This page serves as a directory for finding different types of supporting resources on campus for your grant writing, research, and creative activity work, categorized by various stages of the grant writing process. 

Research Development in RCA - Whether you are a new grant writer at NDSU, or experienced but heading into new territory like large team and center grants, you can visit the Research Development team in the Office of Research and Creative Activity to discuss your work and funding needs. They arrange workshops, seminars, and program officer visits; link to the SPIN grant search database for NDSU; coordinate limited submission and internal funding opportunities, and provide resources to help you be successful in sponsored research and creative activity at NDSU.

RCA’s Proposal Development Resources - The Proposal Development Resources page contains the Research and Sponsored Activity Handbook, guides to research resources at NDSU, links to agency resources on grant writing, and grant writing newsletters and an e-book on sponsored research.

Research Integrity and Compliance: offices, training, and contacts - This page links to offices, training, and contacts in research integrity and compliance offices, such as IRB, IBC, IACUC, and Export Control.

Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) - CITI is an online portal for training in topics related to research integrity and compliance. Topics include programs on Responsible Conduct of Research, Human Subjects Research, Animal Care and Use, Biosafety, Export Controls, and Conflict of Interest. 

Training, Classes, and Resources for Students

• ENGL 459/659 Researching and Writing Grants and Proposals (GE) - This upper division and graduate-level writing class presents a rhetorical approach to researching and writing academic grants, business proposals, and related professional documents. Students develop a portfolio of professionally designed and edited documents as well as the vocabulary of grants writing and research. Prereq: Junior standing.
• UNIV 440/640 Writing for Scholars, Fellows, and Researchers - This 8 weeks, 1 credit course provided by the Center for Writers aims to help students develop an understanding of the academic genre of grant and fellowship applications by analyzing a specific grant program, practicing the elements required for the application, and submitting a completed application. Currently, the specific program is the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
• NDSU Graduate School web resources on funding - Contains links to internal and external grants, fellowships, and other funding sources for graduate students.
• Graduate School professional development listserv - Professional and career development information for graduate students, including some information on grants and fellowships.
• Center for Writers - Students who are writing a fellowship or grant application and want a consultation on their writing may schedule an appointment with a Center for Writers consultant.

RCA’s Finding Funding page - Contains information and links on funding opportunities at NDSU; Limited Submission Grant Programs; North Dakota and Minnesota Grant Opportunities; Online Funding Searches; SPIN grant search database; and Programmatic Requests.

CFW Grant Searching page - Grant and fellowship search sites and how to access the Foundation Center Directory at the public library.

RCA's Guide to Contacting a Program Officer - From steps of the process, developing a concept paper, meeting logistics, and tips.

Center for Writers - Student grant writers may follow the usual scheduling procedures to work with a writing consultant. The Center for Writers also keeps a few volumes on grant writing in their collection of resoureces, and these books may be read in the Center for Writers.

RCA’s Proposal Development Resources - Useful information, like funding agency priorities and contacting a program officer, plus links to other campus resources helpful during proposal development.

Budget Writing: Guides and Policies - This online help content from Sponsored Programs Administration explains all categories you may find in your budgets.

Budget Development Questions - For other information or clarification on grant proposal budget development at NDSU, contact the Budget and Program Officer, phone 231.5259, or email ndsu.research@ndsu.edu. For grant accounting questions, such as how something will be managed post-award, contact Grant and Contract Accounting. 

Library Resources

• Research Consultations - NDSU subject librarians can assist with designing and implementing a strategy for finding and evaluating relevant materials and can help find grants, collaborators, literature, data, and tools to manage/share your results. Contact your subject librarian for research assistance for you and your students; teaching assistant training in library research methods, and recommending purchases such as books, journals, DVDs, etc.
• Impact Metrics -Impact metrics help with quantitative evaluation of academic productivity and your work’s influence in the field. The information can be used to demonstrate your work’s significance to funders and NDSU. The top journals and researchers can also be identified with metrics. Read more about Impact Metrics here, and contact your subject librarian for assistance.

Data Management Plans  If you need a plan to manage data related to your research or project, including preserving and sharing the data, the NDSU Library has a guide to writing your Data Management Plan (DMP) with tools, tips, and templates.  If you wish to use the NDSU Repository (IR) to share and store your data, there is boilerplate language for listing the NDSU IR in your poposal.  

NDSU Statistical Consulting Service - A Statistical Consulting Service in the QBB, supported by ITS and the Department of Statistics, is available to faculty, staff, and students at NDUS institutions, usually at no charge, supporting clients at various stages of the research process, from planning to data organization to communicating results. The staff have experience with a broad variety of statistical methods and commonly use SAS, with ability to support work with SPSS, JMP, or R.

All RCA Forms - Contains all of the Sponsored Programs Administration forms, and forms for integrity, compliance, and industry.

NDSU Data Reporting and Student Statistics - Quick facts and links to official enrollment figures and other common data requested of NDSU; links to several types of reports available to the public.

Research Development - Research Development staff review grant proposal drafts for individual faculty members upon request.  This does not include a technical review of the disciplinary content, but rather, it is a review of the proposal organization, grammar and sentence structure, adherence to specific program guidelines and NDSU policy, completeness, and readability.  Enough time must be allowed before the proposal deadline for this review to take place.  To inquire about this service, email ndsu.researchdev@ndsu.edu.

Center for Writers - Student grant writers may follow the usual scheduling procedures to work with a writing consultant.

Sponsored Programs Administration budget review - Before you can submit a grant proposal from NDSU, you will need to get a budget review done by Sponsored Programs Administration and a signed letter from the Authorized Representative. Plan to submit your materials to SPA at least three business days before your planned date of submission to the grant agency. 

Ag Budget Office - If you’re working with a collaborator from CAFSNR, you will need to get your proposal budget approved in the Ag Budget Office before you can route it to Sponsored Programs Administration for the pre-submission review. Plan to submit materials to the Ag Budget Office at least three business days before you need to submit them to SPA.

External Reviews - In certain cases, such as faculty participating in the NSF CAREER Proposal Development Program at NDSU, Research Development may be able to arrange for proposal drafts to receive an external review. Contact Research Development for questions. ndsu.researchdev@ndsu.edu

Institutional and Departmental Data - The Office of Institutional Research and Analysis collects data about each of the departments on campus and uses it to generate reports that are used by the departments as well as the administration. The office is a reliable source for authoritative information about the institution to serve both academic and administrative functions. The Office prepares standard reports for internal and external users. They have also partnered on grant initiatives to improve instruction and programs at NDSU.

Group Decision Center - The Group Decision Center (GDC) is a network of 30 laptop computers with software to enable “virtual discussion” that maximizes the efficiency of a group by allowing everyone to share ideas simultaneously and anonymously. Whether you are a manager of a team with communication issues, a board of directors working on a strategic plan, an organization exploring a hot topic, or an NDSU student or faculty pursuing research, the GDC’s technology and facilitator can assist in focus groups, strategic planning, problem solving, decision-making, and consensus building. They will assist you in the planning, testing, and facilitation of your next meeting, leaving you with a complete report by the end of the day. The Group Decision Center is a resource available to the NDSU community at no cost. We can help you get started today. Faculty, staff, and students at NDSU have used the GDC for various projects including: Virtual Meetings, Discussion Groups/Panels, Planning, Surveys, Course Feedback, Research, Thesis Support, Hypothesis Testing

Qualtrics - NDSU faculty, staff, and students can use Qualtrics to create web-based surveys and conduct statistical analysis. 

Center for Social Research - The Center for Social Research (CSR) at NDSU is an applied Social Science unit dedicated to providing a venue through which a wide variety of research activities are facilitated. The team has strengths in survey research, program evaluation, needs assessments, and social indicator projects such as North Dakota KIDS COUNT and North Dakota Compass. 

North Dakota Compass - ND Compass provides and promotes the use of credible data to improve the quality of life in North Dakota. A project of the Center for Social Research at NDSU, ND Compass provides reliable and consistent information needed by North Dakota’s community, policy, organizational, non-profit, and business leaders who must plan for the future in an environment of continuous change.

North Dakota KIDS COUNT - North Dakota KIDS COUNT is part of a national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children, sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. North Dakota KIDS COUNT measures the educational, social, economic, and physical well-being of children in North Dakota in order to inform local and state discussions about how to secure better futures for all of North Dakota’s children.

Center for Social Research - The Center for Social Research (CSR) at NDSU is an applied Social Science unit dedicated to providing a venue through which a wide variety of research activities are facilitated. The team has strengths in survey research, program evaluation, needs assessments, and social indicator projects such as North Dakota KIDS COUNT and North Dakota Compass. Consider contacting them for help with evaluation components of grant proposals.

NEA Resources on Program Evaluation and Performance Measurement - The National Endowment for the Arts, through its Office of Research and Analysis, maintains a list that offers some information and practices supporting program evaluation and performance measurement in the arts. 

EvaluATE Library - EvaluATE is the evaluation support center for the National Science Foundations Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program which educates the ATE community about all things evaluation. They have open-access resources about evaluation.

Research Integrity and Compliance - Including information and contacts for Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) operations; oversees financial conflicts of interest reviews; provides veterinary animal care and consultation; and subject matter expertise on promoting research integrity and compliance with federal regulations. 

AHSS Example Grant Proposals - View some example grant proposals to the National Endowment for the Humanities and other programs, including examples from NDSU grant writers.