{"id":1958,"date":"2021-09-10T15:12:19","date_gmt":"2021-09-10T19:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/?page_id=1958"},"modified":"2026-04-15T13:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:53:10","slug":"pre-award","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/pre-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Pre-award Activities &#8211; From Idea to Funded Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>ORSP works with faculty and staff to identify grant opportunities, develop a concept into a project, proposal development including budget generation and approval, and review and submission of proposals to external funders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are here to help you every step of the way.  <strong>Talk to us early, talk to us often!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bates-shortcodes-btn btn-wrap\"><div class=\"btn-action\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"d25904a6-33e4-45a4-8f31-5875c227a43d\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"btn-title\">Step 1: The Idea<\/h3><div class=\"btn-arrow\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"btn-content\" id=\"d25904a6-33e4-45a4-8f31-5875c227a43d\">\n<p>Do you have a great idea? A new study theme? A publication? An invention? A different way of looking at a problem?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bates wants to help to turn your idea into a project that can be funded, and to do that, here are some framing questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What problem will my idea solve? What will be different for my field\/community?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What specific tasks need to happen?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do I need anyone else\u2019s help? If so, who?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What resources will I need? (Note: This is not the same question as \u201cHow much money do I need?\u201d)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How much money do I need?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How long will it take me to accomplish the tasks?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How will I assess whether I have accomplished my goals?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Who will benefit from this effort?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>You may not know the answers to these questions, but if you have an idea, please be in touch with us.&nbsp; We can support you and work collaboratively to find answers that will help turn your&nbsp; ideas into fundable projects.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bates-shortcodes-btn btn-wrap\"><div class=\"btn-action\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"f345fa0b-52d9-4cd3-b901-f4f739671e8c\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"btn-title\">Step 2: Finding Funding Opportunities<\/h3><div class=\"btn-arrow\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"btn-content\" id=\"f345fa0b-52d9-4cd3-b901-f4f739671e8c\">\n<p>There are several methods available for identifying potential funding opportunities to support your project idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.grantforward.com\/index\"><strong>GrantForward<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs maintains a subscription to this online grant opportunities database that can accessed by faculty and staff from any Bates College computer.&nbsp; We encourage faculty and staff to sign up a GrantForward account and search for funding opportunities to support their projects.&nbsp; Searches are highly customizable and can be linked to automatic notifications that delivery new search results to your inbox.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Curated lists of current grant opportunities by discipline are available below. These lists are only some of the possibilities available and should not be considered comprehensive.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/arts-humanities\/\">Arts and Humanities<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/interdisciplinary-programs\/\">Interdisciplinary Programs<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/natural-sciences\/\">Natural Sciences<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/social-sciences\/\">Social Sciences<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/other-funding\/\">Additional Funding Opportunities<\/a>&nbsp;(institutional, cross-disciplinary, etc)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Set up a time to chat<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 Let us know about your research interests and project ideas.&nbsp; We\u2019ll help you think about potential funding opportunities to look into and will notify you of any we find that may be appropriate for your research.&nbsp; Contact us at sparc@bates.edu to set up a time to meet.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Check your inbox for our weekly \u201cOf potential interest\u201d emails<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 The Director of ORSP, Shonna Humphrey, periodically sends emails noting new funding opportunities, often centered around a theme.&nbsp;&nbsp;See below for copies of past versions of this email.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Go directly to the source<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013 If you have a rough idea already of what type of organization might be interested in funding your project, you can search for funding opportunities directly on the funder\u2019s webpage. Review these profiles of major&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/bates.edu\/grants\/profiles-of-major-funding-sources\/\"><strong>Federal funders<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;of research at Bates to learn more about the types of projects they fund.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Office of College Advancement maintains a limited subscription to\u00a0<em><strong>Foundation Directory Online<\/strong><\/em>, which is useful for finding private foundations with limited public information on their websites. Please note that, very often, private foundations limit the number of applications they will consider from any one organization. If you are interested in exploring private foundation funding, please contact the Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations or the Director of Research and Sponsored Programs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bates-shortcodes-btn btn-wrap\"><div class=\"btn-action\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"e67f9511-4b08-4671-be1c-9f322d5a2845\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"btn-title\">Step 3: Let ORSP know!<\/h3><div class=\"btn-arrow\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"btn-content\" id=\"e67f9511-4b08-4671-be1c-9f322d5a2845\">\n<p>Let us know you are thinking of applying for a grant!&nbsp; Complete the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSdBdi8v0IAAzKfe4-JfBxxWjFrxClc2OgkTgtfSXuUGrrWm6A\/viewform?usp=sf_link\">Intent to Apply<\/a>\u201d Form. Completing this form does not obligate you to apply for a grant \u2013 it just helps get communication started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alternatively, come find us at Grant Chats at the Den (check Bates Now for days and times) or <a href=\"orsp@bates.edu\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"orsp@bates.edu\">email<\/a> us to set up a time to chat.  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bates-shortcodes-btn btn-wrap\"><div class=\"btn-action\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"4397879c-4db5-43e7-a83c-ca8421217841\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"btn-title\">Step 4: Proposal Development<\/h3><div class=\"btn-arrow\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"btn-content\" id=\"4397879c-4db5-43e7-a83c-ca8421217841\">\n<p>Each funder has different requirements for submitted proposals. ORSP can help interpret guidelines, develop proposal budgets, review your proposal narrative, prepare additional documents, complete application forms, and ensure regulatory compliance.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/proposal-development\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/proposal-development\/\">Tips and tricks<\/a> to get you started.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bates-shortcodes-btn btn-wrap\"><div class=\"btn-action\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"540f7e2a-3d91-4ba3-8c6a-f736ea59e98c\" aria-pressed=\"false\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><h3 class=\"btn-title\">Step 5: Submitting your application<\/h3><div class=\"btn-arrow\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"btn-content\" id=\"540f7e2a-3d91-4ba3-8c6a-f736ea59e98c\">\n<p>Most funders require a signature from a signing official for proposal submission, and almost all proposals for external funding must be routed through the ORSP office.  <strong>Please talk to ORSP before submitting an application!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ORSP works with faculty and staff to identify grant opportunities, develop a&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1368,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"class_list":["post-1958","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","with-sidebar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1368"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1958"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3491,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1958\/revisions\/3491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}