USC Faculty Portal

Research

A critical aspect of your job may be to establish yourself as a leader in your field by developing a focused research program.

Identify Research-Related Resources
There are valuable resources on campus to facilitate research.

• A one stop place for research resources at USC is the extremely useful Research page in the Faculty Portal.
• Included on the website are offices at USC that facilitate research
• The Department of Contracts and Grants provides valuable guidelines on proposal preparation, procedures, forms and policies, links to sponsors, the ability to search for funding sources, and access to the NSF Fast Lane proposal submission system.
• You may find the opportunity to search for sponsored projects and funding opportunities extremely helpful in the conduct of research.
• The recommended site for identifying funding opportunities is InfoEd International SPIN Search and the Community of Science
• Federal Grant opportunities can be identified from FedBiz Now, The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, Grants.gov, and GovDocs NetSource@USC.
• For faculty members engaged in research in the life sciences, sciences, and technology, look at GrantsNet and the numerous other sources listed on the Research page.
• You can search for foundation support at the Foundation Center
• Some organizations allow you to subscribe to newsletters or notification services that let you know when funding opportunities that match your interests become available. Among those you may find useful are the Foundation Center Newsletter , the NIH Guide ListServ, and NSF's Custom News Service .
• If you are expected to write grants and find extramural funding opportunities, you may wish to examine resources related to:
• Fundamentals of Grantsmanship
• The Art of Grantsmanship
• NIH All About Grants tutorials for biomedical investigators
• NSF Guide for Proposal Writing
• USC offers research grants that support faculty projects that use undergraduates as research investigators.
• Several grant opportunities are available within USC, including the Zumberge Research Innovation Fund which provides seed money for projects (awards are generally less than $25,000).
• You will also find the Sponsored Projects Research manual extremely helpful in getting you through the grant submission and administration process. You can also get forms related to the submission of grant proposals online
• USC has a program that allows undergraduate students to engage in research with faculty members
• The website also provides useful information on the research centers at USC potentially relevant to the conduct of interdisciplinary research.
• The Office of the Protection of Human Research Subjects outlines policies that relate to the ethical conduct of research using human subjects. Their latest brochure is very helpful.
• Make sure you are aware of the research policies described in section 5 of the Faculty Handbook including those related to:
  • Research Proposals
  • Classified and Proprietary Research
  • Research involving Human Subjects
  • Patent Policies
• Make sure that you are familiar with University policies that pertain to conflict of interest and ethics, conflict of interest in research, intellectual property, and scientific conduct.
• It is always helpful to understand the US Government regulations regarding research

Disclaimer: This guide is for information only and is intended as a helpful set of links to the Faculty Handbook and other University Policies. It does not constitute official University policy, nor do linked pages, except for the Faculty Handbook and the Policies web page. Send suggestions for additional resources you would like to see listed to the Office of Faculty Affairs.