Office of Research



Office of Research

Research Development

Empowering UCF researchers through expert guidance and strategic support in funding and proposal development

About Research Development

Our team helps UCF researchers identify potential funding opportunities and craft competitive proposals. We offer informational workshops, provide hands-on proposal development support, assist with targeted funding searches, and coordinate limited submissions and internal research programs. Our office is organized around three pillars, Research Strategies, Faculty Engagement & Outreach, and Proposal Development.

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Research Strategies

We offer a range of tools and individual support to help the research community identify potential funding opportunities

Contact Team Lead for Pillar
Funding Opportunities

  • Pivot Funding Opportunity Database – A powerful search tool for identifying funding opportunities from federal, state, private, and international sponsors. Anyone at UCF can use Single-Sign On to use this database to run a search and save it to alert them of new results.

  • Limited Submission – External funding opportunities that restrict how many proposals an applicant or institution may submit. The Office of Research manages this process for UCF.

  • Targeted Funding Alerts (TFAs) – Curated searches based on strategic UCF research areas. Current opportunities are listed, and faculty can sign up to receive a weekly alert summarizing new results.

  • Early Career Faculty Opportunities – A list of recurring opportunities from federal and non-federal agencies.

  • gov – Comprehensive database of opportunities from all federal agencies.

  • Contract Opportunities (formerly FedBizOpps) – Explore federal contract opportunities and procurement listings.

  • Philanthropy News Digest – View current opportunities from nonprofits.

  • Private Foundation Toolkit – A UCF resource with information for exploring foundation-sponsored research funding.

  • Web of Science/Knowledge – The tool shows funder acknowledgements in researchers’ scholarly publications, which shows sponsors interested in funding this topic.

 

Strategic Programs

Faculty Engagement & Outreach

RD offers workshops and resources to help build connections, find collaborators, and foster research teams.

 

Contact Team Lead for Pillar
Calendar of RD events
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Workshops and Special Events

  • New Faculty Orientation – Annually in Fall. At the Office of Research session, faculty will receive an overview of the research lifecycle and available services, from funding opportunity identification to project closeout.

  • Kickstarting Your Research Workshop Series – These workshops provide New and Early Career Faculty with information on available services and resources at UCF that can assist them with their research.

  • Proposal and Office of Research Workshop Series – These workshops offer guidance on data management, HSI certification, and other resources to support research.

  • Agency and Program Specific Workshops – Workshops designed to help faculty strengthen their grant applications for federal, state, and private funding sources.

  • Florida Defense Science and Technology Symposium – The event brought together academic experts in Florida that are working in areas related to defense science and technology.

  • UCF Energy Symposium – The event provided focused on energy and sustainability research across UCF and fostered future collaboration through the formation of a Research Energy Council.

Connect with Researchers at UCF

  • UCF Collaborates – A recurring event aimed at fostering collaboration and expanding multi- and interdisciplinary research

  • UCF Scholar Expertise Portal – Search for potential collaborators across the university by expertise, grants, patents, and more.

  • UCF Business Incubation Program – Connect with industry partners through the UCF Business Incubator, which supports emerging companies in high-tech to low-tech industries.

  • Team Building Resources – Tools to help form and strengthen research teams.

Proposal Development

RD offers assistance and resources as you plan and prepare a competitive grant proposal.

Contact Team Lead for Pillar
Self-Enroll in Grant Fundamentals
Support Services Available

    • Sample Proposals – We maintain a sample proposal library and can seek a sample for a specific opportunity upon request.

    • Templates – We can share templates to help in proposal planning and writing to fulfill requirements and review criteria.

    • Boilerplates and Information – Draft descriptions about specific UCF characteristics can be developed upon request for inclusion in your proposal.

    • Graphic/InfoGraphic Design – Support can be requested on grant proposals.

    • Supplemental documents – We can help with preparation and pre-review of required non-technical and personnel documents.

    • Collaboration Letters – We can assist with preparing and securing institutional letters of support from UCF leadership. Note regarding NIH R15 AREA (required eligibility letter) – For eligible UCF faculty interested in the R15 AREA grant, a signed letter is required by the Provost verifying the eligibility of the applicant and institution at the time of submission. The RD team is UCF’s designated point of contact for requesting and securing this letter.

    • SciENcv – We can help you with this tool, now required by NSF and NIH when preparing your proposal’s Biographical Sketch and Current & Pending documents.

    • Proposal Review – Editorial and peer review support are available. Proposal reboot review is also available to help when pursuing a resubmission or shifting to a different funding opportunity.

    • EARLIER – RD collaborates with the PASS team in this initiative to provide integrated and enhanced support on large, complex grant proposals.

Resources Available

    • We coordinate multiple internal programs that help you to receive feedback from experienced mentors to help increase proposal competitiveness and success.

    • Funder Tool Kits – UCF guides with insights and support related to specific funders.

    • UCF Research Cyberinfrastructure – A variety of digital services and computing resources available to UCF researchers.

    • NSF Public Access Repository – The outputs of NSF-funded scientific research are made publicly available to the greatest extent, with the fewest constraints possible and consistent with law, in line with the NSF Public Access Initiative.

    • Research Lifecycle – A visual tool outlining the full spectrum of support and services available to UCF researchers across all project phases.

    • PI Handbook for Proposals and Awards – A reference guide for UCF researchers detailing available services, resources, and support teams from proposal planning through post-award activities.