The Office of Research and Engagement website houses resources for internal and federal funding for your research and creative activities. The Office of Foundation Relations provides information and support for those seeking private sources of funding.
See OFD’s On Demand video: Finding Funding.
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Internal funding opportunities including support for interdisciplinary work are available through UMass Amherst.
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External federal funding opportunities are also available such as limited submission awards and grants and funding for early and mid-career faculty.
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External private funding opportunities also include limited submission awards and grants. The Office of Foundation Relations has a monthly newsletter which lists the latest opportunities —sign up here.
A tool that can help search through available grants is the Foundation Directory Online as well as other resources that are linked on the UMass Libraries funding resources page.
Centers & Institutes can also be a great source of seed funding. For instance, see the Institute of Social Sciences Research and the Institute of Diversity Sciences.
Contact the administrative staff person in your department/college/school who assists faculty with grant submissions. They coordinate with the UMass Office of Pre-Award Services (OPAS) who, ultimately, submits your proposal to the external sponsor. UMass Amherst uses the Kuali Research Software System to assemble and submit proposals. There are online trainings for researchers to learn the basics of what you need to know about using Kuali, but please be assured that your grants administrative support team is prepared to assist you, and you should start by meeting with them to discuss your plans. Your department/college/school will set internal deadlines for external grant submissions. OPAS has a 5-day pre-submission procedure policy.
For those seeking narrative and budget development support with grants directed at private foundations [i.e., grantmaking entities whose funding is not derived from governmental sources], Foundation Relations asks that applicants reach out at least 5 to 7 working days prior to the OPAS deadline. In an effort to ensure that all foundation-bound proposal are coordinated across our large campus and recorded within the relevant database, faculty submitting such grants are asked to reach out to Foundation Relations as early as possible to make them aware of your plans/activities to date —whether you require their services or not. It is important for the wider, longer-term interests of the campus that they keep an accurate, timely accounting of all interactions between faculty members and private foundations, and they sincerely appreciate your partnership in this endeavor.
Research & Engagement has outlined some of the steps and resources UMass offers in support of the development of proposals for sponsored project funding. Central campus support for proposal development, prior to submission, is available from:
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Office of Pre-Award Services (OPAS): reviews and endorses proposals institutionally and submits them to sponsors.
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Office of Research Development: large-scale proposals/strategic initiatives/internal funding/ capacity-building workshops.
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Foundation Relations: wide-ranging assistance to faculty seeking to secure private foundation and non-governmental external funding.
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The UMass Innovation Institute: facilitates industry- sponsored research collaborations.
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UMass Amherst Libraries’ Research Data Services: assistance with all aspects of data management throughout the life of your scholarship, including data management plans required by many sponsors.
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The Technology Transfer Office: provides central campus support for technology transfer and intellectual property management.
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Kuali Conflict of Interest (COI) Module: the Kuali COI disclosure module provides a single location for making disclosures about potential conflicts of interest, outside activities, and foreign engagements.
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UMass Travel Registry: for registering university-related travel.
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Environmental Health & Safety Department webpage: includes information about and links to lab and other safety training resources.
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Travel laptop program: through IT; for requesting a clean laptop for international travel.
Please fill out the PI Arrival Questionnaire to notify the Office of Pre-Award Services (OPAS) if you are transferring an award to UMass from your previous institution.
Speak with your college’s associate dean of research who is there to support your work.
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College of Information and Computer Sciences: James Allan, Associate Dean of Research and Engagement
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College of Natural Sciences: Mark Tuominen, Associate Dean of Research and Innovation
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College of Education: Sarah Fefer, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development
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College of Engineering: Michael Knodler, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Affairs
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College of Humanities and Fine Arts: Jason Moralee, Associate Dean of Research and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
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Isenberg School of Management: George R. Milne, Associate Dean of Research
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Elaine Marieb College of Nursing: Michael Lepore, Associate Dean for Research
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College of Social and Behavioral Sciences: Jennifer Lundquist, Senior Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development
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School of Public Health and Health Sciences: Susan Sturgeon, Associate Dean for Research
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UMass Libraries: Jennifer Friedman, Associate Dean of Research and Learning
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement provides leadership, support, and oversight for research and engagements with academic, industry, and government partners. Its offices include:
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Office of Research Development: supports and coordinates development of large-scale, interdisciplinary proposals and center-level proposals; supports and trains faculty in grant writing and grant preparation; supports strategic research development initiatives; and administers the UMass internal grant programs.
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Office of Pre-Award Services (OPAS): provides expert proposal development, review, and submission, as well as training and mentorship in a strong, service-oriented environment.
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Office of Post-Award Management (OPAM): is responsible for reviewing, interpreting, negotiating, and executing awards on behalf of the university.
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UMass Press: publishes, edits, designs, and markets first- rate books.
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Technology Transfer Office: oversees the commercialization of university research for public benefit while protecting intellectual property and ensuring recognition for researchers and inventors.
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UMass Innovation Institute: facilitates flexible and creative industry partnerships. Supports and coordinates (with the Office of Pre-Award Services [OPAS] and, when necessary, with the 501(c)(3)-designated UMass Amherst Foundation) all aspects of prospect research, strategy development, outreach, and proposal writing – from close narrative editing/feedback to budget development assistance – for all private-foundation-bound proposals (regardless of the entity through which funds flow – e.g., the University or its affiliated UMass Amherst Foundation).
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ADVANCE at UMass: provides the resources, recognition and relationship building that are critical to equitable and successful collaboration.
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The Controller's Office: provides PIs and administrative staff with guidance on research and accounting, cost share management, payroll, BuyWays, billing, effort certification, and other financial questions related to sponsored research.
For help in establishing a productive research group, the Graduate School provides Research Mentor Training and a Graduate Mentoring Handbook for guidance in effective mentoring of graduate and undergraduate mentors.
Research Services provides an overview of available research databases, citation management systems, and subject guides.
The Libraries’ Data Services can help you create a data management/sharing plan, select a data repository in which to share your data, identify and acquire open and proprietary research data, and work with you and your students on text and data mining issues. The Libraries’ Data Services provide support for quantitative, qualitative, and spatial data.
The Academic Liaison Program provides each department with a librarian who is your point person for the Libraries’ services and resources.
Special Collections and University Archives provides primary resources in the history of social change, the cultural heritage of of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the history of the university. They can also provide introductions to archival research and individual consultations.
Open Scholarship and Scholarly Publishing
- The University Libraries have a long-standing commitment to open scholarship, open data, and open access. The Libraries support a number of open access agreements with publishers which help to reduce or eliminate author publishing charges, and also host ScholarWorks, our institutional open access repository for faculty/student research and scholarship.
- The Libraries administer the SOAR Fund (Supporting Open Access Research), a competitive microgrant providing funding support to help partially defray author publishing costs charged by publishers.
- The Libraries also host Open Publishing at UMass Amherst, providing publishing services for open access journals, conference proceedings, and monographs produced by the faculty, staff, and students of the university. Reach out to us if you would like to discuss starting or migrating a scholarly publication to our platform.
- Interlibrary Loan
- Center for Research on Families: promotes interdisciplinary family research across the social, behavioral, and natural sciences to address pressing social problems and systemic inequalities through family research and community engagement programming.
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Institute of Diversity Sciences: provides forums to meet other researchers and find collaborators and seed grants. Themes include: Diversity and Disparities in Climate Change, Diversities & Disparities in Learning & Workplaces; and Diversities & Disparities in Health.
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Institute for Social Science Research: provides resources and support for campus-wide researchers using or learning to use social science methods, seeking to take part in collaborative and interdisciplinary research, doing publicly engaged research, and seeking external funding for research.
All individuals working in a lab, studio, shop, or similar area where hazardous materials or processes are in use on campus are required to complete EH&S provided training prior to beginning work with hazardous materials or processes. Go to the EH&S page for tips for new PIs and setting up your lab. Research Compliance also oversees facilities and services to support specialized research needs.
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You can sign up for the Inside UMass email, which is a newsletter that comes out weekly during the academic year and bi-weekly throughout the summer. It’s your best way to stay up-to-date on news, events and the many accomplishments of our faculty, staff and students.
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The Research News and Stories page highlights the recent research, scholarship, and creative activity that distinguishes UMass Amherst as a top research university.
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The Centers and Institutes page hosts information on approximately 60 campus-based research collaborations spanning a wide array of disciplines and specialties within and across campus colleges and schools.
The Office of Research Compliance oversees all compliance requirements at UMass related to research under one coordinated unit. Major areas of compliance include:
- OFD Scholarly Writing Programs for faculty include writing circles, workshops, and other resources
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Public Engagement Project supports and trains faculty members to use their research to contribute to social change, inform public policy, and enrich public debate.
The Graduate School offers Research Mentor Training, developed by the National Research Mentoring Network, to help faculty build their mentoring skills. The Graduate School also provides a Graduate Mentoring Handbook that provides guidance and resources for effective mentoring of your graduate students.