Proposal Preparation and Planning
This page lists some of the ways that MSI can help you with your next grant proposal. If you cannot find what you are looking for and would like to meet with an MSI consultant fill out a General Support Ticket via our Helpdesk.
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MSI Faculty Statement
Research and software development support
Dedicated computational or data storage resources
Letter of support or collaboration
Data management plan
MSI's Proposal Routing Form (PRF) information
MSI Facility Statement
Many funding agencies require a description of the campus facilities that may be used to help support proposed research. Click on the following links to find a description of the resources and facilities maintained by MSI and feel free to copy relevant portions of this text into your research proposals.
Research and software development support
MSI has 16 dedicated consulting staff, all of whom have advanced degrees and a wealth of experience working on a wide variety of research and development projects. MSI consultants are often written into grants and many consultants are included in proposals as key personnel. MSI consultants cover a broad range of expertise including:
- Research Computing; Informatics
- Big Data Analysis
- Parallel Algorithm Optimization and Development
- Custom Analysis Pipeline Development
- Genomics
- Custom Application Development
- Data Mining
- Bioinformatics
- Image Processing
- Visualization
- Computational Biology
Email us at help@msi.umn.edu and someone will contact you to learn more about your consulting needs. Please include in your message a proposal abstract or brief description of your research and how you would like MSI to help, so that we can connect you with the MSI staff person best suited to discuss your needs. We will need at least two weeks to prepare salaries and associated documentation for consulting services, so please contact us early in your grant preparation process if you think that you might need dedicated consulting.
Dedicated computational or data storage resources
Access to the majority of the compute and data storage resources managed by MSI is obtained through an allocation process. When allocated resources are not enough, you can purchase dedicated computing and data storage resources. The link below will take you to another page where these costs and services are described.
Letter of support or collaboration
Some proposal solicitations allow a PI to submit a letter of support or collaboration from a campus resource provider or collaborator. These letters usually certify that the PI will have access to the resources described in their proposal. Please email us at help@msi.umn.edu and someone will contact you about what is needed. To help expedite the process include in your message a proposal abstract or brief description of your research and how you would like MSI to help, so that we can connect you with the MSI staff person best suited to discuss your needs. We will need at least two weeks to prepare and authorize such a letter, so please contact us early in your grant preparation process.
Data management plan
Funding agencies typically require some form of a Data Management Plan (DMP) as part of your research proposal submission. MSI works closely with other campus data storage providers and supports a number of data storage resources for addressing your data management requirements. Please review the suggested resources below and if you still have questions about developing a DMP send a message to help@msi.umn.edu with a brief description or abstract of your research and a description of how you would like MSI to help.
Suggested Resources:
- UMN Libraries can help you write and implement your next data management plan to best meet funder requirements.
- DMPTool is an online tool that guides you through the steps of creating a data management plan.
MSI's Proposal Routing Form (PRF) information
MSI's Department ID is 11062. The current PRF routing chain can be found by searching for DeptID "11062" in the PRF Routing Chain spreadsheet.