Research Development

The most competitive funding proposals harness strengths from a diverse team of researchers and draw upon partnerships with other academic institutions, industry, community organizations, local education agencies, and more. Ideally, these relationships are cultivated and established ahead of pursuing a particular funding opportunity. A track record of successful collaboration (and publication) reinforces the feasibility and potential broad impacts of your work for reviewers.

Your colleagues, department, and college/school are often the best place to start making connections specific to your field and approaches.

The Research Development Office is also a resource for PIs looking for guidance in establishing connections with other UMD faculty or external partners. The RDO is steward of successful local, regional, and national initiatives with other USM institutions, minority-serving institutions, corporations, defense contractors, federal cooperative agreements,

See here for a full list of research centers and institutes.

Several internal funding mechanisms administered by the RDO are designed to foster such relationships in the early stages and generate pilot data for external funding proposals: Maryland Catalyst Fund New Directions and Big Opportunity Fund. Review our Internal Funding Calendar and internal seed grant descriptions.

Funding guidelines often specify that proposals should include certain letters of support or commitment. In many cases, this is a letter of institutional support. When this letter needs to be signed by the Vice President of Research, the Provost, or the President, please follow these guidelines:

• Craft your letter (using Word or Google Docs) by following your solicitation’s requirements. We strongly encourage you to have your letter reviewed by your chair or Associate Dean for Research.
• Send your request and draft letter to Hana Kabashi - hkabashi@umd.edu.  
  • Note a specific deadline. Provide at least two weeks for this request to work through the appropriate channels.
  • Whose signature is required? Please be clear about what the solicitation asks for and whose signature is needed.
• If there are financial commitments or budget needs associated with this request, a separate request for Cost Sharing commitment must be made. See guidance on securing cost share (above). 
• Your letter should be as close to final form as possible when submitted for review. RDO will work with you on final edits. 
   

From there, the RDO will facilitate the coordination of obtaining appropriate signatures with the necessary administrative offices required. 

If you have questions about this process, please contact Hana Kabashi - hkabashi@umd.edu

Cost sharing is the commitment of University of Maryland's resources to a sponsored project. Cost sharing should be included in the proposal only when required, and in accordance with the UMD Cost Sharing Policy. The UMD Office of Research Administration overview on cost sharing can be found here.

When a Federal sponsor mandates cost sharing, standard contributions from the Vice President of Research and the Provost are 10% of cost share direct costs each. Note that this is not a combined 20% of the total project costs, but 20% of the mandatory cost share direct costs. If subawards are issued to other institutions, the VPR and Provost support the mandatory cost share for the budget amount that remains at UMD.

The remaining 80% of any mandatory cost share secured by the PI/team often includes a combination of UMD faculty/staff effort, partner contributions, and unrecovered indirect costs.

• Submit all cost share requests to the VPR and Provost using the University Funding Form. Attach the form to an email to Eric Chapman, Dylan Baker, and Jeff Snider. 
• Obtain unit level commitments/signatures before submitting this form for VPR/Provost support
• Please submit at least 2 weeks prior to the sponsor deadline to ensure time for review and determination.

If you have questions about this process, please contact Eric Chapman - echapman@umd.edu

The Universal Funding Request Form (UFF) accompanies two types of funding requests to the Division of Research:  

• Applications for Maryland Catalyst Funds
• Requests for cost share contributions toward sponsored research applications (described above)

PIs and Grant Administration staff should secure and document Unit-level contributions before submitting the UFF.

• For Maryland Catalyst Funds, include the UFF in the application package, submitted via InfoReady
• For cost share contribution requests, attach the UFF to an email to Eric Chapman, Dylan Baker, and Jeff Snider