February 22, 2019

Through the University’s participation in the Esploro Early Adopter Program, Drexel faculty, students and staff now have licensed access to Pivot, a tool designed for discovering and sharing research funding opportunities. Pivot replaces the COS Funding Opportunities (CFO), previously licensed for Drexel use.

Pivot, offered by the vendor Ex Libris (a Proquest company), connects researchers to financial support by leveraging the most comprehensive global source of sponsored funding opportunities and provides scholarly profiles to match researchers with financial partners and collaborators. It covers a wide variety of funding types, from research grants to travel awards and fellowships, offered by federal, state, and private organizations and nonprofits, all in one place.

With Pivot, researchers can create and save searches and receive funding alerts so they don’t miss an opportunity. 

Drexel post-doctoral researcher Christopher Shuck used Pivot during his time at a previous institution and is excited to now have access through Drexel.

“Pivot allows for very specific searching of [funding], based on your individual profile,” Shuck explained. “It is not limited to the sciences, humanities, or even a specific location, but includes all these as options. In general, this database was very valuable for me during my PhD and even now as a Postdoc. I used the database to find and secure fellowships and awards that I was not even aware existed. This allowed to attend multiple conferences that I would not have been able to attend otherwise. Furthermore, I was able to use this database to help international PhD students find awards that were suitable for them.”

To connect to Pivot, visit https://pivot-proquest-com. Members of the Drexel community will be prompted to sign in to the database using their Drexel University credentials. The Libraries will assist Drexel researchers in utilizing Pivot through consultations and information sessions. More information about Pivot and other funding resources is also available through the Libraries’ research funding guide.

“Currently Drexel researchers can access Pivot directly, and the Libraries is looking forward to integrating it into Esploro to offer a robust, one-stop research services platform,” said Danuta A. Nitecki, PhD, Dean of Libraries. “Information from Pivot will match with personal profiles in Esploro to alert researchers of new funding opportunities, grant application requirements and submission milestones. As a result, we expect Drexel faculty, post docs and graduate students to be ahead of the competition in seeking external funding.”

For more information about Pivot, read the Ex Libris Data Sheet or contact your liaison librarian.