Find Funding
One of the core missions of Research Development is to help faculty search for and identify relevant funding opportunities. To that end we support several methods to explore available opportunities.
OVCR Funding Portal Heading link
The OVCR Funding Portal includes all the open opportunities Research Development has announced in our newsletters: Limited Submissions, RDSNews, and special topics such as COVID-19 Opportunities and Data Science. Opportunities posted on the OVCR Funding Portal are searchable based on key words, sponsor name, type of opportunity, and other criteria.
The Portal includes Limited Competition Opportunities for which pre-authorization must be granted prior to submitting a full proposal to the sponsor. More information about Limited Competitions can be found here.
Newsletters and Funding Opportunity Digests Heading link
Subscribe to weekly RD Newsletters.
- RD News contains highlighted funding opportunities, news, and events.
- Limited Competitions publicizes opportunities where UIC is limited in the number of applicants. For Limited Competitions you must submit an internal letter of intent or concept paper to be authorized to submit a full proposal. More information about Limited Competitions can be found here.
See archived newsletters here.
Subscribe to weekly funding opportunity digests through Pivot-RP.
To subscribe to a digest…
- Log in to Pivot-RP. (Choose the “Use login from my institution” option and use your UIC netid login.)
- Select the “Groups” link in the “My Profile & Groups” section.
- Select the “join group” option for any/all opportunity categories that interest you. Current categories are
- All
- Architecture, Art, Business, Design, Humanities, Law and Social Sciences
- Health Sciences
- Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
- Multidisciplinary (involves 2 or more of the above categories)
You will receive weekly email digests of the newly added opportunities in the list(s) that correspond to the group(s) you have selected. Unsubscribe at any time by selecting “leave group”.
Pivot Heading link
Pivot-RP is a search tool that provides access to the most comprehensive global source of funding opportunities, facilitates collaborator discovery, and offers insights and short-cuts to help research organizations win a larger share of available funding. Investigators can use it to search for funding opportunities in all areas of research, including federal, private sponsors, domestic, and internal awards to those at all career stages. Administrators can use Pivot to create searches for others, including groups of investigators.
Search Pivot to find additional funding opportunities.
- Search the most trusted and comprehensive source of global funding information
- Save searches and track funding opportunities
- Discover collaborators
- Get tailored funding recommendations and alerts
- UIC admins can share funding opportunities with group members
Use your UIC login if you already have an account or click “Create Account” to join. Pivot is available to anyone with a UIC netid.
The Office of Research Development curates lists of funding opportunities for which UIC investigators are eligible. Use the links below to view the Pivot lists that interest you. If you would like a weekly email digest of new opportunities as they are added to the lists, see the subscription instructions above.
Lewis-Burke Associates Heading link
Lewis-Burke Associates LLC (Lewis-Burke) is a leading government relations firm based in Washington, D.C. specializing in advocating for the public policy interests of institutions of higher education and other research and education organizations. Lewis-Burke works closely with the Office of Research Development to identify opportunities, support faculty, and develop strategies to position UIC for future federal opportunities. The types of services provided by Lewis-Burke include: strategy development; intelligence on new and emerging federal priorities; facilitating engagement with federal agency staff and policy makers; support for early career faculty; advice on research portfolio diversification; analyses of federal funding trends to better understand agency priorities, the political landscape, and other potential research players; in-depth analysis of new funding opportunities; and analysis and guidance on new regulations and policies.
If you would like assistance from Lewis-Burke in identifying opportunities for federal funding or help in making connections with agency program staff, please contact RDS@uic.edu.
Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations Heading link
The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR) can provide customized matching of UIC projects and programs with companies and foundations that seek partners in order to realize their research, education, employee recruitment and social responsibility objectives. Projects of interest to corporations or foundations may include international programs, healthcare access, K-12 education, online learning, sustainable energy, entrepreneurship, community development and many others.
Although many foundations issue RFPs for open funding opportunities, some also support projects developed through an iterative process of relationship building between the principal investigator and the foundation. Staff from CFR can facilitate this process and work with development professionals in the Colleges to coordinate interactions with target sponsors to ensure prospective projects end up with the best-fit programs.
For more information, please contact Kevin S. Beck, Executive Director at ksbeck@uic.edu.
Other Resources Heading link
Office of Government Relations
The Office of Government Relations (OGR) serves as the University of Illinois liaison to members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation, the Illinois General Assembly, the Office of the Governor, agencies of the federal and state governments, key local officials, and major higher education associations. OGR staff work closely with Lewis-Burke to stay current on federal funding trends and their implementation at federal agencies.
Funded Grants
Information on grants awarded by federal sponsors is publicly available. Exploring funded projects can help investigators understand what types of research are supported by various programs, what topics have been funded recently, and what peer institutions are funded to do.
Federal RePORTER is a collaborative effort led by STAR METRICS® to create a searchable database of scientific awards from agencies. This database promotes transparency and engages the public, the research community, and agencies to describe federal science research investments and provide empirical data for science policy. Users can search across multiple fields in both the Smart Search and Advanced Search functions-including across agencies or fiscal years, by the award’s project leader, or by a text search of a project’s title, terms, or abstracts.
NSF Award Search provides information on research and education in science and engineering, through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements supported by NSF since 1989. From one search box you can search title, abstract, names, institutions, programs and other information associated with an award. Every results page allows you to filter your search results by state, country, NSF organization, and award amount and type.
NIH RePORTER is an electronic tool that allows users to search a repository of both intramural and extramural NIH-funded research projects from the past 25 years and access publications since 1980, and patents resulting from NIH funding. RePORTER includes information on research projects funded by the NIH as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Administration for Children and Family (ACF), and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
GrantForward
Formerly known as IRIS, this database contains over 8,000 federal and 6,000 foundation opportunities. Click through the links below for tutorials on how to set up an account and begin your search.
Sponsor listservs
Many funding agencies communicate news and opportunities in their programs via email, rss, and Twitter. Investigators can subscribe for alerts for upcoming announcements and deadlines. For example, subscribe to NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts and the National Science Foundation Update, or visit Grants.gov to search for your favorite programs and subscribe at their websites.
industry
Halo Science is a Chicago-based marketplace for matching industry research opportunities with university investigators. Browse current opportunities here.