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Proposal Tools & Resources
Aids for preparing proposals
Writing a grant proposal can be complicated, but there are many useful online tools and resources, at IU and elsewhere, available to offer you grant-writing support.
Explore the IUB Proposal Development Services Resource Portal for an extensive, curated collection of guiding documents, links, and templates designed to provide researchers with the tools and resources they need to plan, write and develop strong, competitive grant proposals.
Proposal writing guides and evaluation resources
- Indiana University's PDS Narrative newsletter archives—Brief articles about proposal development, with links to more information and resources.
- On the Art of Writing Proposals—A free, downloadable booklet with suggestions for Liberal Arts and Humanities proposals, published by the Social Science Research Council.
- Grants basics and Grant Writing Tips Sheets by the National Institutes of Health.
- A Guide for Proposal Writing—A resource for beginners by the National Science Foundation.
- Proposal Writing Short Course—A self-paced online class by the Foundation Center that introduces key components of a proposal to a foundation.
- Quick guide: Submitting an applicable NIH grant requiring sIRB
Visit the IUB Proposal Development Services Resource Portal hosted on Confluence to access more resources on writing & rhetoric curated by the Proposal Development Services (PDS) team at IU-Bloomington.
Evaluation Consulting for Proposals (ECP) pilot program – The IU Center for Evaluation, Policy, and Research ECP program supports IU faculty submitting proposals for external funding. CEPR's team of evaluation experts can provide you with a thorough and thoughtful evaluation plan and/or research services—tailored to your project and the funder’s requirements. They have extensive experience partnering on successful applications to federal agencies such as the NSF, NIH, DoD, Department of Education, and private funders such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Arnold Ventures. ECP is available to IU researchers at no cost as part of this pilot program.
Center for Evaluation, Policy, and Research—CEPR provides rigorous, high-quality evaluation expertise and services within and across multiple sectors to diverse agencies, organizations, businesses, and individuals for both internal (Indiana University) and external clients at the local, state, regional, national and international levels. CEPR can provide services ranging from consultation, training, technical assistance, capacity-building, benchmarking and progress-monitoring to conducting comprehensive large-scale evaluation to determine impact and effectiveness of a grant or program using diverse methodologies, including quantitative (with expertise in conducting randomized controlled trials in real-world settings), qualitative, and mixed-methods.
Online Evaluation Resource Library—Developed for professionals seeking to design, conduct, document, or review project evaluations. Created by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Research, Evaluation and Communication, Directorate for Education and Human Resources.
Survey Research Design Consultant Core (SRDCC) pilot program – The IU Center for Survey Research SRDCC program provides faculty with assistance in developing research designs and pilot data collection for surveys, focus groups, interviews, medical specimen and environmental sample collection, and other approaches in support of external funding applications. CSR's expert methodologists, technologists, and study directors can provide consultation in areas including questionnaire review and pilot testing, sampling/recruitment methods, programming/IT development, data collection, and post-survey data processing. They have extensive experience partnering on successful applications to NIH, NSF, DoD, USDA and private foundations. Support is provided at no cost to IU faculty as part of this pilot program.
Center for Survey Research – CSR is a research center of IU Research, a service core of the Indiana CTSI, and a founding member of the Association of Academic Survey Research Organizations (AASRO). Since 1982, CSR has partnered with world-class researchers to conduct thousands of research projects that advance knowledge and humankind. CSR's expert services include research design, sampling, data collection instrument design, database and data collection instrument programming (using REDCap, Qualtrics, HTML, Javascript, and SQL), data collection (using web, mail, telephone, and in-person methods with biological specimen/environmental sample collection capabilities as well as interview and focus group capacities), forms scanning, coding, and weighting.
Data management services and tools
The IU Libraries provide assistance to researchers working with data in all stages of the research life cycle, including support for data management and preservation. Available services include GIS (Geographical Information Systems) Services, Science Data Management, and Statistical Data Services.
A guide to writing the data management plan required for NSF proposals.
The Research Technologies division of UITS and the Pervasive Technology Institute provide templates, guides, and other information to use when preparing elements of grant proposals in which the value of IU's advanced cyberinfrastructure facilities is particularly helpful:
- Project description body text
- Data management plans (NSF)
- NIH Public Access Policy
- Facilities statements
NIH's Policy for Data Management and Sharing, released in October 2020, becomes effective January 25, 2023. It requires submission of a Data Management and Sharing Plan at the time of proposal. It also requires release of the data and is applicable whether access is open or controlled, and is to be made "no later than the time of an associated publication, or the end of the award/support period, whichever comes first." After its effective date, awards will include the approved DMS Plan in the Terms and Conditions as part of IU's compliance obligations. Learn more about the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy.
Online tools, software, and campus workspaces for collaborative research
- IU Video Bridge—No-cost virtual rooms (also known as bridges) for faculty, staff, and guests to meet online.
- Zoom—A web collaboration tool that supports high-quality audio and videoconferencing for up to 100 participants as well as other features, including mobile screen-sharing, polling, co-annotation, breakout rooms, recordings, and more.
- Microsoft Project—Available through IUWare, this project management software is designed to assist with plan development, assigning resources to tasks, tracking progress, managing the budget, and analyzing workloads.
- Technology Tool Finder: Collaboration—View IU-supported technologies for communication, collaboration, storage, and more.
- Basecamp—File sharing, sequential and simultaneous editing, and task management.
- Dropbox—File sharing, sequential editing, and syncing files.
- Evernote—Sequential and simultaneous editing, file editing on web platform, task management.
- Skype—Video/audio conference and instant messaging software.
- Google Drive—File sharing, sequential and simultaneous editing on web platform, file syncing, virtual meetings via Hangout.
The Indiana University Bloomington campus has many spaces available for collaborative groups. Learn more about rooms with videoconferencing capabilities, technology-enabled learning spaces, and collaboration rooms at IU Bloomington's Wells Library. Remember to ask your school or department about available rooms as well.
At IU Bloomington, you can find the tools you need to accomplish your work through a searchable campus database intended to leverage and share the strengths of campus research facilities and equipment with the research community.
Organizational data about Indiana University and the IU Foundation
Some sponsor guidelines may ask you to provide financial and other organizational data about Indiana University or the IU Foundation
- Accreditation Statement
- Budget Report
- Campus Leadership
- Financial Report
- Institutional Research (IR), demographics for specific IU campuses
- IU Fact Book
- Non-Discrimination/Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action (University Policy UA-01)
- Tax Status Documentation (Accessible 04/20/21)
- Trustees List
Sample letters, budget templates, and forms
All Campuses (Accessible 01/10/24)
This is a standard form required for use as a cover sheet for submission of pre-applications and applications and related information
SF424—General (Accessible 01/16/24)
SF424—NIH (All Campuses Except IUPUI) (Accessible 01/11/24)
SF424—NIH (IUPUI Only) (Accessible 01/11/24)
Read more about the SF424 at Grants.gov
- From IU to the Prime Contractor or Recipient - All Campuses (Accessible 01/22/24)
- To IU from the Subaward Recipient - All Campuses (Accessible 02/18/19)
If sponsor guidelines do not include a specific, required budget format, use one of these as a guide:
Frequently used application guides and forms
- DOE: Department of Education Grant Application and Other Forms
- NIH: National Institutes of Health Forms Library
Sample documents for NIH proposals from IU:
- Human Subjects Education Certification Sample Letter (Accessible 02/18/19)
- NIH Human Subjects Education Documentation Form (Accessible 02/18/19)
- NIH Policy on Model Organisms: IU Template Statement (Accessible 02/18/19)