Meet the Team
College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences Grants Administration
Through collaboration between CNMS Business Central and the Dean’s office, the College of Natural Mathematical Sciences (CNMS) offers pre-award proposal services to support grant development and proposal submission for the college’s departments.
Meet the CNMS Business Central Pre-award Proposal Team:
Sarah Jackson and Taylor Shortt are the departmental contracts and grants specialists who provide expertise and guidance throughout the proposal submission process as the primary liaisons to OSP. They are primarily responsible for administering and coordinating all grant applications and contract agreements with OSP in preparation for final submission to the sponsor.
Sarah and Taylor’s responsibilities include:
- Review and interpret sponsor policies and guidelines
- Coordinate new PI accounts set up to meet UMBC OSP system requirements and sponsor account registrations [hyperlink to list of PI mandatory training and account set up list]
- Administer the proposal preparation process
- schedule and facilitate grant planning meetings with the PI
- Provide templates for proposal preparation
- Assist with budget and budget justification preparation
- Review all proposal documents to ensure compliance with sponsor and university policies and guidelines
- Upload and route all proposals in Kuali and sponsor application platforms
- Support non-financial post-award grants administration activities, including re-budgeting requests, submitting subaward invoices, submitting sub-award modifications, submitting pre-award account requests, and submitting no cost extension (NCE) requests to OSP
Department assignments and contact information for Sarah and Taylor can be found here
To request pre-award assistance, please submit an RT ticket here [insert hot link to CNMS Business Central RT form].
Meet the Dean’s Office Administrator for Grant Development & Support:
Janice Abarro is the primary CNMS liaison to the Office of Research and Creative Achievement (ORCA, previously OVPR), Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR), Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery, and other grant support services available on campus internally or externally. Grant support consultations are available by appointment by submitting an RT Ticket under grants development support [Link to RT ticketing system coming soon].
Janice’s responsibilities include:
- Identify funding opportunities to support research, equipment, conferences, travel, etc.
- Develop strategic funding plans to identify the most appropriate funding opportunities to increase proposal submission and yield.
- Provide proposal development support for large scale proposals involving CNMS teams
- Provide sponsor specific guidance
- Provide successful sample proposals upon request
- Collect and compile large institutional data sets
- Review large-scale proposals for consistency with sponsor guidelines.
- Coordinate grant training and development workshops and seminars
Meet Your Pre-Award Team
Your pre-award team is here to help! The CNMS pre-award team assist with: Analyzing Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) and Sponsor Requirements, Creating Budgets, Routing and Review of proposals in Kuali and the Sponsor Systems, Rebudgets for Post Award Activities, No Cost Extensions, and Subaward management.
- Sarah is the Grants and Contracts Specialist that works closely with Biology, Mathematics, and Marine Biotechnology.
Sarah Jackson
Specialist Grants and Contracts
Natural and Mathematical Sciences
University Center 116
+1 410 455 2247
- Taylor is the Grants and Contracts Specialist that works closely with Physics, Chemistry, and the CNMS Dean’s office.
Taylor Shortt
Specialist Grants and Contracts
Natural and Mathematical Sciences
University Center 116
+1 410 455 1204
- Janice is the Administrator for grant support is located in the CNMS Dean’s office.
Janice Abarro
Administrator, Grant Support
Natural and Mathematical Sciences
University Center 116 M
+1 410 455 2575
Both Sarah and Taylor work together and as each other’s backups should one be out. If you have further questions, comments, concerns or requests please feel free to contact either of them for assistance.
Common How-to-Apply Guides
Several of the most common sponsors have standard guides for how to apply to their various funding opportunities. These guides can be referenced for common questions, however it is important to note that the Specific FOA may deviate.
- NSF PAPPG dated 1-30-2023: PAPPG (NSF 23-1) dated January 30, 2023
- NIH Research Type Guides for updated forms: How to Apply – Application Guide | grants.nih.gov
- NASA Regulations and Guidance: Regulations and Guidance | NASA
Office of Sponsored Programs and Kuali
Kuali is the internal system UMBC uses to track pre-award proposals and post-award proposals. It is imperative that all external funding be routed through Kuali within OSP’s 3 day deadline. Your CNMS Pre-award Grants and Contracts specialist can assist with Kuali and Sponsor routing and review while the Office of Sponsored Programs is here to assist in the final submission. Some proposals will have to go through Kuali and the sponsor’s portal, however some can be submitted directly through Kuali, ask your Grants and Contracts Specialist for assistance.
- OSP website: Office of Sponsored Programs – Research & Creative Achievement at UMBC – UMBC
- OSP Proposal Submission Deadline: OSP Proposal Submission Deadline Procedure Letter 7-25-2019.pdf | Powered By Box
External Funding Opportunities
All external funding opportunities must be routed in Kuali and ready for sponsor submission by OSP’s 3 day deadline. Contact your CNMS Grants and Contracts Specialist for assistance for assistance with routing, budgetary information, and organization of your proposal.
- Search Grants | GRANTS.GOV
- You can find a variety of federal sponsors and proposal types on Grants.gov. Ask your CNMS Grants and Contracts Specialist for assistance with submitting a proposal.
- Funding search | NSF – National Science Foundation
- NSF has a variety of proposals that can be submitted through Research.gov. Ask your CNMS Grants and Contracts Specialist for assistance with submitting a proposal.
- Foundation Directory | Candid (foundationcenter.org)
- For more information about FDO please see this fact sheet: Getting To Know-Foundation Directory Fact Sheet 2020.doc | Powered By Box
- NSPIRES – NASA Research Opportunities Online (nasaprs.com)
- NASA’s NPSIRES system has a range of opportunities in relation to NASA’s specific goals.
Internal Funding Opportunities
Internal Funding opportunities do not have to be routed through Kuali, however they will need an account set up for them in PeopleSoft. Always contact your Business Manager and Grants and Contracts Specialist in CNMS for assistance.