Initiative to streamline and enhance the proposal submission process

Duke is engaged in an initiative to modernize and improve our sponsored research proposal development and submission process, with an eye towards making it easier, faster, and more effective for faculty and their research administrators.  

The goal is simple: higher-quality, more competitive proposals with less administrative friction. Over the next several months, the Office for Research and Innovation will be working with its partners to closely examine current proposal workflows, identify pain points, and improve how our tools and processes work together. We’ll focus on automating repeatable tasks, clarifying roles, and improving accuracy earlier in the process. 

This work will build on and better connect existing administrative systems and tools, including those found in myRESEARCHome (developed by OASIS) and new OIT-supported resources such as the Devil’s Advocate. Faculty and grant administrators will be invited to share feedback and participate in pilots as improvements are developed. We’ll share updates along the way and look forward to working together to make proposal submission a smoother, more supportive experience for everyone. 

To start, we invite the research community (both faculty and administrators) to take this survey to help OR&I understand how tools or process changes could better enable high-quality funding applications.  

From Duke Office for Research & Innovation (OR&I)