Grant Support
Grant Support from the Caltech Library
The Caltech Library is available to work with researchers to ensure they meet compliance requirements to receive and maintain funding from government agencies.
When putting together materials for a grant proposal, Caltech researchers need to gather specific data and documentation to complete their applications. Grant recipients are regularly asked by their funding agencies to provide reports (progress or final) that collect and present information following meticulous guidelines. To assist with these pursuits, Caltech Library staff are available to work with researchers to ensure they meet compliance requirements to receive and maintain funding from these agencies.
Whether the funding originates with the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Institutes of Health, or other organizations, the Library is familiar with submission, reporting, and deposit requirements for publications and data. We can assist principal investigators, grant managers, and division administrators to meet these requirements. These requirements can and do change, and the Library keeps up with the latest developments. For a summary of the latest government funding agency guidance, please see our information on the Nelson Memo.
Please contact us at library@caltech.edu to receive assistance with any of the following support.
Types of Support Available
Collaborator Reports
Agencies like the National Science Foundation require researchers to provide Collaborator and Other Affiliations (COA) reports that list every collaborator connected to a publication or completed thesis. In some cases, the list of collaborators can number in the thousands.
The Library can automatically generate formatted collaborator reports based on publications in our CaltechAUTHORS repository. Please email library@caltech.edu the names of the researchers that need reports well in advance of the grant deadline. We also have access to other tools like Web of Science and the Astrophysics Data System which can help compile collaborator reports that meet specific agency specifications. We also use the data in CaltechTHESIS to complete thesis-related reports.
Data Management and Sharing Plans
The Caltech Library helps researchers with data management plans (DMPs)/data management and sharing plans (DMSPs) for both grant applications and normal laboratory operations. When writing a data management plan for your grant proposal, we can offer specific guidance on issues such as sensitivity and access, as requirements for agencies differ.
The Library provides example text that can be included in a Data Management Plan, as well as services like our data repository that can help fulfill data management plan requirements. Please see our Data Management Plans page for more information.
Manuscript and Data Deposit
Some agencies require published research articles or data to be deposited in a specific database, e.g. the DOE’s Pages database, NASA’s PubSpace repository, or the NIH’s National Center for Biotechnology Information PubMed Central repository. These deposits necessitate a knowledge of scholarly communication conventions that the Library can offer. Our Research Data Specialists can provide guidance on data organization, identification and findability using DOIs, and storage requirements. Please see our Research Data Support page for more information.
Researcher Identifier Registration
Many agencies and organizations now require researchers to have an established Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) and profile. ORCID provides a persistent identity for researchers that solves the problem of non-unique names and allows accurate identification of scientific contributions. The Library can help establish ORCIDs for the Caltech community.
Visit our ORCID page.
SciENcv and Biosketch
Many federal funding agencies require a Biosketch. Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) allows researchers to bring together the information that comprises the Biosketch. This profile includes expertise, employment, education, and professional accomplishments. Researchers can use SciENcv to maintain Biosketches that accompany grant applications and annual reports. SciENcv is built and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI) and the NIH.
An up-to-date ORCID profile is useful in generating and maintaining a Biosketch. When you log in to SciENcv, enter your ORCID profile number under your Name. This will allow the information under Professional Preparation, Appointments, and Products to be populated from your ORCID profile. It is also an option to use NCBI’s My Bibliography for the Products section of SciENcv. Citations cannot be manually entered into SciENcv.