The College of Engineering has a dedicated Specialist in VCRO’s Berkeley Research Development Office (BRDO). Victoria Steffes (contact: vsteffes@berkeley.edu) earned her PhD in biochemistry and bioengineering from UC Santa Barbara, supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Victoria is an experienced technical editor, project manager, and written communications expert; she brings both her broad interdisciplinary training and science fluency along with the collective knowledge of the BRDO office to the proposals she works on for COE.
Wondering if BRDO can support your proposal? BRDO can help with federal proposals large or small, though we put some priority on large, more complex proposals. It’s best to reach out to us at least 4-6 weeks from your proposal due date (longer for larger projects) to determine our bandwidth and what support we can provide to your project. We are always happy to respond to questions directed to brdo@berkeley.edu. For general information on navigating the proposal submission and award administration process on campus, please refer to the Grant Life Cycle page.
The types of support we provide can vary by project: a consultation to interpret solicitation requirements, provide strategic feedback on your concept, or identify the right agency/opportunity to fund your project; feedback on a draft or broader impacts plan; hands-on editing and revision; and team management for complex proposals. BRDO also offers various trainings and workshops for specific funding opportunities throughout the year.
You’ll find a slew of resources on the BRDO website for recurring programs such as NSF’s CAREER Award, Engineering Research Center (ERC), Science and Technology Center (STC), and National AI Research Institute (NAIRI) programs. Here are some highlights likely of interest to COE faculty:
- Use the comprehensive Pivot database to search for funding opportunities by specific research areas, funding mechanisms, types of funder, and other parameters. You can set up custom notifications for new opportunities in your areas of interest. User guides can be found here.
- COE-curated subset of engineering funding opportunities
- Overview of early career opportunities from major federal agencies
- Resources for the NSF CAREER award program
- Science and Technology Center (STC)
- National AI Research Institute (NAIRI)
- Resources to develop Broader Impacts activities- please see also COE’s page on Equity & Inclusion activities. If you are looking to establish new external partnerships with minority serving institutions, NASA’s MSI Exchange database may be a good place to start.
- Guidance on specific sections that may be required in your proposal (e.g., postdoc mentoring plan, data management plan, evaluation plan)
- Scientific Writing and the Training Course Archive