Research Development Staff Assignments

Research Development staff members can best assist faculty members when engaged at the earliest stages of the proposal development process.  We offer a range of services for proposals of all sizes.

For large proposals involving multiple units, disciplines, and partners, services include:

  • Team building and coordination
  • Intelligence gathering
  • Detailed solicitation review and outlining
  • Proposal development milestone scheduling
  • Help with identification of proposal “win themes” and “discriminators”
  • External partnering and inter-agency coordination
  • Institutional coordination
  • Budget planning and development
  • Drafting non-technical sections
  • Consultation on “broader impacts” sections
  • Proposal review and editing for completeness, cohesion, persuasiveness
  • Coordination of pre-submission “red team” reviews  

Small proposal development services:

Research Development staff are also available, on a more limited basis, to consult individually with faculty, primarily assistant professors, who are writing smaller grant proposals for external funding.  Our capacity to offer small proposal development services is contingent on how much time remains before deadline.  Please contact us as early as possible.

Small proposal development services may include:

  • Discussion of the call for proposals and sponsor guidelines, the proposed project and the proposal requirements
  • Assistance developing a preliminary budget as a tool for proposal project planning
  • Discussion of the proposed outline and assistance with proposal development timeline
  • Consultation on “broader impacts” (i.e. diversity, education, outreach, innovation)
  • Read-through of proposal narrative draft, incl. alignment with evaluation criteria
  • Discussion of a specific area of the proposal, such as the problem statement
  • Referrals to on-campus faculty who have successfully applied to this program
  • Help obtaining a model proposal and/or other sample language
  • Coordination with OGCA
  • Other, based on the specific needs of the PI and the nature of the proposal

 

 

For general inquiries about early-stage proposal development support, please contact Michelle Wonsey (577-3726).  

For specific inquiries about early-stage proposal development support, please contact the appropriate Research Development staff member from the among the following areas:

Natural Sciences, Health Sciences & Engineering Social Sciences, Humanities, Education and Management
Government Relations Partnership Development (Life Sciences)
International Research Broader Impacts of Research

 

Natural Sciences, Health Sciences, and Engineering

Loren Walker, M.S. Director – Large-proposal project management and coordination, faculty research development, research activity tracking. loren@research.umass.edu, 577-3725.

Mary Fechner, Ph.D Proposal Development Specialist - Proposal development, faculty research development programs.  Focus on physical sciences, natural sciences, health sciences and engineering. mfechner@research.umass.edu, 545-4893.

Barbara Pearson, Ph.D. Research Associate – Proposal development, faculty research development programs, broader impacts of research, peer-to-peer mentoring. bpearson@research.umass.edu, 545-5023.

 

Government Relations

Cheryl L. Dukes, M.Ed. Associate Director – Federal government relations.  cdukes@urd.umass.edu, 545-3476.

 

Social Sciences, Humanities, Education and Management

Rick Taupier, Ph.D. Associate Director – Proposal development, faculty research development programs.  Focus on social sciences, humanities, and international research initiatives. taupier@research.umass.edu, 545-5529.

Loren Walker, M.S. Director – Large-proposal project management and coordination, faculty research development, research activity tracking. loren@research.umass.edu, 577-3725.

Cheryl L. Dukes, M.Ed. Associate Director – Federal government relations.  cdukes@urd.umass.edu, 545-3476.

 

International Research

Rick Taupier, Ph.D. Associate Director – Proposal development, faculty research development programs.  Focus on social sciences, humanities, and international research initiatives. taupier@research.umass.edu, 545-5529.

 

Broader Impacts of Research

Barbara Pearson, Ph.D. Research Associate – Proposal development, faculty research development programs, broader impacts of research, peer-to-peer mentoring. bpearson@research.umass.edu, 545-5023.

 

Partnership Development

Tom Hankinson, Ph.D. Partnership Development Initiatives - Life sciences industry partnership development. thankinson@research.umass.edu, 545-1745

 

General Inquiries

Michelle Wonsey, B.S. Office Manager – Program coordination, office management, and general Research Development inquiries. mwonsey@research.umass.edu, 577-3726.

 

PLEASE NOTE: All proposals for sponsored projects must be submitted through the Office of Grants and Contracts Administration (OGCA).  For more information about preparing your proposal for submission, please contact the appropriate OGCA staff member.