Finding DORI

Duke Office of Research Initiatives aims to make the search for funding easier.

-By Charles Givens

February 14, 2022

While it may not be an iconic Disney movie character, the Duke Office of Research Initiatives, or “DORI” for short, is available to help members of the Duke research community use their office’s experience to find grants, fellowships and other funding opportunities and collaborations. “My job is to help you find money to do your cool research projects,” says Alicia Korenman, DORI’s Funding Opportunities Specialist.

DORI has several customized tools to assist researchers in finding funding sources.

Duke offers searchable databases at MyResearchHome and the Office of Research Support site. Pivot is a third-party database with a large international database where researchers can be more granular in their search, leading to opportunities from other countries.

While DORI hosts regular Zoom workshops for the research community, Korenman herself schedules one-on-one Zoom meetings with faculty who find the experience of searching for funding too complicated or faculty who are looking for a little extra professional guidance. “Sometimes it’s helpful to have someone like me bounce back and forth with what keywords to use, or what kind of eligibility to click on. I’m here to show them the best tools to use and how to use them.”

Using those tools to find right grant or funding opportunity is no good to a researcher with the application deadline already passed. “You need to be planning a year in advance. Look in advance and see what those deadlines are and what those project periods are,” says Korenman. She suggests signing up for the weekly Funding Alert newsletter which has deadline reminders and summarizes the latest funding opportunities available.

DORI is available to help the Duke community make their research projects easier to fund, and people like Alicia Korenman are ready and willing to help. “Funding is out there and we really want to help you to find it.”