Research Development Services

The Research Development team provides assistance to Principal Investigators submitting both individual and large, complex proposals

For faculty submitting individual proposals, common services include:

1:1 strategic planning meetings to discuss faculty readiness, qualifications and fit to a particular funding opportunity
1:1 consultations to identify external partners, or build new collaborations
Assistance preparing Institutional Letters of Support that need to be signed by a Vice President or above

For faculty submitting larger, more complex, interdisciplinary proposals, the research development team can provide additional proposal management support to a limited number of teams through our LIONs program.

Enhanced Proposal Support for Large, Interdisciplinary, & Otherwise Nasty Submissions (LIONS)

Photograph of a lion with the phrase "large interdisciplinary & otherwise nasty submissions"

Large‐scale, complex grants provide opportunities for faculty to engage in new or emerging areas of interdisciplinary research that may have significant impact on rapidly advancing a field or discipline. Typically involving multiple departments, disciplines, and colleges these proposals require significant time and resources to plan and prepare for.

The LIONS program helps build the research capacity by providing enhanced support to teams of faculty interested in preparing and submitting large, complex grant proposals to external funding agencies. Projects selected for participation in LIONS will be eligible for additional pre‐submission and post award support from the Office of Research and Graduate Studies which can include:

Tier 1: General Planning and Support (early guidance to help form competitive interdisciplinary teams and research activities)
Tier 2: Proposal Development Support (enhanced project management and coordination)

Tier 1 and Tier 2 activities may include:

Activity	Tier 1	Tier 2
Initial strategic planning meetings to identify/validate funding opportunities	X	X
Building relationships with other PSU faculty, building faculty teams	X	X
Establishing connections with external partners & collaborators	X	X
Early advice to develop concept papers	X	X
Assembling early concept paper reviews	X	X
Project management (organizing team meetings, file sharing, etc.)		X
Establishing team timelines and benchmarks (Gantt charts, etc.)		X
Landscape analysis of previously funded proposals		X
Gathering templates for university statistics, other key metrics		X
Communicating with external partners, following up on letters of support, cost sharing		X
Coordinating the creation and collection of non-technical documentation		X
Facilitating internal/external reviews of 95% complete proposals		X
Coordinating with SPA on budgeting, compliance, etc.		X

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I request LIONS support?

To maximize the effectiveness of our support and your proposal's competitiveness, it is essential to request services at least 10 weeks prior to the proposal deadline via the LIONS program support form.

How are requests evaluated and prioritized?

The Office of Research & Graduate Studies receives more high-quality requests for support than can often be provided. Reviews of new requests are conducted by the Associate Vice President for Research and the Research Development team, taking into a number of factors that include:

Current portfolio workload, timeliness of request
The potential for multi-, inter-, or transdisciplinary research, as evidenced by the involvement of PIs from 2+ disciplines
The degree to which the proposed research spans college boundaries
The impact on the PI team as evidenced by diversity in discipline and career stage
The impact on students (undergraduate and/or graduate) as evidenced by the budget and training program
The impact and size of the budget relative to discipline

Does the total dollar request for a proposal impact my chances of receiving LIONS support?

Budgets vary significantly across disciplines, and we are committed to supporting research across the entire PSU community, using the above criteria as a guide. For STEM fields, “large” might mean several million dollars, while humanities proposals may be more modest. Investigators across all disciplines are encouraged to apply for assistance when developing LIONS.

If you have questions regarding a specific proposal or would like to discuss potential research development support, please feel free to reach out to Annie Lindgren or Kendra Mingo.