Cecilia S. Gal has worked in research development and in a grant support capacity for the last 15 years, and brings to the position expertise in project management, grant support, strategic planning, as well as grant writing and editing. Most recently she has worked on large center proposals with multi-institutional and multi-unit teams at Rutgers, including Dr. Robert Kopp’s NSF 20 million hub award. She has spearheaded the implementation of industry-standard best practices for both individual and large-scale external funding pursuits.

Ms. Gal joined the Office for Research in 2020 after being a proposal manager at Arizona State University. Before joining ASU’s central research development office she provided grant support for the faculty at the Rutgers School of Communication & Information where she helped faculty submit over $55 million of proposals during her tenure. In 2009, Ms. Gal was a Co-PI on a multi-year NSF grant on the adoption of computer-assisted health technologies by patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, and received NSF REU funding to train undergraduate researchers.

Ms. Gal earned a B.A. in psychology from Wellesley College, and Ed.M and C.A.S. degrees in human development and psychology from Harvard University, and has worked and published in the areas of substance abuse prevention in communities, and cybersecurity. She also has training in clinical psychology and has worked in psychiatric settings.

At the School of Social Work Ms. Gal supports faculty with proposal submissions and provides guidance for submitting more compelling proposals.