Pre-Award Grant Support

LAS External Research Support (LASERS) Team

The LASERS team assists with all grant proposals. Faculty are encouraged to contact the LASERS team at any point in the research process, from searching for funding opportunities to proposal development and submission. Faculty who have identified a funding opportunity should should fill out the LASERS Proposal Support Request Form or send a note to lasers@iastate.edu, and a member of the team will follow up. The team is best able to provide thorough assistance when contacted as early as possible in the submission process.

Contact: lasers@iastate.edu

LASERS Services

LASER team members support faculty in all aspects of pre-award research related services. The services offered include full and partial support for the following research development activities:

Concept Development— — Meet with faculty directly to gain insight into research strengths, engage faculty in creating diverse and compelling proposals, refine the proposal concept, develop process timeline, and increase effectiveness with sponsors.

Multi-level Pre-Award Support — If engaged early in the proposal development process, the LAS pre-award support team can assist faculty with multiple elements, including:

Comprehensive Pre-Award Support— Including:

  • review of proposal to match the solicitation guidelines
  • budget development
  • ISU internal approvals
  • review of statements of work and required subcontractor information
  • clarification of compliance criteria
  • review of current & pending support
  • solicitation specific documentation and information

If engaged early in the process, we can also help faculty to find local expertise for data management plans or broader impacts.

Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (OSPA)

The LASERS team works with the Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (OSPA) to submit proposals. OSPA is the central point of coordination for research and sponsored programs and the University’s authorized representative for grants, contracts and other agreements from external sponsors.

Office of the Vice President for Research

The Office of the Vice President for Research also provides pre-award support, especially for complex interdisciplinary or multi-institutional proposals. Additional resources on the VPR website include a Toolbox for Researchers and information on workshops and training.