Support for Proposal Development

The Office of Research Development offers proposal development support through Hanover Research.

This service was selected to meet a campus need by leveraging limited resources to provide high-quality, cost-effective proposal development support. Our contract is organized into two queues, allowing for two contemporaneous reviews or review/revisions at a time. We are now offering this resource to anyone on campus on a fee-for-service basis.

Hanover provides a range of support, but the most frequently requested services are proposal review and proposal revision:

Proposal Review includes a teleconference to discuss draft prior to Hanover review; review of the proposal narrative for alignment with funding opportunity announcement; specific recommendations on the draft using margin comments; a memo outlining high-level recommendations; and a debrief via teleconference. The rate for this service is $2,306 and requires 2 weeks.

Proposal Review/Revision include all aspects of “Proposal Review” as well as track changes to suggest revision to the proposal narrative and track changes to focus on achieving clarity and effective use of language, which includes addressing punctuation and grammar. The rate for this service is $3,459 and requires 3 weeks.

These timelines are based on a typical 12-15 page project description. Very long proposals or proposals comprising multiple cores will require more time with commensurate fees. Contact Research Development to discuss your specific needs.

If you would like to request proposal review services, please submit a request in iLab. Our service request form is located in the OVCR Grants Management Core.

About Hanover

Hanover Grants provides research development, grant writing, and strategic advising support to a wide range of colleges and universities. Their professionals have more than 150 years of combined experience, cumulatively securing over $500 million from federal and foundation funders such as the National Institutes of Health, US Department of Defense, and the National Science Foundation as well as state and foundation/corporate sources. They deliver customized proposal review, revision, and production support, while also helping to align strategic priorities to funding trends and opportunities at all levels. Hanover has been conducting market research and analytics in the higher education space since 2003. Hanover has generated more than $750 million in total grant funding for members since 2012. On average, members have received an 11x return on their investment in funded grants supported by our team.

 

Services Offered by Hanover Grants Heading link

Take a look at the services provided by Hanover Grants and contact rds@uic.edu with questions. More information is also available in the “Introduction to Hanover” webinar slides and recording.

Proposal Review

For Proposal Review-only projects, Hanover provides margin comments and guidance with an eye toward compliance, quality, and grantsmanship.

  • 2 week delivery
  • Identification of all areas where the proposal does not comply with funder requirements and guidelines, with explicit advice on how to comply.
  • Prescriptive comments on areas of grantsmanship that can be improved, with supporting rationale.
  • Review of spelling, grammar, and punctuation, highlighting recurring concerns across the draft.
  • Consultative advice on research or program design, supporting data or literature, or other elements.
  • Advice on obtaining feedback from a PO, peer, or grants office.
  • Debrief to review recommendations, proposed changes, and PI questions.

Proposal Revision

For Proposal Revision projects, Hanover provides a full edit and revision of the proposal with an eye toward compliance, quality, and grantsmanship.

  • 3 week delivery
  • Revision to address all areas where the proposal does not comply with funder requirements.
  • Editing for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  • Revision of content for style and presentation.
  • Revision of formatting to match best practice and funder preference.
  • Revision of the structure to improve logical presentation of material.
  • Identification of material that should be supported with a citation.
  • Confirmation that tables and figures are numbered correctly and appropriately placed.
  • Identification of any missing / needed content.
  • Debrief to review recommendations, proposed changes, and PI questions.

Proposal Support

  • 8+ weeks
  • Coordinate timeline, task lists, and proposal templates, and participate in ongoing conference calls to guide project activities and proposal development.
  • Serve as a resource for PIs during drafting proposal content to answer questions and provide consultation feedback regarding approach.

Capacity Development

In cases where UIC identifies a project as an exceptional strategic priority or has made a significant campus investment, Hanover support may be leveraged to develop a tactical strategy for advancing the research, including

  • Prospect research
  • Competitive analysis
  • Strategic assessment
  • Benchmarking

Hanover Digital

The member portal provides centralized access to an extensive array of resources designed to help institutions answer key questions, make data-informed decisions, and develop sound strategies. UIC’s contract includes a generous but limited number of accounts for Hanover Digital; contact rds@uic.edu and we will be happy to provide access.

Grantsmanship Training Center & Grants Webinar Archive

Interactive modules and recorded webinars designed to help grant-seekers develop their skills and improve their grant proposals.

Grants Calendar Archive & Grant Alerts Dashboard

An archive of newsletters and calendars created to help Hanover clients to track new grant opportunities and plan for those on the horizon.

Interactive Dashboards

A series data-rich dashboards to track trends and inform decision-making, including the Federal Award Benchmarking Dashboard.

The Hanover Research Library

A vast library redacted research reports commissioned by clients on wide-ranging topics of interest to higher education institutions.

 

Newsletters

Through a series of newsletters, the Hanover Grants team tracks funding opportunities in line with strategic interests of its members. Subscription is open for faculty and administrators to select which updates they would like to receive.

Click here to subscribe: Hanover Grant Alerts

Grant Alerts weekly

Every Monday, learn about the previous week’s grant solicitations of interest from federal agencies and select private foundations. Alerts are broken up into research and programmatic grant opportunities: Higher Education Programmatic, Higher Education Research, Health Programmatic, and Health Research.

Grant Projections monthly

Hanover looks three months ahead at major grant competitions, providing details on program background, key deadlines, and timelines for engaging Hanover for varying levels of assistance. Projections available: Higher Education, Health, and K-12.

Grants Calendars bimonthly

Hanover produces a specialized calendar twice each month, tracking grant opportunities across the coming year of interest to different types of institutions and to faculty in different areas of focus. These calendars include:

  • Minority-Serving Institutions
  • Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences
  • STEM Programs
  • STEM Research Grants
  • Health Research
  • Early Career Faculty Grants
  • Interdisciplinary Research
  • Student Success
  • Diversity , Equity, & Inclusion
  • Environmental Sustainability
  • Research Centers
  • Education Research & Programs

FAQs Heading link

For proposal review and revisions, most faculty submit the narrative components of the application (e.g., abstract, specific aims, research strategy, project description, etc.). Please note, for resubmissions of unfunded proposals and competing renewal applications, PIs will be asked to provide a copy of the original submission along with the reviewers’ comments (e.g., summary statement).

Hanover requires 2 weeks for review projects and 3 weeks for revisions. Research Development will review requests as they are received and assign projects to the queue based on availability and sponsor deadline.

Any proposal materials that an investigator shares with Hanover remain confidential. Materials will only be shared with the Hanover content director and the single consultant working on their proposal.

Hanover’s proposal critiques focus on the narrative components of research proposals – namely the specific aims page, research strategy, and (for resubmissions) the introduction. For resubmission proposals, the PI should be prepared to provide a copy of the unfunded proposal along with reviewer feedback.

Hanover’s grants consultants are not necessarily subject matter experts who can evaluate the specific science underpinning a research proposal. Rather, Hanover’s value lies in its understanding of proposal and agency nuances that can help investigators competitively frame proposals in response to a specific solicitation. Hanover seeks to achieve cohesion in the grant narrative and to align the proposal with funding requirements. A Hanover grant consultant may address general scientific elements of a proposal, such as:

  • 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.
  • Literature review: Hanover grants consultants will note places where a citation is needed and has not been included.
  • Clarity and focus: When Hanover suspects that narrative content lacks sufficient clarity, consistency, or rigor, Hanover grants consultants will pose questions to encourage the investigator to verify the science, and/or suggest a review by a senior colleague or program officer

Yes, Hanover has experience with many federal, private, and nonprofit funders. Representative funders include the NIH, NSF, DOD, PCORI, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

No, Hanover consultants are not written into the proposals as scientific experts.

Proposal Review requires 2 weeks at a cost of $2,306.

Proposal Review/Revision requires 3 weeks at a cost of $3,459.

All invoices will be managed in iLab.

Please let us know as soon as you think you might want to use Hanover’s support. We’ll manage projects in the queues based on which services are requested, sponsor due dates, and completeness of the materials to review. Last minute requests will be less likely to be accommodated.