Faculty Comments on FR Assistance

—Rob Irion, Director Emeritus, Science Communication Program—

Lynne Stoops and the CFR staff set up meetings with us in the Science Communication Program to learn about our fundraising priorities, especially for instruction and student fellowships. CFR's research suggested that the Heising-Simons Foundation in Los Altos, which funds basic science but also supports public outreach, might be a good fit. The initial conversation with a program officer there led to a phone call with the SciCom director and an invitation to submit a proposal. Lynne and her staff helped edit our text with very thorough feedback, and the Office of Sponsored Projects facilitated the actual submission with a detailed budget and all required documents. Within a couple of months, we received a two-year grant for $150,000, providing critical support for SciCom during its transition to a new director.

—Catherine Ramírez, Associate Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies and Director of the Chicano Latino Research Center—

Lynne Stoops has helped UC Santa Cruz's Chicano Latino Research Center (CLRC) grow by supporting our successful application for a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. An attentive reader and sharp interlocutor, she provided feedback that helped my co-PIs and me hone our proposal's focus, identify our goals, refine our budget, and win our campus’ first major award from the Mellon Foundation. Our grant has fostered scholarship in citizenship and migration studies and enhanced both the CLRC’s and UC Santa Cruz's national and international research profiles. Lynne’s support was indispensable. We continue to work with her in moving the CLRC in new directions.

—Russ Corbett-Detig, Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering—

The Office of Foundation Relations was a tremendous help for me in developing my application for the Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship. The FR staff assisted me in identifying the core features of my research program that would be most appealing to the foundation and in honing my proposal into the most compelling application possible. FR also did a great job coordinating with my recommenders to ensure they submitted their letters prior to the deadline. In short, FR was instrumental in my receiving this award. [see UCSC News Center for award details]