GrantForward contains information on over 25,000 funding opportunities for over $50 billion. These awards are available from federal, state, and foundation funding sources. Users of GrantForward can search this database of funding opportunities in order to retrieve information on what is available and how to apply. Individuals may create personal research profiles. Automatic searches of the funding opportunities database can also be established and run on a routine basis, with the results sent to the user via e-mail. GrantForward is based on the University of Illinois IRIS service, combined with data harvesting technology.
Instructional videos are available on the GrantForward home page that walk users through limiting search results, sorting search results, creating users profiles, and more.
A toolbar with the following links appears at the top of the GrantForward home page: Grants, Sponsors, Researchers, and Support. Users should hover their mouse over the link of interest and click accordingly.
Create Account
To create a personalized user profile, follow the steps listed below. Rutgers University users are accessing an institutional subscription of this product, which allows RU users to create individual profiles. Please note: RU users need to use a rutgers.edu e-mail address with this product.
- On the GrantForward home page, click on the “Sign Up” link located in the upper right corner of the page;
- Enter your Rutgers University e-mail address when prompted, e.g. bob.smith@rutgers.edu;
- Create a password;
- When prompted to enter account type, select “institutional;”
- Click on “Create” to complete the initial process;
- Confirm the account via the e-mail sent to your RU e-mail address.
Find Funding Opportunities
Search for funding opportunities by mousing over “Grants” on the toolbar and clicking on “Search Grants.” Type relevant terms in the text box, just as you would when executing a Google search. An Advanced Search feature is available which can assist users with limiting results that appear to be too broad. User can choose from the following: any words (same as what is typed in to the text box), exact phrase, all of the words (functions like a Boolean AND – requires that all words appear, regardless or word order), and none of the words. Search filters are also available and appear on the left side of the page. They include:
- Sponsor – type in terms or choose from the alphabetic list provided;
- Academic Category – type in terms or choose categories and subcategories from the alphabetic list;
- Status – Open. Continuous, or Closed. The system default is set for the first two options;
- Sponsor Type – Includes federal, state, or foundation; users may select any/all of the types available;
- Grant Type – Filter by types listed, including awards/prizes, fellowships, conference, travel, and more;
- Applicant Type – allows users to filter results by awards intended for specific categories of applicant.
Users can scroll down to view search results. Each funding opportunity has four tabs: Amount, Submission Dates, Eligibility, and Submission Information. To view more detailed information about an available funding opportunity, users can click on the title. Buttons that link to application forms are also available.
It is possible to sort and export search results. In addition, search strategies may be saved and executed in the database at specified intervals, with the results sent via e-mail.
Research Profiles
More about personalized researcher profiles are found under the “Researcher” link on the toolbar. Users will enter basic information (name, institution, department, etc.) in an area for basic information. They can also designate research interests and upload their CV or link to a web page containing lists of their publications.
Learn More
Instructional videos are available at the bottom of the home page and provide basic information on how to create a profile or execute a search.
