Proposal Development Unit

We help NC State faculty pursue transformative, cutting-edge research through proactive planning, facilitation, proposal development and training.

NSF CAREER Proposal Workshop

The National Science Foundation’s prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program offers support for early-career faculty seeking to build strong foundations for research and education in their respective fields.
Faculty interested in submitting a CAREER proposal are invited to attend a workshop covering key aspects of proposal development. The workshop was held on March 19, 2025 from 1-4 pm via zoom. The slides and recordings are now online on the PDU NSF Resource page under NSF CAREER Proposals > 2025 CAREER Workshop Materials. (NCSU Login required)

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PDU@Lunch

The Proposal Development Unit (PDU) presents a webinar series each year which provides you with tools and techniques to think strategically about grant writing. This year’s sessions will address “Go Big: Scaling Up from Single Investigator Proposals to Team Proposals“. Topics include: Assessing your Readiness, Building a Proposal Team, Writing Strategies and Large Multi-component Budgets.

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DOD Opportunities

Are you interested in pursuing funding opportunities with the Department of Defense (DoD)? The PDU’s podcast series with NC State investigators will help you gain insight into the world of grantmaking with DoD.

On the PDU DOD resources page under Resources>DOD Podcast Series (NCSU Login required)

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Proposal Development Support

The Proposal Development Unit (PDU) supports faculty teams by improving proposal competitiveness of large-scale, interdisciplinary research proposals. These services include strategy consultation and ideation, team facilitation and review, non-technical writing and graphics support, budgeting, editing, formatting and proposal preparation — enabling investigators to concentrate on the research-related aspects of their proposals. PDU support is available to NC State faculty who are planning proposals with estimated total budgets of at least $1 million.

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Meet the Team

Find out about our team of talented proposal specialists

Newsletters

A quarterly publication of articles from our team with proposal advice and information

PDU Resources

Collected resources to improve the quality of your proposals

At the Forefront of Interdisciplinary Research

The PDU is uniquely positioned to support large, broad teams of NC State researchers pursuing opportunities that transcend traditional academic boundaries.

900+

Since 2004, the PDU has assisted faculty from all 10 NC State colleges on more than 900 proposals.

$1.2B+

Since 2004, the PDU has helped faculty secure over one billion dollars in research funding.

50+

Since 2004, the PDU has supported proposals submitted to more than 50 federal, state and foundation sponsors.