CVRTI’s Administrative Core is committed to encouraging and supporting the research activities of CVRTI faculty and staff. Whether you’re a first-timer or a veteran at researching and developing grant proposals, you will find the tools you need here to maximize your success when seeking research support.

Funding Resources

How to Find Funding

• Grants.gov lists all current discretionary funding opportunities from 26 agencies of the United States government, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and many others — in other words, all the most important public funders of research in the United States.
• The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Extramural Research – NIH funds research in just about every area that’s remotely related to human health and disease. This page includes extensive information about NIH grants, as well as a place to search NIH funding programs.
• The National Science Foundation (NSF) – An independent federal agency, the U.S. National Science Foundation funds approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted at America’s colleges and universities. This is the place to search for NSF funding programs. **Note: Research with disease-related goals . . . in human beings or animals, is normally not supported. Animal models of such conditions  . . .  are not eligible for support. However, research in bioengineering, with diagnosis- or treatment-related goals, that applies engineering principles to problems in biology and medicine while advancing engineering knowledge is eligible for support. *
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)- provides global leadership for a research, training, and education program to promote the prevention and treatment of heart, lung, and blood diseases.
• Division of Cardiovascular Sciences (DCVS) fosters research into cardiovascular disorders. Technology development for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disorders is also supported.
• American Heart Association (AHA)- The American Heart Association funds research broadly related to cardiovascular disease and stroke. The association supports research in clinical and basic sciences, bioengineering, biotechnology and public health.
• Search SciVal Funding Database or request a custom search targeted to a general investigative field or specific project idea.
• Investigate the Office of Sponsored projects’ list of funding sources.

Securing Funding

Mike Cronan and Lucy Deckard’s New Faculty Guide to Research Funding supports new faculty members looking for funding.

HHMI’s Making the Right Moves publication targets postdocs and new faculty, but the information may be of use to scientific researchers in general and regardless of years of experience. The guide is based on a course for scientific management created/presented by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  

NIH Tips

The NIH has developed a number of instructional supports and analysis related to the NIH grant writing, application, and peer review processes. 

1. Introduction to Grant Writing I: Demystifying the NIH Grant Review Process
2. Introduction to Grant Writing II: Strategies for Writing Effective Training and Research Plans
3. NIH Peer Review Revealed
4. NIH Tips for Applicants

The MIT Budget Development and NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide support researchers in preparing a budget for their research projects.

Tips & Checklists

Below are tools and resources that cover funding steps, from deciding on a fundable project to deciding which award mechanism matches your needs to hitting all your deadlines:

• The NIH guides researchers who need to resubmit applications in Resubmissions of NIH Applications- FAQ
• For researchers who would like to be funded by the AHA, read Grant Writing Tips for American Heart Association Applications
• Grant Life Cycle– is an overview of the entire research proposal submission and administration process for investigators at the U
• Proposal Preparation Checklist (From MIT)
• The American Heart Association offers an AHA Awards Management page
• AHA Guide for Affiliate Research Awards guides affiliate researchers through AHA’s funding process.
• All About Grants podcasts from the Office of Extramural Research at the NIH covers a broad range of funding topics.

Check Out Books in Our Library

Researchers can also check out the NIH Workbook and Writing for Biomedical Publications books from our library. Please see Alicia to check them out.