Faculty Fellow for Grant Writing

Dr. Qiang Zhu

Dr. Zhu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science, the interim director of the BATT CAVE Research Center, and an affiliate faculty of the School of Data Science at UNC Charlotte. His research focuses on materials modelling, informatics, and AI-generative models used for materials research.

Dr. Qiang Zhu maintains a highly successful, active research portfolio focused heavily on materials discovery, crystal structure prediction, and data-driven/AI physics models.

He has secured more than 12 awards, with the total recorded funding value (including direct personal shares and full collaborative awards) of more than $3,818,783. He has served as both a  Principal Investigator and as a co-PI on multiple projects. 

Education: Ph.D. in Mineral Physics, Stony Brook University

Courses Taught: Thermodynamics I MEGR 3111; Computational Methods in Engineering MEGR 7172/8172; Special Topics in Mechanical Engineering MEGR 7090/8090

Responsibilties

  • Build and deliver curricula (delivered through workshop series or academic courses) that train cohorts of postdoctoral scholars and graduate students to find and apply for grants in both STEM and social science fields.  This may involve sourcing and collaborating with peers who serve as guest speakers. Topics might include:
    • Searching for funding opportunities using PIVOT and other resources
    • Analyzing solicitations and assisting students and postdocs with interpretation and criteria
    • Preparing all components of the proposal
    • Designing figures, tables, and infographics to enhance clarity
    • Designing budgets and budget justifications
    • Preparing supporting materials such as CVs, current and pending funding forms, data management plans, etc
    • Introduce students to Charlotte’s Division of Research and help route budgets through Niner Research when needed.
    • Identifying next steps if proposal is declined
    • The resubmission process
  • Provide one-on-one coaching and grant proposal review to help postdoctoral scholars and graduate students submit competitive proposals
  • Search for and publicize postdoctoral scholar and graduate student grant opportunities via postdoc and graduate student newsletters
  • Create and maintain a collection of grant-writing resources 
  • Collaborate with the Associate Teaching Professor of Writing to improve postdoctoral scholars’ and graduate students’ writing skills and habits related to grant writing.