The University Libraries offers a hands-on and online workshops on searching Pivot and the Foundation Directory Online (FDO). Setting up e-mail updates in Pivot is also covered. The workshops are co-sponsored by Office for the Vice President for Research (OVPR).

Search Tools

Pivot (formerly Community of Science) Grant opportunities in many disciplines. Includes federal, non-federal, and international agencies. Foundation Directory Online (FDO) Profiles and recently awarded grants from over 80,000 foundations.

Local Resources

Internal U of M funding sources The OVPR maintains this list of campus resources.

Departmental or college grants coordinators Download a list from the OVPR's Web site

Proposal Development

Proposal development at the U of M

For advice on grant writing, consider consulting this page from Purdue OWL, the Art of Grantmanship, Writing a Successful Grant Proposal from the MN Council on Foundations, the Proposal Writing Short Course online from the Foundation Center, or Developing Competitive Proposals from the Grant Resource Center.

Open Grants, from the Moore Foundation, includes grant proposals made openly available by researchers. This resources includes proposals for foundation and society funders, as well as federal funders in the United States and internationally. 

Additional Funding Resources

• Web of Science To see a list of funders of previously awarded grants for specific topic, do a subject search for articles on that topic and then analyze the results, ranking by funding agency.
• Grants.gov Background on all Federal grants. Also check specific agencies' Web sites for the most current information and more detail.
  • The Online User Guide provides search tips for grants.gov
• Graduate student funding - selected sources Selected organizations that regularly fund graduate student education and research.

Sources for International Activities

• Funding for international activities: graduate students Useful resources, maintained by the U of M GPS Alliance
• International and foreign grant makers A list of agencies created by Michigan State University
• Information on grants to non-U.S. organizations From the Foundation Center
• Funding opportunities for predoctoral and graduate researchers NIH maintains this list which has an emphasis on health-related topics
• European Union An example of a regional organization. Also consider government and other agencies in individual countries