Office of Large Grant Development

Purpose
The Office of Large Grant Development supports faculty with appointments in Research and Extension who are pursuing opportunities for extramural funding. Our primary purpose is to provide editorial, organizational, and clerical services to individuals who i) lead complex multi-investigator/institutional grant efforts or ii) are at the early stages of their research careers. As time permits, our personnel assists faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students seeking competitive funds from federal/state agencies, foundations, and private sources.
Vision
Our support is intended to ease the workload of the application process, improve proposal competitiveness, increase institutional knowledge, and expand the impact of CAHNRS Research and Extension.
Services
Our Office offers a one-stop, versatile, flexible, and service-oriented approach to meeting faculty needs. We are available for early career faculty, established faculty, and English language learners. Our level of involvement may be tailored to meet the investigator’s needs. All aspects of proposal management are included:
- Planning
- Develop proposal management plans in line with RFA requirements
- Finalize proposal contributors, reviewers, and stakeholders
- Develop templates for proposal documents
- Create a compliance matrix to document roles, responsibilities, tasks, and deadlines
- Management
- Schedule and organize meetings between the PI and the writing team
- Obtain and organize supporting documents (e.g., resumes, biosketches) from internal and external partners
- Potential recruitment of industry partners, obtaining letters of support
- Track progress and update stakeholders as needed
- Development
- Identify and address the grant program’s concerns
- Carefully follow all grant proposal instructions
- Edit proposal documents with lead principal investigators (PIs)
- Generate figures, tables, and graphic designs
- Assist in the preparation of budget spreadsheets and forms
- Submission
- Review and compile all elements for submission
- Submission to ORSO for final review
Personnel
Emily Klarquist, M.S. – Grant Writer & Proposal Development Specialist. Emily Klarquist earned her Bachelor’s degree in Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology at Colorado State University and her M.S. in Crop Science at Washington State University. Before joining the CAHNRS Office of Research in 2022, Emily was a Senior Research Assistant for the USDA-ARS Club Wheat Breeding Program. In this position, she oversaw greenhouse operations, managed genetic resources, and supported graduate research.
Faculty References
Questions about the past performance of the Office can be directed to CAHNRS Office of Research Assistant Director Holly Neibergs.