The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has always been Emory University’s largest funding agency. But what happens when your largest funder of research dollars is threatened with budget cuts? We are all aware that Emory experienced dramatic growth over the past decade from the year 2000 in which funding surpassed $200 million to $539.7 million in grants and contracts in 2011. However, it is unrealistic to believe that Emory can sustain the increase in research funding each year from NIH sources alone. As the NIH funding is threatened with caps or declines, it is important to be aware of non-federal funding opportunities.
One potential source for Emory researchers is private foundations. Foundations often have a very specific focus of interest. If a researcher can identify the right foundation(s), he/she may be able to assure an on-going funding stream for a specific line of research. Current NIH data show that the average biomedical investigator is 42 when he/she receives the first NIH R01. Foundation support is a potential source of pilot funds to give an investigator (new or experienced) a “leg up” on the competition for federal grant support. In other cases, foundation grants serve as an important source of bridge funding to sustain the research program through a difficult period.
What tools are available to Emory researchers to search for external sources of funding, including Foundations? OSP currently subscribes to two nation-wide funding opportunities databases: Community of Science (COS) and the Illinois Researcher Information Service (IRIS). Both services cover both federal and foundation support and allow the user to run a search in real time as well as set up a research interest profile. If a research interest profile is established, both COS and IRIS will send an email notice of upcoming opportunities that meet your profile criteria. Access to both is via the OSP webpage: http://www.osp.emory.edu/links/funding/index.cfm
We are also fortunate to have an office for the Foundation Center located in Atlanta (one of five in the U.S.). Interested persons can search their system for resource information on-line or visit their office. Information is available at http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/welcome.php?fpc=1. Additionally, their database is searchable from the Woodruff Library.