Proposal Resources

Hanover Research
To support faculty and staff, Auburn University partners with Hanover Research to offer full-service grant development solutions, including pre-proposal support, proposal development, and capacity building. These services help set goals, build strategies, and develop well-researched, well-written proposals. For details on Hanover’s capabilities and timelines, click here.

Does Hanover have experience with a wide range of funders?

Yes. Hanover has experience with a wide range of funders - private, nonprofit, and federal - including but not limited to NSF, NIH, AHRQ, DOD, and PCORI.

How does a PI request this service?

If you are interested in seeking Hanover’s assistance, please contact Tony Ventimiglia (334-844-5954 or ventiaf@auburn.edu).

How does Hanover approach proposal reviews?

A Hanover grants consultant may address general scientific elements of a proposal, such as:

  1. Construct or structure of the hypothesis and methodology. While Hanover does not purport to provide “scientific reviews” that evaluate the specific science underpinning proposals, its grants consultants will flag where they think research questions, aims, and hypotheses could be strengthened and better aligned.

  2. Literature review. Hanover grants consultants will note places where a citation is needed and has not been included. 

  3. Clarity and focus. When they suspect that narrative content lacks sufficient clarity, consistency, or rigor, Hanover grants consultants will pose questions to encourage the PI to verify the science, and/or suggest a review by a senior colleague or program officer.

Is there a cost to the individual PI for the service?

No. The cost of this service is provided through the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research and Economic Development.

What is the turnaround time for Hanover's services?

The turnaround time for Hanover’s services varies by service type. A REVIEW is generally turned around 10 business days from the date Hanover receives all requested grant documents. A REVISION provides an added level of support and as such, is generally turned around 15 business days from the date Hanover receives all requested grant documents. 

The GLC is an on-demand grant development training portal for faculty enrollees who can access self-paced, interactive modules with step-by-step guidance and templates. There are a variety of grantsmanship topics, NIH, and NSF CAREER modules. Contact Christine Cline at clc0165@auburn.edu for registration information.

NIH Modules

  • Three short overview modules designed to increase your knowledge about NIH and R-Series grants.

  • A series of proposal builder modules designed to aid you in writing your specific aims and research strategy sections of a grant.

NSF CAREER Module

  • The course provides a comprehensive overview of the NSF CAREER Program. There are numerous resources as well as modules that help learners write each of the proposal sections.

Grant Essentials

Nine short modules designed to help learners increase general grantsmanship knowledge. Learners can work at their own pace. Each one can be finished in just a few minutes or all can be completed in approximately two hours. Additional resource materials are available that can be downloaded by users.

  • Introduction to Grant Seeking

  • Laying the Groundwork

  • Prospecting

  • Concept Development

  • Logic Model Development

  • Program Officer Outreach

    Essentials of Competitive Proposals

  • Resubmissions

  • Grant Stewardship

Hanover webinars focus on a variety of research topics including essentials of grant writing, funder-specific tips, project and collaboration management and career development.

Explore Hanover Webinars

Center for Clinical and Translational Science

The Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) at UAB — Alabama’s only CTSA-funded center and one of 62 nationwide — partners with Auburn University to improve human health and health care delivery. CCTS supports AU biomedical researchers with project and proposal development at all stages. Visit the CCTS Research Commons for resources and contact information.

Databases

Awarded Grants Databases

This is a public-access website in which faculty share copies of proposals submitted to various international sponsors (including U.S. Federal Agencies) that principal investigators can view to review the structure/format of sponsor-specific proposals. The list includes both funded and unfunded proposals (as reflected in the table).

Open Grants

This is a free electronic tool that draws from a variety of databases to allow searches of NIH-funded research projects and access to publications and patents resulting from NIH funding. Search projects by state, fiscal year, principal investigator (PI), organization, agency or project number.  It is updated weekly.

NIH Reporter Tool Sample Applications

This database includes information on all current and past NSF grants. Users can search using a range of search criteria: key text words, PI, state, dates, organization, NSF program or project code.

NSF Award Search Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences Sample Proposal

Data Management Tools

Federal Requirements

Common Forms

Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) & Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCiD)

Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) is an application in My NCBI that helps users create online professional profiles that can be made public to share with others. 

Benefits:

  • Document education, employment, research activities, publications, honors, research grants, and other professional contributions in one place. 

  • Create multiple SciENcv profiles in official biographical sketch formats - 

  • Create NSF Current and Pending Support document.

  • Populate SciENcv profile information by linking to previously established accounts with NIH eRA Commons, NSF, and ORCiD.

  • Users control what data is public and edit and maintain all biosketch information. 

Signing in to MyNCBI

SciENcv full instruction help

SciENcv tutorial

Integrating with OrCiD

Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCiD) is a non-profit organization that provides a unique, persistent digital ID to distinguish researchers and link them to their work. Integrated into systems like grant submissions, it streamlines connections between you and your professional activities.

With its “enter once, re-use often” approach, ORCiD helps improve data accuracy and reduce administrative burden by syncing with tools researchers already use.

  • Improve discoverability of your work (and increase citations!)

  • Ensure accurate attribution of your work

  • Consolidate all your information in one place - no need to type in same information over and over

  • Automatically update your research profile

  • Required by an increasing number of publishers and funding agencies (e.g., Science, The Royal Society, PLoS)

  • Required by many funding agencies (e.g., NSF, NIH)

  • Protect your scholarly identity

ORCiD

AU Libraries offers faculty the opportunity to complete ORCID profiles:

1. Register for your ORCID account (Use the institutional single sign-on) 

2. Click your name in the top right corner and select "Trusted Parties"

3. Scroll down to "Trusted Individuals" and add orcid@auburn.edu 

4. Send a copy of your CV to orcid@auburn.edu to ensure all of your works, educational background and work history is included. 

Patricia Hartman of AU Libraries provides ORCiD support for researchers.

Writing Guides and Resources