Grant Development Office

About Us

The Opus College of Engineering's Grant Development Office assists faculty in identifying research funding opportunities, preparing competitive proposals and linking with others on campus. A full scope of our services, as well as helpful policies and resources can be found below.

Our Services 

Assistance in conceptualizing and planning your project

  • Discuss desired research-related objectives and outcomes
  • Strategic approach for seeking funds
  • Research grant opportunities and identify potential sources
  • Identify potential partners
  • Co-develop proposal submission time line; identify project milestones and individuals responsible for specific tasks

Identify funding sources

  • Search government and foundation websites as well as funding databases
  • Assist faculty with the creation of Pivot accounts (formerly Community of Science: COS)
  • Participate in multiple listservs

Help developing and preparing proposals

  • Analyze grant announcement and associated documents
  • Outline suggested proposal structure to mirror sponsor review criteria/forms
  • Navigate application forms and procedures; collaborate with the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (ORSP)
  • Assist with the development and editing of proposal narratives
  • Assist thinking through budget needs to prepare faculty for meeting with ORSP to finalize budget
  • Draft supporting documents and boilerplate at the request of the Principal Investigator (PI)/Project Team
  • Develop time line for institution routing, approval, and submission; serve as link to ORSP when needed
  • Coordinate large-scale proposals

Draft supporting documents

  • Letters of support
  • Edit biosketches
  • Facilities and resources/equipment
  • Multiple PI Plan (for NIH)
  • Other ancillary materials as needed

Submit proposal to ORSP

  • Work with PI to submit proposal and registration forms to ORSP in advance of the deadline

Prepare and submit "just-in-time" or other post-submission materials

  • Work with PI to prepare and submit any necessary items requested by the sponsor in collaboration with ORSP

OCOE Approach to Working with Industry for Research Support

 
  • Faculty identify potential industry partner or reach out to the College Research Office for assistance identifying potential industry partner for a research project. If the latter, the College Research Office might reach out to the Marquette University Office of Corporate Engagement and Partnerships (OCEP) for assistance.
  • If faculty are interested in working with the company, the College Research Office can help schedule an initial meeting to explore potential areas of interest (non-confidential) based on the company’s needs and faculty expertise and capacity.
  • If both parties have continued interest and further in-depth discussion is needed, OCEP will help develop the appropriate non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Note that OCEP signs the NDA on behalf of the University.
  • OCEP will share a copy of Marquette's standard Educational Research Agreement (ERA*) with the company, so they understand the University's requirements for projects.
  • Further discussions under the NDA are typically conducted to identify a specific project, to gauge the company’s interest and to determine the approximate size of the project.
  • The faculty will usually develop a draft scope of work with no budget** that can be shared with the company. This draft should also be given to the College Research Office and OCEP.  At this stage, the project does not yet need to be entered into Kuali.
  • There might be additional communication/meetings with the company. The College Research Office can assist with this communication, if desired.  Once there is general agreement on the draft statement of work:
    1. A full proposal is developed.
    2. Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) will help to develop a budget.
    3. Proposal and budget are entered into Kuali.
    4. Proposal goes through the approval process in Kuali.
  • Once proposal has been approved through Kuali, ORSP will prepare an ERA that incorporates the proposal and will send the ERA to OCEP. OCEP will send the ERA (including the proposal) to the company for review.
  • If the proposal is accepted, OCEP will obtain approval and signatures from the company and University officials. OCEP will send the fully executed document to ORSP and the post award process will begin. 

 * The ERA outlines the University’s publication and intellectual property requirements and other legal requirements. 

**Please note: no budget should be sent to companies unless developed and reviewed/approved by ORSP and OCEP.

Resources