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Call for Equipment Concept Proposals for Research (Jan. 27, 10 a.m.)

The Division of Research and Economic Development has launched a . To enable SDSU to implement a strategic plan for infrastructure development, faculty and staff with interest in applying for funding to support research equipment are asked to submit a concept proposal to the Division of Research for review and feedback by the director of core research support facilities. This opportunity invites concepts for equipment with a budget of $75,000 or greater. Selected proposals may be invited to present at a meeting of the University Research Council. This is a great opportunity to receive feedback and to find new equipment users prior to a published call from a sponsor.

The deadline for submission is Friday, Jan. 31, 2025.  ​C´Ç²Ô³Ù²¹³¦³Ù&²Ô²ú²õ±è;Jose Gonzalez, director of core facilities at SDSU, with any questions.​

The Division of Research held an informational webinar at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. The webinar recording can be accessed with the button below

Research Electronic Data Capture Training (Feb. 6, 14 and 21 at 2 p.m.)

The Division of Research and Economic Development hosted a three-part series of trainings on Research Electronic Data Capture, delivered by staff at the Avera Research Institute. Research Electronic Data Capture, also known as REDCap, is a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant, secure platform for building and managing online surveys and databases, often used in clinical trials and similar uses. Sessions were recorded and made available on the division’s Events and Training page.

Please reach out to Carson Sehr if you have any questions or concerns.

Session 1, Feb. 6, 2-4 p.m.: Creating a New Project – two hours

• Traditional vs. single survey vs. longitudinal project
• Creating project arms
• Developing a survey/form
• Using logic
• Question embedding to improve survey look/flow (including use of Rich Text functions)
• Repeating instruments
• Informed consent
• eConsent framework
• consent tracking
• Scheduling events

Session 2, Feb. 14, 2-3 p.m.: Surveys and Alerts – one hour

• Survey settings
• Survey queues
• Public surveys
• Automated invitations
• Alerts and notifications

Session 3, Feb. 21, 2-3 p.m.: Reports, Dashboards, Data Exports – one hour

• Customizing the record status dashboard
• Creating reports (internal and public access)
• Developing dashboards
• Data export without identifiers
• Use of smart variables
• Scheduling events

Maximizing Your Chances of Research Funding by Looking Beyond USDA, NSF

Thursday, March 6: 9-10 a.m.

Obtaining research funding for your research is one of the biggest challenges faced by academic faculty, and this challenge can be exacerbated with changing government priorities and budgets. 

To maximize your chances of maintaining or building sufficient funding, it is important to understand all the available funding opportunities that your project could be eligible to apply for. In this webinar, we will discuss National Institutes of Health and Department of Defense funding opportunities and grant mechanisms, explain how their processes differ from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and provide tips for success. This session is presented by , National Institutes of Health grant writer at ScienceDocs Inc. 

Session was held March 6 from 9-10 a.m. View the recording below.

New Principal Investigator Training

Friday, April 4, 11 a.m.

We joined Eric Kinslow, assistant director of grants and contracts administration, for an overview of the responsibilities of a principal investigator, including personnel management, purchasing, reimbursement requests and reporting. This training was intended for new PIs, faculty or staff who hope to become a PI, or experienced PIs who need a helpful refresher.

SPINPlus Funding Search

 Wednesday, April 16: 1-2:30 p.m.

Take charge of how you hear about funding opportunities which align with your research priorities. 

SPINPlus is a funding search database available to faculty, staff and students. Highlights include: 

• Public (government – federal and state) and private (foundations) funding opportunities.
• Results are returned to the user in relevancy-ranked format and can be further sorted, grouped or filtered.
• Searches can be saved for future use.
• Searches can be set up to send daily or weekly notification alerts.

This webinar covered designing searches, utilizing filters for narrowing results, and activating automated email notifications of grants. This session was not recorded.

Fall 2024

Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Challenge Fund request for applications (Dec. 12)

The Office of Academic Affairs and the Division of Research and Economic Development jointly invite proposals to the RSCA Challenge Fund for FY 26. This seed grant supports the growth of sponsored research, scholarship and creative activity at South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University. SDSU faculty and professional staff are eligible to apply individually or in teams.

Information webinar: Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, at 11 a.m.

Proposal due date: Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, at 5 p.m. CST. 

Spring 2024: Federal Sponsor Series

This series provided an in-depth look at key federal grant funding agencies, their missions, purposes and major programs. They also provided strategies and suggestions for researchers to prepare successful funding applications.

• SPIN funding database training session with Bill DeCocco of InfoEd Global (April 22)

  The event provided a how-to, walkthrough session in using the SPIN database to find funding for projects. Attendees learned the different search approaches, saving and automating searches and other best practices.

• (April 10)

  with Patricia Mullaney-Loss, Office of Research Analysis.

• (April 2)

  with Suzanne Stluka, deputy director, Institute of Food Safety and Nutrition, and Bob Godfrey, division director, Animal Systems.

• (March 28)

  These two, newer National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) funding opportunities require multi-institution collaboration, and SDSU is allowed to lead only one application for each program (). This session highlighted program details and best practices applicable to various roles in potential EPSCoR Collaborations for Optimizing Research Ecosystems (E-CORE) or EPSCoR Research Incubators for STEM Excellence (E-RISE) projects.

• (March 20)

  with Mercy Prabhudas, program officer at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Brittany Haynes, program director at National Institute of Mental Health.

• (Feb. 22)

  with Suha Kudsieh, program officer, and Carson Sehr, program analyst, with the National Institutes of Health Research Office. 

• (Feb. 15)

  with J.D. Swanson, program officer with National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.

Fall 2023 RSCA Training

• In this webinar, the Division of Research and Economic Development and the Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Committee discussed the goal of the RSCA Challenge Fund, how to apply and what to expect from the review process. Learn more about the .

• Tuesday, Sept. 12: This session offered a framework to help identify 1) your potential research themes and topics and 2) the existing resources, barriers and solutions available.

• Tuesday, Sept. 26: This session reviewed available resources to help find funding opportunities with a focus on tools, specifically the SPIN funding opportunity database and National Institutes of Health RePORTER and Matchmaker. Note: Due to recording restrictions from SPIN (InfoEd Global), this section is not part of the recording. We recommend reviewing the training videos in SPIN's help menu or asking a grant specialist for support.

• Science communication crash course (not recorded)

  Tuesday, Oct. 10: Led by Rhea Waldman, director of South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã Discovery Center. Sessions sponsored by the South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Office.

• Wednesday, Oct. 18: This session reviewed the key components of a grant proposal, including preparing a budget and justification and understanding how to match your project to the funder. 

• Thursday, Nov. 9: This session identified a framework to present a proposal and ensure the components of the proposed work are discernible and in alignment.

• Tuesday, Nov. 28: This session reviewed key considerations in how to build a team, including communication tools, frameworks and some online resources to support your team building efforts.

Spring 2023

• National Institutes of Health Research Funding Panel (April 2023)

  Those seeking grant funding from the National Institutes of Health attended this session to learn about the peculiarity of , gaining tips from a panel of colleagues on competing for awards.

• Seeding Partnerships to Advance Research Collaborations Kickoff Meeting (April 2023)

  This meeting formally kicked off the Seeding Partnerships to Advance Research Collaborations (SPARC) initiative. The Division of Research gave a brief overview of this internal funding opportunity, answered attendee questions and provided multiple thematic breakout rooms to connect with possible collaborators.

  Before the meeting, attendees reviewed this list of research focus areas to help them identify potential research team members from different focus areas.

• Department of Defense Research Funding Panel (February 2023)

  Those engaging in research that may be of interest to the Department of Defense, attended this overview session to learn about this well-resourced federal agency and tips on how to seek DOD awards successfully. The Division of Research and Economic Development provided this event, and the panelists included representatives from DOD Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCOR).

• Wokini Challenge Grant Information Session (December 2022)

  Presenters: Sarah Bad Warrior-Vrooman and Dianne Nagy. This information session was for faculty and staff interested in applying for FY 24 Wokini Challenge Grant funds. It included an overview of program goals, examples of successful projects, engaging students, building relationships, conducting tribal research and explaining the application process.

• FY24 RSCA Challenge Fund Webinar (November 2022)

  The RSCA Challenge Fund aims to support faculty and staff in increasing their competitiveness for funding and elevating their presence in their fields. This webinar reviewed the program's purpose and the application and review process.

• U.S. Department of Agriculture Panel Discussion (November 2022)

  This session presented tips on the peculiarities of U.S. Department of Agriculture funding from a panel of USDA-funded colleagues on how to successfully compete for awards. Panelists , Amber Letcher, Kristine Ramsay Seaner and Krista Ehlert discussed their experiences learning about USDA programs and funding trends, building relationships with program officers and developing their ideas and teams.

• National Science Foundation Panel Discussion (September 2022)

  This session presented tips on the distinctiveness of National Science Foundation funding from a panel of NSF-funded colleagues on how to successfully compete for awards. Panelists Chris Saunders, Carie Green and John McMaine discussed their experiences with NSF programs and funding.

• Introduction to Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity (September 2022)

  This session provided a primer to research, scholarship and creative activity at SDSU with a focus on the lifecycle of research funding, from ideation to proposal submission to award management.

  It covered the following: Contextualizing knowledge creation, prospecting/finding funding, proposal development, award management, core facilities information and 22/23 professional development opportunities.