Grants for Graduate Students

This libguide was first written to support students working with Dr. Barry Komisaruk in the Fellowship Graduate Grant Writing Seminar which he designed and taught with great success.  We thank Dr. Komisaruk and his students for their curiosity and generosity.

Welcome. 

This guide was created to provide a starting point for those of you for whom sponsored research is new territory, as well to help those with more experience find their way to funding sources and successful proposals.  This is a journey that will be filled with ups and downs, so please fortify yourself with as much awareness of your field, the culture of academia and the climate of  philantrophy as is possible.  Your traveling companions will be important too -- make friends as well as colleagues!

Like all good wilderness guides, we will not carry you up the mountain but we will do our best to point out possible missteps (no falling off cliffs please!), and also encourage you to enjoy many enriching vistas.  We look forward to seeing through your eyes too, and we are confident that we will learn a lot from you.

Enjoy, and safe journey.

Patricia Bender, Bonnie Fong, Roberta Tipton, and Ann Watkins

This guide will help you:

1.  Identify concrete steps toward your next grant proposal, including

gathering ideas,

preparing a preliminary literature review,

reviewing concepts with mentors and peers,

looking for funding sources,

focusing your proposal,

deciding what to request and how to ask for it,

and preparing the finished proposal. 

2.  Use the GradFund, Pivot, and Foundation Directory Online (Professional) systems to pursue your agenda.

Advice about sponsored research from some very successful faculty researchers