Resources to Fuel your Funding Strategy
OCFR manages various resources to assist you in setting your funding strategy and to connect you with partners at Rice as you navigate the process.
To discuss these resources and your funding goals, please join us the first Friday of every month at our OCFR Open House, 9-11 a.m. at Dandelion Cafe.
OCFR Newsletter
OCFR's quarterly newsletter provides all faculty and staff with updates on corporate and foundation funding, grant opportunities, and other news across campus, such as funder site visits and ongoing projects.
Research Funding Opportunities bulletin
OCFR partners with the Office of Research Development to build and deliver a monthly email with a wide range of funding opportunities, as well as call-outs for resources, special events, and other useful information. Faculty and select staff receive these; if you would like to be included email ocfr@rice.edu.
Pivot-RP | Funding opportunity database
Pivot-RP, a global database of open research funding opportunities from foundations, corporations, and governmental sources, is now available for faculty and staff.
To create an account and start using Pivot, visit pivot.proquest.com and click "Use login from my institution," then select Rice University and follow the prompts to match with one of the pre-loaded profiles or create a new one. Once you create a profile, you can track and share funding opportunities, save searches, get automatic alerts, view groups and more.
"Limited submission" funding opportunities
"Limited submissions" are foundation and corporate calls for proposal for which Rice can only submit a limited number of proposals. OCFR collaborates with the Office of Research Development to coordinate this process for foundations and corporations using the website InfoReady Review. Here, faculty can see open internal competitions, log in with their Rice NetID, submit their pre-proposals for an opportunity, and begin the necessary internal process.
Limited submission opportunities are review by the Faculty Review Committee. This committee is appointed by Executive Vice President for Research Ramamoorthy Ramesh and is supported by the Office of Research Development, with OCFR advising on private foundation and corporate funding opportunities.
Funding Strategy for Early Career Faculty
Many funders have established dedicated programs that recognize the importance of supporting those in the early stage of their research careers. This page from the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations (OCFR) provides strategy tips, advice from your peers, and a robust list of early career funding opportunities from private foundations and corporations.
UIDP
Rice is a member of the University-Industry Demonstration Project (UIDP), a professional organization dedicated to connecting universities and industry partners around opportunities to develop innovative approaches to collaboration. UIDP has a wealth of resources on their website, hosts conferences and regional meetings, gives updates on federal legislation and state of the union as it relates to companies and research institutions, and hosts webinars and meetings around funding opportunities and best practices. This is a resource available to anyone working at Rice, and we strongly encourage you to make an account and receive updates.
Halo
Halo is a platform developed specifically to connect companies to university researchers to work on answers to urgent needs. These projects are specific and range from $25K - $200K generally, but they can lead to broader relationships and continued partnership. Halo releases RFPs monthly. You can sign up for regular updates and access is free and open to anyone who creates an account.
Candid
Candid provides comprehensive data and insights about the social sector. Candid's data includes information on nonprofits, foundations, and grants, as well as news and research. Candid's tools can be used to research and verify nonprofits, find funding opportunities, and explore a variety of data sets and information.
Corporate Council
Leaders from the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations, the Office of Research, and the Center for Career Development co-chair Corporate Council. This group of individuals interested in Rice’s corporate relationships meets once a quarter. When face-to-face meetings in Huff House are unavailable, Corporate Council takes place virtually. Topics discussed include: education, recruiting, sponsored research, technology transfer, and licensing and corporate citizenship. Following a general forum, the group breaks into focus groups to discuss Research, Professional Education, and Recruiting. Please email ocfr@rice.edu to be invited to future meetings
OwlConnect
OwlConnect is the official system of record for Rice University to store, update and report on alumni, donor, and volunteer information. In order to effectively communicate with these entities, including honoring any explicit communication preferences made by constituents, all contact information must be kept current in OwlConnect, and all communication lists that include these entities must be sourced and processed through OwlConnect. Rice University staff are able to access and utilize OwlConnect, following approval and completion of the appropriate training modules. Training sessions are offered throughout the calendar year, and may be coordinated to address specific needs of a school or unit. For more information please visit the OwlConnect Support Center.
If you would like to send information about an interaction with a corporation or foundation, please submit via this online form. OCFR will ensure this is captured in OwlConnect.
Campus Partners
View list of OCFR’s partners across the Rice campus.
Office of Faculty Development
The Office of Faculty Development is a valued partner in informing faculty of opportunities to support research.