Research

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. 

• Internal funding opportunities including support for interdisciplinary work are available through UMass Amherst.
• The Office of Research and Engagement also organizes external federal funding opportunities that have a limited number of submissions allowed from campus. R&E also tracks funding opportunities specifically for early and mid-career faculty.
• External private funding opportunities also include some limited submission awards and grants. Fill out this contact form to receive the Office of Foundation Relations newsletter. 

A tool that can help search through available foundation 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 opportunities from the Institute of Social Sciences Research and the Institute of Diversity Sciences. 

Contact the administrative staff person in your school/college research office 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 staff that you are welcome to attend to learn how to use 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 that applies to all grants.

To understand your other responsibilities as a PI of a grant proposal, please refer to this quick guide. 

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 as early as possible, but 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 contact Foundation Relations 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 different stages of proposal development, prior to submission, is available from: 

• Office of Pre-Award Services (OPAS): reviews and endorses proposals institutionally and submits every proposal to sponsors on behalf of the university.
• Office of Research Development: provides support for large-scale proposals, strategic initiatives, internal funding opportunities, and capacity-building workshops.
• Foundation Relations: offers wide-ranging assistance to faculty seeking to secure private foundation and other non-governmental external funding.
• The UMass Innovation Institute: facilitates industry- sponsored research collaborations.
• UMass Amherst Libraries’ Research Data Services: provides assistance with all aspects of data management throughout the life of your scholarship, including data management plans required by many sponsors.
• The Technology Transfer Office: provides central campus support for technology transfer and intellectual property management.
• Conflict of Interest (COI) Disclosures: the Kuali COI disclosure module provides a single location for making disclosures about potential conflicts of interest, outside activities, and foreign engagements. Instructions are also available.
• UMass Travel Registry: for registering university-related travel.
• Environmental Health & Safety Department webpage: includes information about and links to lab and other safety training resources.
• Travel laptop program: through IT; for requesting a laptop for international travel to protect data or conform with requirements from research sponsors. 

Take a look at the Office of Faculty Development’s on-demand resource for applying for grants.

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. 

• College of Information and Computer Sciences: James Allan, Associate Dean of Research and Engagement
• College of Natural Sciences: Mark Tuominen, Associate Dean of Research and Innovation
• College of Education: Sarah Fefer, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development
• Riccio College of Engineering: Caitlyn Butler, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Affairs
• College of Humanities and Fine Arts: Pari Riahi, Associate Dean of Research and Engagement
• Isenberg School of Management: Fousseni Chabi-Yo, Associate Dean of Research
• Elaine Marieb College of Nursing: Michael Lepore, Associate Dean for Research
• College of Social and Behavioral Sciences: Jennifer Lundquist, Senior Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development
• School of Public Health and Health Sciences: Susan Sturgeon, Associate Dean for Research
• UMass Libraries: Denise Hersey, Associate Dean for Research and Learning 

See the Office of Research and Engagement's “School and College Grant Resources” webpage. 

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:  

• 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 many UMass internal grant programs.
• 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.
• Office of Post-Award Management (OPAM): is responsible for reviewing, interpreting, negotiating, and executing awards on behalf of the university.
• Technology Transfer Office: oversees the commercialization of university research for public benefit while protecting intellectual property and ensuring recognition for researchers and inventors.
• UMass Innovation Institute: facilitates academic-industry projects and supports faculty looking to build new industry collaborations.
• UMass Press: publishes, edits, designs, and markets first- rate books, focused on the field of American studies including those that explore the history, politics, literature, culture, and environment of the United States.

UMass ADVANCE: provides research-driven tools and programming to foster more equitable research collaborations essential to faculty success.   

The Controller's Office: provides PIs and administrative staff with guidance on research accounting, cost share management, payroll, BuyWays, billing, effort certification, and other financial questions related to sponsored research.

• 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.    

• Unlimited Zotero storage is available using your UMass email address. Add your UMass email to your saved addresses in Zotero Settings, and your storage counter will automatically update to Unlimited. Use with both My Library and Group Library Storage. 

• The Academic Liaison Program provides each department with a librarian who is your point person for the Libraries’ services and resources. 

  • Find your Academic Liaison Librarian

  • Set up a research consultation 

• 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 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 

• Patent & Trademark Resource Center (PTRC)  

• Science & Engineering Library  

   

UMass Amherst is home to over 60 campus-based research centers and institutes spanning a wide array of disciplines and specialties. The focus of these centers and institutes aligns with UMass Amherst’s research strengths reflecting national, state, and regional priorities, including advanced materials and manufacturing; applied life sciences and health; data science and computational science; cognitive science; the arts and creative economy; energy, climate science, and sustainability; and equity and inclusion.

Centers and institutes are hubs for collaboration and innovation, where faculty and graduate students can engage in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research. Read more about these units and find one that aligns with your own interests. Some centers and institutes provide small seed funding opportunities to support pilot grants. Others offer full-year programs for a small number of faculty to build their grant proposal skills. 

• Center for Research on Families Methodology Program 

• Institute for Social Science Research Methodology Workshops 

• Statistical Consultation and Collaboration Services 

All individuals working in a lab, studio, shop, or similar area on campus where hazardous materials or processes are in use 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.  

The Office of Research and Engagement also oversees facilities and services to support specialized research needs. These include vivaria, the campus core facilities managed through the Institute for Applied Life Sciences, and access to the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC)/Unity Cluster.

• You can sign up for Inside UMass, 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. 
• Subscribe to the Revolutionary Research newsletter to get the latest information about exciting research stories from disciplines across campus. You should also subscribe to the Research Ready Newsletter, a monthly publication from the Office of Research and Engagement, for important information about topics affecting research at UMass and beyond. 
• The Research News and Stories page highlights the recent research, scholarship, and creative activity that distinguishes UMass Amherst as a top research university.  
• 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: 

• Animal User Training and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
• Institutional Review Board (IRB)
• Human Subjects CITI Training (compliance for IRB)
• Research Ethics
• Conflict of Interest and Outside Activities
• Export Controls 

• OFD Scholarly Writing Programs for faculty include writing circles, workshops, and other resources.
• The UMass Press serves as an excellent resource for faculty in book publishing fields. 
• The University Libraries have resources to support Open Scholarship and Scholarly Publishing.
• ScholarWorks is our campus repository for scholarly materials generated by faculty, staff, and students.
• There are many places to go on campus for Copyright Resources.
• The 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 UMass Amherst Henry M. Thomas III Center at Springfield is committed to bringing more of UMass to the Springfield community and more of Springfield to UMass.  

The Graduate School offers Research Mentor Training, developed by the National Research Mentoring Network, to help faculty build their mentoring skills. A follow-up training in Culturally Aware Mentoring (CAM) is also available. CAM focuses on how mentors interact with mentees from every kind of background. The Graduate School also provides a Graduate Mentoring Handbook that provides guidance and resources for effective mentoring of your graduate students. Note: you will need to login with your UMass NetID to access these materials; contact @email for assistance with access.