To access the funding databases which the Office of Research is making available to the University of Pittsburgh community through subscriptions, select COS Funding Opportunities or SPIN (Quick Search - Advanced Search) or Illinois Researcher Information Service (IRIS). You may eventually wish to search all the databases to get the most comprehensive coverage of funding opportunities relevant to your interests because the coverage of the three databases on any given topic is likely to be different.

All three databases provide ready access to the most current funding information. Although it is relatively easy to search all the databases, each database has its own unique searching protocol. You can conduct either free-text searches or controlled vocabulary searches on all three databases. Once you identify the information you need, you can browse, print, e-mail, or save the information to a file. All the databases have online help or instructions that can be accessed as needed. Contact Elaine Riberich (emr@pitt.edu) for additional assistance in accessing or searching any of the databases.

COS FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

COS makes COS Funding Opportunities available to the University of Pittsburgh as part of the University’s subscription to the COS Expertise Database. From the COS Funding Opportunities Web page, you can search for relevant funding opportunities from among the 25,000 plus programs.

To receive a customized weekly COS Funding Alert, you must have a COS account. To create a COS account, go to the COS page at http://www.cos.com/login/join.shtml and select Join. After you have entered the required information, you will automatically be put into your COS Workbench. You can then custom design your own Funding Alert queries and/or enter information into your Expertise profile. The Funding Alert provides weekly e-mail updates about relevant grant information that is new or recently updated in the COS Funding Opportunities. If you already have a COS account, you can log into your workbench at http://login.cos.com/ and see and edit your Saved Funding searches as well as add additional Funding Alert searches. With a COS account you will also be able to save searches you run directly in COS Funding Opportunities. (COS will ask you to login if you select Save Search after running a funding search.)

COS User Training is available at http://www.cos.com/usertraining/ 

SPONSORED PROGRAMS INFORMATION NETWORK (SPIN)

The Office of Research subscribes to Infoed International's SPIN so that any member of the University of Pittsburgh community can access potentially relevant funding opportunities on the Web. There are over 22,000 separate funding programs in SPIN's database. From SPIN's main search page a free-text Quick Search can be done using a particular word or phrase to search the text of SPIN programs. To perform a more detailed search, use the Advanced Search link. You can also elect to browse the SPIN version of the FedBizOpps/Commerce Business Daily and their Federal Register Weekly Reference Guide. Predefined Deadline Quick Searches are available by clicking on the appropriate date range.

ILLINOIS RESEARCHER INFORMATION SERVICE (IRIS)

The Office of Research subscribes to the Illinois Researcher Information Service (IRIS) to provide the University community with an alternative means of searching for funding opportunities. From the IRIS home page you can choose to search the IRIS Funding Opportunities Database covering around 9,000 funding programs. You can also browse the IRIS Upcoming Deadlines. This constantly updated list of deadlines sorted by broad subject area is unique to IRIS. An e-mail IRIS Alert Service allows you to create your own IRIS search profile to be run automatically at specified intervals to notify you of upcoming funding opportunities in your areas of interest.