Services

UCSC’s Office of Research Development (ORD) assists the UCSC community in translating creative and innovative ideas into research and scholarly activities, programs, and projects. ORD also serves as a liaison with the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) and University Relations (UR).

ORD works with the UCSC community to identify potential pathways to strategize on projects or programs that can catalyze research excellence and graduate training across our portfolio.

Inspiration for Research

Inspiration for research can emerge from multiple pathways, In some cases the starting point for research is curiosity or a quest for discovery. In other cases, research programs are crafted in response to specific themes. Research and scholarly endeavors can be categorized in different ways depending on the drivers or the anticipated outcomes:

Plan/Define Goals

ORD provides workshops, brainstorming sessions, and consultations with teams of researchers to facilitate scoping of research ideas into actionable components.

Identify Sources of Support

The ORD team actively scouts for research opportunities that are relevant to the UCSC community. ORD also helps researchers develop tailored searches to use on publically available databases such as grants.gov or subscription services that are supported by the campus.

Program Design, Outreach, Liaison

ORD works with researchers to evaluate readiness for specific research opportunities. Once a research team decides to proceed with a grant application, ORD provides guidance on program design, scope, resource needs, competitiveness, and process. ORD also serves as a liaison with OSP to define specific inputs and timelines to ensure that proposals are compliant, competitive, and complete.

Proposal Strategy, Content Review, Feedback ORD provides UCSC researchers with guidance on the craft of proposal development and strategic inputs. Constructive advice is available to help with proposal organization and content. If adequate time is available prior to deadlines, informal and formal merit review is available for draft proposals.

Analysis, Budget, Compliance, Submittal

The mechanics of proposal submittal is handled by OSP. The OSP team analyzes each solicitation, reviews relevant policies, works with researchers to develop accurate budgets, and reviews all documents for compliance with all policies (UCSC, UC, federal, state, local) and specific requirements of the funding organization.

Additionally, ORD provides various levels of coordination:

• Between divisions/departments/researchers
• Across Office of Research administrative units
• Working with UR on research foundations
• UC-wide initiatives
• Other collaborations

To learn more, please contact Director of Research Development, Heather Bell at hmbell@ucsc.edu.