approval

1. Budget
2. Budget Justification
3. Statement of Work

Sometimes sponsored will requst Just-In-Time information shortly before awarding or rejecting a proposal.  This does not mean your project has been selected or definitely will be selected for award. This is additional information for the sponsor to make their final determination.
 

Award

Award (Post-Award)

When your project has been selected for award, a few steps must be taken before the project can begin.  The project is not officially awarded until the university receives an official Notice of Award from the sponsor.  No spending on the project may be done before the start date of the project without the sponsor's prior approval.  In the case that funding has not arrived by the date of the start of the project, you may request credit so you may begin work on the project.

The Notice of Award is an official letter, often sent in email, stating that the project has been awarded. Disbursement of funding may take a few weeks or longer after receiving funding.  In the case that funding has not arrived, and the agreed upon beginning of the project has past, and work on the project must start right away, you may request Credit. 

Credit is funding granted by the university so that items such as salary or materials may be expenses only if the project has received an official Notice of Award.  Keep in mind that in order to receive funding, an alternative funding source of guarantee must be provided.  If funding is ultimately not received from the sponsor, the alternative funding source will be charged for any incurred expenses.

In addition to running the project, sponsors will require technical progress reports intermittantly through the project period and a final one at the end of the project.  The G&C Specialist can assist and guide you through this process.  For federally funded projects, the technical project report will normally be due 60 days prior to the next project period for annual progress reports and up to 120 days after the end of the project period.  Requirements may vary and will be designated in the official Notice of Award.

Closeout

Closeout

Much of what must be done at the end of the project will be done by the G&C Specialist in coordination with OSP, however, the PI must submit the final technical progress report.  For federally funded projects, the final technical project report will normally be due up to 120 days after the end of the project period.  Requirements may vary and will be designated in the official Notice of Award.  Again, the G&C Specialist can assist with this.

If the project performance is not yet complete by the end date, the PI may request a No Cost Extension.  This No Cost Extension just extends the time alloted to the period of performance, but does not award additional funding.  Some federal agencies have given authority to the university to grant a No Cost Extension for up to one year without sponsor approval.  Any additional time must be approved by the sponsor. 

Click here for OSP's FAQ regarding the life-cycle of the grant.