Project Development

The opportunity seeking phase, often referred to as prospecting, is when you clarify your areas of interest and identify the types of support best-suited to your work (e.g., grant funding, partnerships, university collaborations).

The resources below are available to help you identify funding opportunities:

• Opportunity Watch (our email newsletter for faculty, of curated grant opportunities)
• Opportunities List
• Grants.gov
• Research.gov
• Candid

Once you have identified an opportunity, the next step is to fill out the Project Discovery Template [Google Doc]. It’s designed to help you build your project narrative in response to the opportunities you’ve identified.

ℹ️ How to use the Project Discovery Template: Click on Use Template in the top right corner of the screen. This will save an editable version of the document to your Google Drive.

This discovery form helps you gather and organize information about your project. Working through it can help you clarify your project needs and preparations for submission.

1. Start by identifying an opportunity you are interested in. If you already have one in mind, continue to section I. If not, please review our Opportunities List to select one (or more) that suits your interests and fill out Section I.
2. If you do not find a suitable opportunity, fill out Section I and skip Section II.
3. If you would like to request a meeting with our team, complete and submit the Project Support Request Form. You can expect to hear back from us in five business days.
4. Once the discovery phase is complete, you can move onto proposal development.

Note: For complex opportunities, partnerships, and applications involving multiple potential partners or subrecipients, we recommend reaching out at least 3 months in advance of the deadline.

The proposal development stage requires you to dedicate independent time to developing your proposal narrative, budget justification, and supporting materials. This writing and planning work is typically the most time-intensive part of the process and should be started well in advance of the internal and sponsor deadlines. To help guide this work, we’ve developed Grant Writing Guidelines covering best practices for structuring a competitive proposal, addressing funder priorities, and organizing your narrative sections.

During this stage, you must also facilitate communication between our office and your school’s administrators. As PI, you’re responsible for keeping your Chair and Dean informed of the project and collecting their signatures on the Proposal Routing Form (PRF), a required step for successful submission. 

To successfully complete the Proposal Routing Form:

1. Carefully review the guidelines from your selected opportunity to ensure your project aligns with the funder’s priorities and meets funder requirements
2. Understand the requirements around course release/relief.
3. Review our explanation of cost sharing.
4. Take note of the policies around indirect cost rates (if they are allowable or not).
5. Prepare your high-level budget.
   • Open the Budget Template [Google Sheets].
     In the top right corner click on Use Template to save your own editable version to your Google Drive. Do not download and open this in Excel or another desktop program, as the formulas will break.
   • It is strongly recommended that all applicants for external grants use the approved Pratt Institute budget template to ensure that funds are properly allocated and dispensed, and to avoid the possibility of budget alterations to align with Pratt finance processes.
   • If you need guidance on how to complete the budget template, please consult the ORSP Budget Template Walkthrough video [Talks.Pratt].
6. Once you have completed the review of funding guidelines and budget preparation, please complete the Proposal Routing Form, acquire the necessary signatures from your Chair and Dean, and send it to research-partnership@pratt.edu.

Note: In the top right corner click on Use Template to save your own editable version to your Google Drive. Do not download and open this in Excel or another desktop program, as the formulas will break.

Pratt employees who use Institute resources or facilities to develop or support their proposal/project are expected to submit all proposals and receive all awards for external support through the Office of Research and Strategic Partnerships (ORSP). This requirement is necessary to ensure compliance with relevant Institute, state, and federal regulations, and to ensure appropriate fiscal oversight of external funds. The Institute may decline to administer awards that were not submitted through ORSP.

Projects developed through private practice do not need to be submitted through ORSP.

To avoid potential tax liabilities, faculty are strongly encouraged to process all grant funding through the Institute. Otherwise, the funds may be treated as personal income, and purchases may be subject to sales tax.