University of Missouri academic units and faculty members writing large, strategically important grant proposals have a new resource to assist their endeavors by partnering with the Strategic Proposal Development Service (SPDS) team.
Housed in the Division of Research, Innovation & Impact, the experienced team provides several support services for grant proposals, including:
- Proposal management
- Narrative development
- Budgeting and compiling ancillary documents
- Illustration
- Editing
- Evaluation planning
SPDS Director Sarah Polasky, who has worked in research and research development for more than 15 years, talks more about SPDS and how it is helping move Mizzou research forward.
How will offering these core services help MU researchers?
Each of the services we offer provides an opportunity to improve a proposal’s competitiveness and ensure its compliance with guidelines. The best chance of success comes from submitting a compelling proposal that meets all of the funder’s wants and needs. We anticipate that editing and illustration will be among our most in-demand services because they help put the final “polish” on a proposal document.
Is it possible for an MU researcher to only receive assistance from SPDS on one specific aspect of a grant, such as narrative guidance or budgeting?
Absolutely. We work closely with the research support teams at schools, colleges and departments to ensure that our services add to, not replace or repeat, their services. For two of our current projects, the department is managing the budget and ancillary documents while we handle the proposal management and narrative development.
SPDS services are supplementary and complementary, so how does the team work with researchers and their academic units and departments?
We have planning meetings for each grant and discuss how each unit’s team can best serve researchers and their proposals. A SPDS team member and a unit representative participate in each meeting and are copied on all communications. We work as a broader team to achieve the same goal.
How does an MU researcher contact SPDS?
Researchers should email spds@missouri.edu and copy the research development professional from their department. We have a list of unit contacts available on our website for reference. Copying the research development contact from the unit up front helps us all be more effective and efficient. A SPDS proposal intake form also is available.