Getting Started  |  Resource Identification  |  Proposal Preparation  |  Grants Management

Welcome!

Welcome to the Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) at Mercyhurst College. This office helps to secure grants and contracts from foundations, corporations, and government agencies for Mercyhurst College and its institutes: The Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute (MAI), the Civic Institute, the Public Safety Institute (PSI), and the Institute for Intelligence Studies (IIS). We help obtain funding for institutional priorities including capital improvements, research equipment and technology, curricular and faculty development, individual faculty and departmental research projects, academic programs, student development programs, student scholarships, and community based programs.

This site provides basic information about the grant-seeking process: how to identify funding sources, how to prepare proposals and applications and manage grants and contracts that have been awarded. In addition, you can learn more about some of the people and projects at Mercyhurst College that are supported through OSR.

How can the Office of Sponsored Research help me?

• Discuss strategies for funding your project
• Provide information on potential sources of grant funds in response to individual requests
• Help you in your own search for funding using electronic databases and internet technologies
• Obtain application materials and information for you from funding agencies
• Maintain a mini-library of resources on project development, proposal writing, previously submitted proposals and past awards.
• Read and edit proposals and applications
• Work closely with you on project budget development within established college guidelines
• Process proposals through institutional channels and obtain required institutional signatures
• Prepare cover sheets and other official forms, duplicate, assemble, and transmit final proposals
• Responsible for passwords, log-in and authorization for use of electronic grant submission sites Grants.gov and NSF Fastlane, as well as maintaining certifications and registrations necessary to obtain Federal Grants and Contracts through the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) and the Office of Required Certifications and Assurances (ORCA)
• Help to set up funded projects and monitor them through closeout, insuring compliance with award budgets, schedules, billings, scope(s) of work and any policies dictated with the awarding agency
• The Office of Sponsored Research will oversee the administration of funded projects, serving as a liaison between you (the Principal Investigator or Project Director), the College’s financial office and the external funding agency

If you have specific questions or if you would like more information, please contact us.