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Grants and funding for science & engineering

Last Updated: 23-Sep-2014

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A listing of selected online and print resources to help researchers in science and engineering identify funding opportunities.  It also has resources on grants awarded for users who want to see what types of proposals have been funded previously or who want to review research in progress.  Many resources are free; resources limited to Stanford users have a red "S" by them.

Subject Librarians

Grace Baysinger
Grace Baysinger
Head Librarian and Bibliographer of the Swain Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library
Chemistry & Chemical Engineering Library (Swain)
(650) 725-1039
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Kathleen Gust
Kathleen Gust
Engineering Librarian for Outreach Instruction and Electronic Resources
Engineering Library (Terman)
(650) 723-8877

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Around Stanford

DoResearch
Data Management Services (Stanford University Libraries)
Stanford University Research Administration

Stanford resources

DoResearch
"New website offers one-stop resource for all things research at Stanford - Designed with the user in mind, the website offers easy access to a broad array of resources that support research and scholarly activities on campus."
Stanford Report, April 2, 2013 - Covers use of NSF FastLane, Grants.gov, NASA Nspires, NIH ERA Commons and more.
Stanford Career Development Center
Stanford students interested in fellowships and internships can contact the campus Career Development Center to search the database of opportunities and get assistance with locating and applying for internships. The Career Center weekly newsletter lists new internships as they become available.
Stanford Office of Sponsored Research
The Office of Sponsored Research provides pre- and post-award administration of sponsored projects to the University.
Stanford School of Medicine, Research Management Group: Funding Information
An extensive list of internal funding opportunities for pilot and developmental projects, seed grants, postdoctoral fellowships, graduate student fellowships and internal awards. The list covers many disciplines, not just medicine.
Stanford Office of Science Outreach
To stimulate public knowledge and excitement about math, science and engineering, many departments and groups at Stanford engage in science outreach activities. This website contains information on outreach programs (e.g. Campus visits, classes at Stanford and online, research internships, fieldtrips, and workshops/seminars) throughout the University, including but not limited to those sponsored by Stanford's Office of Science Outreach.
Undergraduate Academic Life
Various opportunities for funding undergraduate research are listed along with advice on how to start and succeed.

Databases

Funding opportunities

COS Pivot logo cropped 75 percent size
Pivot [electronic resource].
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
Also known as Pivot, contains more than 25,000 records, representing over 400,000 funding opportunities, worth over $33 billion. Provides grant notices in all disciplines from federal and private sources and identifies researchers at other institutions with specific research interests. CREATING AN ACCOUNT: You must be on campus to set up a COS Pivot account. Having an account lets you use additional COS functions such as saving searches, and allows you to set up email alerts about fund opportunities from a sponsor or for a topic. After creating a COS Pivot account, you can access it from any location. SUPPORT: Please go to "Training and Resources" in lower right corner of the home page to download the Quick Start Guide.
Grants.gov
Grants.gov [electronic resource].
[Washington, DC] : U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
Grants.gov is your source to find and apply for federal grants. The Grants.gov system houses information on over 1,000 grant programs and vets grant applications for 26 federal grant-making agencies.

Grants awarded

Federal Research in Progress from Ebscohost
Federal research in progress [electronic resource].
[Springfield, Va.] : National Technical Information Service.
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
The Federal Research in Progress database provides access to information about ongoing federally funded projects in the fields of the physical sciences, engineering, and life sciences. It can be used to avoid research duplication, complement searches of completed research, identify gaps in areas of investigation, discover leads in literature, identify individuals with expertise, locate sources of support, and stimulate ideas for planning. Updated monthly.
Foundation Directory Online
The Foundation directory online [electronic resource].
New York : Foundation Center
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
Updated weekly, Foundation Directory Online provides the most comprehensive and accurate information on U.S. grantmakers and their funding activities. The Stanford Libraries have licensed the Professional version of this directory which includes over 100,000 foundations, corporate donors, and grantmaking public charities.

Grants Awarded - Federal Agency Databases

DOE Office of Science Award Search Website
The award search returns lists of (1) grants, (2) cooperative agreements, and (3) interagency awards currently funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. An award will appear in the search within the office, division, or team that manages it. Award lists shown in search results can be exported into spreadsheets for sorting and analysis.
NIH RePORT (Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools)
The RePORT Expenditures and Results system is an electronic tool that allows users to search a repository of both intramural and extramural NIH-funded research projects from the past 25 years and access publications (since 1985) and patents resulting from NIH funding. In addition to NIH-funded research, the system provides access to researc supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  Award lists shown in search results can be exported into spreadsheets for sorting and analysis.
NSF Award Abstracts
The NSF funds research and education in science and engineering, through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. The Foundation accounts for about 20 percent of federal support to academic institutions for basic research.  Information about research projects that NSF has funded since 1989 can be found by searching the Award Abstracts database. The information includes abstracts that describe the research, and names of principal investigators and their institutions. The database includes both completed and in-process research. Award lists shown in search results can be exported into spreadsheets for sorting and analysis.

Grant acknowledgements in publications

Scopus [electronic resource].
[New York] : Elsevier, 2004-
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
"Updated daily, Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. It also includes web sources, patents, articles in-press, book series, conference proceedings, and trade publications. Scopus provides international coverage of literature in science, technology, and medicine, and social sciences plus related content in the arts and humanities. 1996-present plus selected coverage back to 1823."
Web of science core collection.
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
Search over 12,000 core journals across the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities to find the high quality research. Move backward/forward in time using cited/citing reference identified by researchers. Updated weekly, includes Science Citation Index Expanded (1899-present), Social Sciences Citation Index (1898-present), Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975-present), Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Science (1990-present), Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Social Science & Humanities (1990-present), Book Citation Index (2005-present), Index Chemicus (1993-present), and Current Chemical Reactions (1985-present; also includes Institut National de la Propriete Industrielle structure data back to 1840)). (Structure searching)

Websites

Featured resources

Who Funds What: A Quick Guide (PDF)
This table gives an overview of the federal agencies (and a few foundations) that are most active in funding academic research and what types of research they fund. The links take you to the funding page of the agency (which can sometimes to be difficult to find for agencies where funding research is not a major part of their mission), not just to the agency's home page.
Facilities and instrumentation grants
"Grants for facilities and instrumentation are very different from standard research grants.  Typically, these proposals include multiple investigators and, in addition to research, must address issues such as how the instrument will be managed, who will use the instrument and how much, and how the instrument will be shared beyond the lead institution."

External Grant and Funding Resources

American Chemical Society Younger Chemists Committee Award Opportunities
Information regarding awards that are specifically targeted, or historically won by, younger chemists.
Foundation Center
The Foundation Center is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide. Through data, analysis, and training, it connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to succeed. The Center maintains the most comprehensive database on U.S. and, increasingly, global grantmakers and their grants. To search the Foundation Directory Online, please see Searchable Subscription Resources section of this guide.
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
"Vision: We believe in bold ideas that create enduring impact in the areas of environmental conservation, patient care and science. Gordon and Betty Moore established the foundation to create this change around the world and at home in the San Francisco Bay Area."
Grants.gov
Grants.gov is your source to find and apply for federal grants. It contains information on over 1,000 grant programs and provides access to approximately $500 billion in annual awards.
Hertz Foundation Graduate Student Fellowships
A private foundation which provides fellowships at three dozen of the finest universities in the United States, for graduate work leading to award of the Ph.D. degree in applications of the physical sciences.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute - Science Education & Research Training
HHMI's science education grants program spurs innovation in science education for students at the precollege level through advanced training. Our diverse portfolio of programs is unified by a core philosophy: innovation in science depends on the quality and diversity of students who are supported in pursuing original research.
MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.
Pathways to Science
Places particular emphasis on connecting underrepresented groups with STEM programs, funding, mentoring and resources.
Royal Society of Chemistry Journals Grants for International Authors
Support for international authors who publish in RSC journals wishing to visit other countries. A significant proportion of the fund will be for visits to the UK or another European Union country. The objectives of a visit should be: to collaborate in research, or to exchange research ideas and results, or to give or receive special expertise and training.
U.S. Civilian R & D Foundation for the Independent States of the Former USSR
The U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF) is a nonprofit charitable organization created by the United States Government in 1995. This unique public-private partnership promotes scientific and technical collaboration between the United States and the countries of the former Soviet Union.
U.S. National Institutes of Health Office of Extramural Research
News, information, and resources about NIH grants and fellowships.
U.S. National Science Foundation Funding Opportunities and Awards
The NSF funds research and education in science and engineering, through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. The Foundation accounts for about 20 percent of federal support to academic institutions for basic research.

Writing proposals

Featured Stanford resources

New Faculty Guide to Competing for Research Funding
What all new faculty need to know about finding funding and writing research proposals.
Successful Proposal Writing
Contains a list of articles and links to help you hone your grant-writing skills.  This section is in About Proposals on the DoResearch website at Stanford University.

Writing research and grant proposals

Developing research proposals / Pam Denicolo, Lucinda Becker.
Los Angeles : Sage, 2012.
Chemistry & ChemEng Library (Swain) » Stacks » PE1404 .D46 2012
Getting science grants : effective strategies for funding success / Thomas R. Blackburn.
1st ed. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass, c2003.
Chemistry & ChemEng Library (Swain) » Stacks » Q180.55 .G7 B53 2003
Guide to effective grant writing [electronic resource] : how to write a successful NIH grant application / Otto O. Yang.
2nd ed. New York ; London : Springer, 2012.
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
Handbook of scientific proposal writing / A. Yavuz Oruç.
Boca Raton : CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, c2012.
Chemistry & ChemEng Library (Swain) » Stacks » Q180.55 .P7 O78 2012
Having success with NSF : a practical guide / Ping Li, Karen Marrongelle.
Hoboken, N.J. : Wiley-Blackwell, c2013.
Chemistry & ChemEng Library (Swain) » Stacks » Q180 .U5 L486 2013
Planning, proposing, and presenting science effectively : a guide for graduate students and researchers in the behavioral sciences and biolog
Planning, proposing, and presenting science effectively : a guide for graduate students and researchers in the behavioral sciences and biology / Jack P. Hailman and Karen B. Strier.
2nd ed. Cambridge, U.K. ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006.
SAL3 (off-campus storage) » Stacks » QH315 .H25 2006
Proposals that work : a guide for planning dissertations and grant proposals / Lawrence F. Locke, Waneen Wyrick Spirduso, Stephen J. Silverman.
5th ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Sage Publications, c2007.
Education Library (Cubberley) » Reference (non-circulating) » Q180.55 .P7 L63 2007
Research design and proposal writing in spatial science [electronic resource] / Jay D. Gatrell, Gregory D. Bierly, Ryan R. Jensen.
2nd ed. Dordrecht ; New York : Springer Science+Business Media B.V., c2012.
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
Research projects and research proposals : a guide for scientists seeking funding / Paul G. Chapin ; with a foreword by Alan I. Leshner.
Cambridge, U.K. ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2004.
SAL1&2 (on-campus shelving) » Stacks » Q180.55 .G7 C44 2004
Scientific writing and communication : papers, proposals, and presentations / Angelika H. Hofmann.
New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.
Engineering Library (Terman) » Request at circulation desk » Q223 .H63 2010
The complete idiot's guide to grant writing [electronic resource] / by Waddy Thompson.
3rd ed. New York, NY : Alpha, c2011.
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » (no call number)
Writing science : how to write papers that get cited and proposals that get funded
Writing science : how to write papers that get cited and proposals that get funded / Joshua Schimel.
Oxford [U.K.] ; New York : Oxford University Press, c2012.
Chemistry & ChemEng Library (Swain) » Stacks » T11 .S345 2012
Writing successful science proposals / Andrew J. Friedland and Carol L. Folt.
2nd ed. New Haven : Yale University Press, 2009.
Chemistry & ChemEng Library (Swain) » Stacks » Q180.55 .P7 F75 2009

Proposal writing for grants from SearchWorks

Below are titles at Stanford with the subject heading "Proposal writing for grants."

› See all 116 results
  1. The only grant-writing book you'll ever need

    Ellen Karsh and Arlen Sue Fox.. 2014

  2. 90 days to success in grant writing [electronic resource]

    Timothy Kachinske, Judith Kachinske. 2010

  3. 90 days to success in grant writing [electronic resource]

    Timothy Kachinske, Judith Kachinske. 2010

  4. How to write a successful research grant application : a guide for social and behavioral scientists

    edited by Willo Pequegnat and Ellen Stover. 1995

  5. EC funding for academic research

    Michael Hopkins. 1990

  6. Public programs : planning/scripting, implementation/production

    National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Public Programs. 1990s

Directories & guides

Annual register of grant support.
Chicago [etc.] Marquis Academic Media, Marquis Who's Who [etc.]
Green Library » InfoCenter: Ready Reference (non-circulating) » AS911 .A2 A67 ED.48 2015

Presents information on a variety of grants and endowments in such fields as the humanities, education, the sciences, urban and regional affairs, and technology.

Directory of financial aids for women.
Santa Barbara, Calif. : Reference Service Press, 1978-
Green Library » InfoCenter (non-circulating) » LB2338 .D564 2014/2016

The 2012-2014 edition contains detailed descriptions of nearly 1,500 funding programs. These opportunities identify billions of dollars in financial aid and funding that have been set aside primarily or exclusively for women.

The Foundation Center's guide to grantseeking on the Web.
2001 ed. / New York : The Center, c2001.
SAL3 (off-campus storage) » Stacks » HV41.2 .F68 2001

This guide contains a wealth of information, including an annotated listing of grantmaker Web sites and a variety of related nonprofit sites of interest.

The Foundation directory.
New York, Foundation Center; distributed by Columbia University Press.
Green Library » InfoCenter: Ready Reference (non-circulating) » AS911 .A2 F65 ED.37 2015

Provides descriptions of grant makers, including private grant-making foundations, community foundations, operating foundations, and corporate grant makers.

Money for graduate students in the biological sciences.
El Dorado Hills, Calif. : Reference Service Press, 2007-
Biology Library (Falconer) » Reference (non-circulating) » LB2337.2 .M653 2010/2012

Only listing programs open to graduate students, it includes 800+ biggest and best fellowships, grants, and awards set aside for students interested in working on a master's, professional, or doctoral degree.

Money for graduate students in the physical & earth sciences.
El Dorado Hills, Calif. : Reference Service Press
Chemistry & ChemEng Library (Swain) » Reference (non-circulating) » LB2337.2 .S357 2010/2012

Contains nearly 900 biggest and best fellowships, grants, and awards set aside just for students interested in working on a master's or doctoral degree.

Peterson's how to get money for college.
Lawrenceville, NJ : Peterson's, c2009-
Education Library (Cubberley) » Reference (non-circulating) » LB2337.4 .C66 2015

Contains billions of dollars in financial opportunities for college including federal grants, work-study programs, need-based and non-need-based gift aid, and athletic awards from more than 2,100 four-year colleges.

Webinars

Creating Successful Research Proposals: Tips from the Trenches

From ACS Webinars > Professional Growth Channel

“What? You have the best research idea in the world but can’t get a grant?” Writing proposals is the scientist’s life blood. Yet, many scientists are not trained in the art of grant writing and are unaware of what the granting agency is looking for. It’s time to improve your odds by creating standout proposals! Learn how to communicate your ideas clearly and effectively to win that major grant! Join our speaker, Celia Elliott from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for expert guidance and practical tips to creating successful research proposals.

Fundamentals of Effective Scientific Writing – Manuscripts and Grants

From ACS Webinars > Professional Growth Channel

"From writing grants to authoring scientific papers, technical writing is an imperative skill at any stage of one’s career. From students to experienced chemists, writing is ingrained in everyday work, yet most scientists rarely take time to improve. Improving one’s technical writing is to improve one’s career. Communicate your ideas more clearly and effectively, get more of your papers published, and win that major grant! Join our speaker, Kristin Sainani of Stanford University for expert guidance on improving your technical writing abilities!"