Searching For Funds
Finding Funding for Research, Scholarship or Creative Activity
Grants & Contracts is dedicated to supporting eligible faculty and staff to search for and acquire PUBLIC funding for research, scholarship, creative activity and student success. Our staff provides a diverse range of services including: project concept sharpening to maximize funding opportunity matches, training and support in the use of our subscription-based funding opportunity search system InfoEd, access support to Grants Resource Center and National Institute of Health (NIH) synopses, as well as personal assistance with customized funding opportunity searches.
Grant funding that originates from a government (Federal, State, County, City or pass-through) is considered PUBLIC funding. Grants & Contracts assists PIs with searches for PUBLIC funding. University Advancement supports searching for gift or grant funding that originates from a private-sector source (for-profit, charitable or philanthropic).
Funds Solicitation Concept Form
Once eligible faculty or staff have an idea or project concept that could benefit from external funding they must first complete and submit a Funds Solicitation Concept Form. This process functions both as high-level documenting of the idea and informs the right people about your intentions. Signature authorization must be obtained by the Principal Investigator (PI) at least up to the Chief Information Officer (i.e.: Dean's signature required) before submitting it to Grants & Contracts.
After the Funds Solicitation Concept Form is approved, Grants & Contracts staff will work with eligible faculty and staff to sharpen or hone their project concept to maximize the potential of funding opportunity matches. Sometimes very subtle modifications to a project concept can open doors to a whole new avenue of funding resources. Furthermore, Grants & Contracts staff prioritize staying advised of PUBLIC funding initiatives that are an ideal fit for this institution. Before you start your funding opportunity search, contact our staff to help increase your search efficiency.
Automated Funding Searches - InfoEd
Grants & Contracts staff will train and support eligible faculty and staff to use InfoEd's SPIN and SMARTS/GENIUS modules for finding funding opportunities. InfoEd is a comprehensive web-based system for electronic research administration (eRA) and the world's most widely used subscription service for external funding opportunity searching.
As an approved CSUMB user you can log into InfoEd's SPIN and SMARTS/GENIUS from any campus computer. Broad-based, on-demand, keyword funding searches can be conducted using SPIN. Customized electronic (email) funding notifications can be sent to your campus email address after creating a personal profile using SMARTS. Manage your profile, post your vitae or find an expert with GENIUS.
To access SPIN or SMARTS/GENIUS, you must first become a validated user and then you can log on to InfoEd. To learn more about electronic research administration (eRA) and InfoEd go to our dedicated page "InfoEd eRA".
InfoEd Help - InfoEd Open Forum
The InfoEd Open Forum schedule may vary. Check Training and Workshops for current schedule.
Additional Resources for Funding Search
Grants Resource Center
The Grants Resource Center provides another type of funding opportunity results in the form of a weekly bulletin. GRC Bulletins are accessible only to subscribing institutions, so for a complete list of current bulletins, log on to the MyCSUMB Grants & Contracts group.
For more information on a specific funding opportunity listed in a GRC Bulletin, or to run a customized funding opportunity search, contact the Office of Grants & Contracts at (831) 582-5130.
National Institute of Health (NIH) Funding Opportunities
Grants & Contracts maintains a current list of NIH funding opportunities on our Public folder of the M: drive (Grants and Contracts > Public > Funding Search). Check out a recent NIH Funding Calendar. Go to the M: drive to check for a more current version.
Customized Funding Opportunity Search
Grants & Contracts staff are available to assist eligible faculty and staff with customized funding opportunity searches from a PUBLIC funder. After a Funds Solicitation Concept Form is approved, a Grant Specialist will assist PIs with funding opportunity searches. Grant Specialists are experts in the use of InfoEd SPIN and SMARTS/GENIUS, Grants Resource Center as well as a variety of other funding opportunity data warehouse resources.
PUBLIC Funding Opportunity Search Contacts:
Christine Limesand, Assistant Director, (831) 582-3551
Pat Casey, Grant Specialist, (831) 582-4146
Peggy Rueda, Grant Specialist, (831) 582-4577
Vacant, Grant Specialist, (831) 582-4105
Jennifer Bliss, Grant Administration & Electronic Systems Coordinator, (831) 582-5130
100 Campus Center
