Collaborative Research Development for Large-Scale Grants

Office of Research and National Laboratories

Mentors

Sarah Kirstine Lain | Assistant Director of Research Innovation | Research Development Support | Office of Research and National Laboratories

Background

The Research Development Support (RDS) team supports largescale, interdisciplinary projects across all fields of research at the University of Chicago (UChicago). Our office also manages collaborative seed grants among the University, Argonne, Fermilab, the Marine Biological Lab, and partner industries and institutions. We maintains a seed funding portal that gives access to multiple internal funding opportunities on campus and manage all federal institutionally limited opportunities. We support nascent research by identifying internal funding mechanisms at UChicago, recommending external funding streams for early stage research, and managing collaborative grants for with National Laboratories. We also facilitate federal funding agency engagement by tracking and communicating federal agency research priorities, connect faculty with federal program officers, and organizing capture planning workshops to raise awareness of lesser known federal opportunities. Informed by these insights, we support faculty in developing large-scale proposals through project management, milestone development, resource identification, and proposal reviews.

Internship Description

During the quarter, the intern will work closely with the mentor on various aspects of grantsmanship, which may include (a) executing targeted funding searches, (b) managing large-scale, cross-cutting research grants, (c) administering seed funding for high-risk nascent research, and (d) supporting the University’s limited opportunities’ funding process. Because RDS spans a broad scale of research development opportunities, the specific scope of the internship will be tailored to the intern’s prioritized interests and mutually agreed with the mentor.

Specific Objectives

• Develop federal grants, from ideation through submission.
• Fully leverage the University’s resources to find funding tailored to research interests.
• Communicate effectively across a range of scientific disciplines.
• Utilize project management tools and processes for effectively managing cross-disciplinary research grants.

Qualifications

The successful intern will be self-motivated, a meticulous writer, possess the ability to work with faculty, staff, students, and other researchers, and willing to learn new skills.