What we do

We provide support for large, complex and strategically important grant proposals valued at $1 million or more total costs per year. Our no-charge services are coordinated with academic units and departments and are intended to be supplementary and complementary. Our most common agencies include the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Education (ED), the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Our services

Proposal management

This support entails dedicated attention from experienced proposal managers responsible for proposal intake, deadline development, milestone identification, communication management with the faculty writing team, meeting facilitation, coordination with Strategic Proposal Development Service (SPDS) team members, unit-based grant writers and Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA). Proposal managers will mobilize other SPDS resources as needed to fulfill the expectations and requirements of the proposal writing team.

Narrative development

Narrative development assurance will be provided by proposal development leads. Proposal development leads work closely with proposal managers and unit grant writers to ensure the production of compliant and competitive proposals. Proposal development leads can conduct post-submission reviews to determine what worked well and what could be improved by analyzing reviewer comments.

Biosketches, current and pending support, and similar ancillary documents (e.g., management plans)

These documents are produced by the principal investigator and reviewed by proposal development leads and proposal managers to ensure compliance with sponsor requirements and competitiveness, when relevant.

Budgets and supporting documents (e.g., subaward materials)

These documents are produced by a senior grants and contracts specialist using information provided by the principal investigator. The Grants and contracts specialist working on the budget will communicate with units to obtain accurate and up to date information for each investigator.

Graphic design

A proposal illustrator provides, creates and refines graphics for proposals. Logos, figures, charts, timelines and illustrative models are produced that clearly and concisely support the proposal narrative or focal activities of a project. The proposal illustrator will also develop standard graphics for institutional resource descriptions. Example proposal illustrations are available in this portfolio. 

Check out our design tips for grant proposal graphics and scientific figures.