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  1. Research Offices
  2. Research Development
  3. Proposal Resources and Services
  4. Proposal Services

Efficient. Responsive. Competitive.

Proposal Services designed to help you win.

ORD offers a variety of proposal development services to faculty and staff researchers at Florida State University. Our goal is to increase efficiency by reducing the burden on individual principal investigators through effective planning and management, and improve responsiveness to funding solicitations by helping teams to understand and fulfill all proposal requirements, both of which enhance the competitiveness of our researchers.

Any externally-sponsored grant proposal that will be submitted through Sponsored Research Administration (SRA) or the FSU Research Foundation (FSURF) is eligible for RD assistance. Our staff works on proposals from all colleges, departments, centers, and institutes at FSU, and our services are available for individual PIs, small teams, large teams, and institutional-level proposals. 

Looking for new funding opportunities, potential collaborators, or grant writing tips? Visit our Proposal Resources page!

*Available only for team proposal efforts.

Planning Services

Solicitation Checklist | Proposal Outline | Timeline
| Production Plan

Production Services

Document Preparation | Team Management | Graphic Design
| Budget Development

Proofing Services

Editing | Mock Peer Review | Handoff to SRA/FSURF

Planning Services

Solicitation Checklist

RD staff will “shred” the funding opportunity solicitation and sponsor guidelines pulling out each unique component of the proposal narrative, budget, and supporting documentation.

Proposal Outline*

Includes all required headings and sections along with a recommended narrative outline that ensures compliance, responds to evaluation criteria, and maximizes efficiency.

Timeline 

Working backwards from the sponsor due date, we create a timeline that includes all proposal tasks while considering external factors like teaching responsibilities, travel, and holidays.

Production plan*

We combine the funding opportunity checklist, proposal outline, and timeline, and ensure that everyone involved in the proposal knows their responsibilities, deliverables, and deadlines.

Production Services

Document Preparation*

RD staff will manage the collection of information and supporting documents from proposal team members (especially those outside of FSU) and revise them according to solicitation and funding agency guidelines.

Team Management*

Create and maintain an online collaboration and project management system utilizing Microsoft Teams. We’ll also stay on top of team members to make sure we’re meeting the timeline.

Graphic Design

RD provides support for graphics and illustrations. We also help proposals that require multi-media components such as web pages and video pitches.

Budget Development

In certain circumstances, RD provides proposal budget and budget justification development services. This service is limited to researchers in departments that do not have in-house budget or grants compliance staff and is negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

Proofing Services

Editing

Our editors require at least one-week turnaround time for copy editing, and two weeks for content editing. We can also work with you throughout the proposal writing process by reviewing one section at a time as they are written.

Mock Peer Reviews

Mock reviews (sometimes called “Red Teams”) are pre-submission review panels that follow the sponsor’s proposal review format and use the funding opportunity’s evaluation criteria. Mock reviews provide constructive comments, and a realistic estimate of the proposal’s competitiveness. All mock reviews are conducted by FSU faculty, and are considered confidential.

Handoff to SRA/FSURF*

In cooperation with the PI and department/college staff, RD staff will facilitate the preparation proposals in RAMP and in sponsor submission systems prior to the hand-off to Sponsored Research Administration or the FSU Research Foundation for final review and submission.

Who should I contact for assistance?

Our team specializes in supporting external funding proposals and has significant experience working with various sponsors, programs, and proposal formats. To find the appropriate person to work with, please view the discipline-specific research development support page.

Please Note: These services are provided by Research Development (RD), a unit of the Office of Research at Florida State University. RD is not part of Sponsored Research Administration or the FSU Research Foundation, the FSU Foundation, or University Business Administration. RD compliments but does not replace SRA, FSURF, and/or Department-/College-based grants support staff. We also do not hold final responsibility for proposal content, nor do we approve proposal submission. For more information about the roles and responsibilities in the proposal development process, please see the Research Administration Manual.