Resources for New Faculty

The program to develop proposal-writing skills is the Creative Research Activities Development and Enrichment (CRADLE). Up to 9 fellows participate for two years. Preference is given to applicants entering years 2-5 of a tenure-track appointment.

CRADLE aims to develop competitive external proposals that support multiyear research projects and creative activities. Fellows receive assistance from an external consultant to improve their grantsmanship and to articulate a 5-year career plan that incorporates proven strategies for developing and funding superior research and creative activities.

For more information, please visit the CRADLE website.

Help with clarity of presentation, organization, expression of thought; not technical help on technical content of proposal. This is another free resource (to our faculty) provided through ORSP. The person who provides this service is Dr. Julie Edelson, who has a PhD in Comparative Literature and has extensive experience editing proposals of Wake Forest faculty.

We have two sets of people to assist with proposal preparation and submission. There are Grant Contracts Managers (GCMs) on campus, managed by the Office of the Dean of the College, also reporting to department chairs, who assist in the submission and maintenance of proposals/grants. The GCMs primarily assist with budget preparation and ensuring that that all required components described in the federal agency guidance or foundation guidance are included in the final proposal. GCMs are primarily assigned to specific departments, mainly in STEM disciplines, and some GCM’s may support the faculty in more than one department.

In addition, proposal submission assistance is available in ORSP. There are several members of that office who can provide support, but the primary staff member is Stephen Williams. His email is , and his phone number is 336.758.4909.

Internal funding opportunities are comprehensively summarized at this website. External funding sources can be found by searching two different databases that the university has subscriptions to: SPINPlus, which has mainly governmental sources and Foundations Directory Online. SPINPlus can be accessed using your Wake Forest University username and password. Foundations Directory Online (FDO) has a large database (140,000) of foundations worldwide that provide funding for a broad range of activities. Roughly 80-90% of Foundations do not have webpages, so such a database is potentially very useful in finding these foundations.

To access FDO, please contact Stephen Williams in the ORSP office. Stephen’s email is , and his phone number is 336.758.4909.

This is a fund established to help our faculty publish in open access journals. Publications that are open access have 60% more citations (on average) than those behind a paywall. Faculty are eligible if they do not have external funding to publish their work. Cost-shared among three parties: Department, ORSP, and ZSR Library.

For more information, contact Molly Keener, Director of Digital Initiatives & Scholarly Communication, at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library.

The Provost’s Fund for Faculty Travel provides supplementary travel support for faculty participating in an academic conference, a diversity and inclusion event, or other select professional events by presenting or discussing a paper/film/project or chairing a session. The intent of the fund is not merely attendance at a conference.

The ORSP website has a variety of online resources that you can access anytime.

There are various internal funding opportunities, some related to established Centers, some in the Dean’s Office, etc. Two mechanisms that are funded out of the Provost’s Office (ORSP):

• Pilot Research Grants (PRG). Two deadlines: Fourth Friday in October and in February.
• Collaborative Pilot Grants (CPG). One Deadline: First Friday in March.

For additional help and information, contact Rebecca Alexander, Associate Dean for Research and Community Engagement.