Understanding Proposal Support at Yale

Proposal development is the process of planning, coordinating, and preparing a competitive funding proposal.

Proposal development often includes activities such as:

• Identifying and interpreting funding opportunities
• Aligning projects with sponsor priorities
• Developing competitive strategy and project framing
• Coordinating research teams and partnerships
• Establishing proposal timelines and workflows
• Supporting narrative development and proposal organization
• Developing budgets and institutional components
• Managing review, routing, and submission processes

Proposal development is typically a collaborative effort involving faculty, research administrators, financial staff, compliance offices, and research development professionals.

For large or complex proposals, proposal development may begin months in advance of a sponsor deadline and involve coordination across multiple departments, schools, or institutions.

Within YRD, “proposal development” refers to the strategic process of planning and developing a competitive proposal. This differs from the Proposal Development module in IRES, which functions as the institutional administrative workspace and routing container used to support proposal preparation and submission processes.

YRD primarily supports large-scale, complex, interdisciplinary, and strategically significant funding opportunities.

Examples may include:

• Center and institute proposals
• Multi-investigator or multi-department initiatives
• Large federal opportunities
• Strategic limited submissions
• Proposals requiring extensive coordination or facilitation
• Mission-driven and convergent research initiatives

YRD may also provide lighter-touch consultation for other proposal types depending on institutional priorities, timing, and available capacity.

Faculty are encouraged to engage YRD as early as possible in the proposal development process.

Early engagement allows greater opportunity to support:

• Project positioning and sponsor alignment
• Team development and coordination
• Proposal planning and timelines
• Competitive strategy
• Identification of proposal strengths, gaps, and risks

YRD engagement is generally most effective before proposal writing is substantially underway.

YRD does not replace departmental administrative support, financial management, or institutional compliance functions.

YRD does not typically:

• Prepare or submit final proposal packages
• Manage post-award administration
• Approve budgets or institutional routing
• Negotiate contracts
• Serve as a substitute for departmental or business office administration

These activities are managed collaboratively with departmental administrators, FRMS/YPAT teams, and the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP).

Initial conversations with YRD are intended to help assess proposal goals, funding alignment, timeline considerations, team structure, and potential support needs.

Discussions may include:

• Funding opportunity fit
• Proposal scope and competitiveness
• Team composition and partnerships
• Anticipated proposal complexity
• Desired level of research development support
• Internal timelines and planning considerations

These conversations also help determine the most appropriate engagement model for the project.

Faculty are encouraged to contact YRD as soon as a funding opportunity or proposal concept is being considered.

Large or complex proposals often require significant planning, coordination, and institutional engagement. Earlier engagement allows more time for strategic planning, facilitation, and development support.

While YRD may still be able to assist on shorter timelines, the scope of support may be more limited when proposals are already near submission deadlines.

YRD may provide strategic editorial feedback, proposal organization support, and narrative guidance depending on the needs and complexity of the proposal.

Support may include:

• Alignment with sponsor priorities
• Strengthening proposal messaging and structure
• Improving clarity and cohesion
• Identifying gaps or areas requiring further development
• Coordinating iterative review processes

YRD is not intended to function solely as a copyediting service.

Yes. YRD may support the development of proposal graphics, visual frameworks, timelines, conceptual figures, and other strategic visual materials intended to strengthen proposal clarity, organization, and competitiveness.

Depending on proposal scope and complexity, support may include:

• Development of low-lift graphics and visual materials in-house
• Strategic guidance on visual communication and proposal organization
• Iterative refinement of figures and conceptual frameworks
• Coordination with external designers or consultants for highly complex graphics or specialized visual needs

Proposal graphics often evolve alongside narrative development and may require multiple rounds of refinement as projects, teams, and sponsor alignment mature. Faculty are encouraged to account for sufficient design and review time when incorporating complex visual elements into proposal development timelines.

Yes. YRD may assist faculty in identifying funding opportunities aligned with their research goals and strategic priorities.

Support may include:

• Targeted funding searches
• Sponsor landscape analysis
• Identification of strategic opportunities
• Limited submission coordination
• Interpretation of sponsor priorities and trends

YRD also partners with other Yale offices involved in research funding communications and opportunity dissemination.

YRD and the Yale School of Medicine Office of Team Science provide complementary forms of support for collaborative research initiatives.

YRD supports proposal development and strategic research advancement across the broader Yale research ecosystem, including interdisciplinary and cross-school initiatives involving multiple departments, schools, and institutional partners. Support may include proposal strategy, facilitation, sponsor alignment, coordination, and development of large or complex funding initiatives.

The Yale School of Medicine Office of Team Science focuses on strengthening collaborative research and team science activities within the Yale School of Medicine research community and provides expertise tailored to biomedical and clinical research environments.

YRD and the Yale School of Medicine Office of Team Science frequently collaborate on interdisciplinary and cross-cutting initiatives that benefit from both institution-wide research development support and deep domain expertise within the medical research enterprise.

YRD and the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) provide complementary support during the proposal process.

YRD focuses primarily on the strategic and competitive dimensions of proposal development, including sponsor alignment, proposal planning, facilitation, and narrative development.

OSP oversees institutional proposal review and submission activities, including compliance review, sponsor policy interpretation, institutional approvals, negotiation, and award administration functions.

Faculty working on proposals often engage both offices throughout the proposal lifecycle.

YRD and FRMS/YPAT teams provide different but complementary forms of proposal support.

YRD focuses on proposal strategy, coordination, facilitation, and competitiveness for complex funding opportunities.

FRMS/YPAT teams provide critical administrative and financial support, including budget development, routing coordination, financial management, and other departmental or business office functions.

Successful proposal development typically relies on close collaboration across these areas of expertise.

Yes. Department administrators, business offices, and FRMS/YPAT teams remain essential partners throughout proposal development and submission.

YRD support complements, but does not replace, departmental administrative and financial processes required for proposal routing, approvals, budget preparation, and submission coordination.

Proposal development is a collaborative process involving multiple offices with different areas of expertise.

Depending on the proposal, collaboration may involve:

• Faculty and research teams
• Department administrators and business offices
• FRMS/YPAT teams
• YSM Office of Team Science
• School or department based RD professionals
• YRD
• OSP
• School-based leadership or specialized offices

These offices work collaboratively throughout the proposal lifecycle. Faculty often engage multiple offices simultaneously depending on the needs and complexity of the proposal.

Large-scale proposals are generally characterized by substantial coordination, complexity, or institutional significance.

Examples may include proposals that involve:

• Multiple investigators, departments, or schools
• Large budgets or multi-year funding structures (>$1M/year)
• Extensive coordination requirements
• Institutional commitments
• External partnerships or subawards
• Center, institute, consortium, or network models
• Strategic federal initiatives

Complexity and coordination needs are often more important than budget size alone.

Yes. YRD regularly supports interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaborations.

This may include assistance with:

• Team formation and coordination
• Facilitation of planning discussions
• Clarifying project roles and structure
• Developing integrated proposal frameworks
• Supporting communication across disciplines

Interdisciplinary collaboration is increasingly central to many federal and strategic funding opportunities.

Yes. Depending on project needs and available capacity, YRD may support team science and collaborative planning activities.

Examples may include:

• Strategic planning meetings
• Facilitation of interdisciplinary discussions
• Coordination of proposal development processes
• Development of shared project frameworks and timelines
• Stakeholder engagement and communication planning

Support models vary based on proposal scope and complexity.

Yes. YRD may coordinate external reviews, Red Team reviews, mock panels, or other structured feedback processes for selected proposals.

These activities are intended to strengthen proposal competitiveness by providing strategic feedback on areas such as:

• Sponsor alignment
• Proposal clarity and cohesion
• Overall competitiveness
• Responsiveness to solicitation requirements
• Team integration and project structure
• Strengths, risks, and potential gaps

Depending on proposal scope and sponsor context, review models may range from targeted expert feedback to more formalized mock review panels designed to simulate sponsor review processes.

Availability of these services depends on proposal timing, complexity, reviewer availability, and institutional capacity. Early engagement is strongly encouraged for proposals seeking structured review support.