March 11, 2010

New system will speed search for funding opportunities

by Diana Pounds

Finding funding opportunities just got easier at Iowa State. Researchers no longer need to read through 30-plus pages of the Weekly Bulletin and visit several web sites to find potential opportunities. A new one-stop spot for all these sources debuted this week at http://funding.vpresearch.iastate.edu/fundingopps/.

The new web site includes funding opportunities drawn from:

  • the international Community of Sciences database
  • federal and state agencies
  • foundations and private agencies
  • ISU-sponsored opportunities

How it works

ISU faculty, staff and students -- anyone with an ISU netID -- can sign onto the new system. Once on, they'll have access to thousands of grant opportunities, ranging from a thousand dollars to millions, said Larry Quisenberry, program coordinator in the office of the executive vice president and provost. Quisenberry will manage the new system, updating it daily.

He pointed out that a useful feature of the site is the versatile search options. Researchers can search, for example, by keywords, sponsoring agencies and ISU groups (such as "Arts and Humanities" or "Engineering and Sciences").

Quisenberry said the new research opportunities system is only currently available at two universities -- Virginia Tech, where the system was developed, and Iowa State.

Adding ISU-funded opportunities

Funding opportunities sponsored by ISU units will be a part of the new system. To add an item, send information to Quisenberry, larryq@iastate.edu.

Weekly Bulletin discontinued

With the launch of the new system, the Weekly Bulletin was discontinued last week. Bulletin archives are available on the new site.