Many Miami researchers and scholars know that Pivot is a great resource for on-demand funding searches. (If this is news to you, learn more here.) Any Miami faculty, staff, or student on campus or connected to Miami’s VPN can search for funding – no account required.

However, taking a few minutes to set up an account and claim your profile can add to the value you get out of Pivot. With an account and a profile, you can:

• Save funding searches and sign up for automatic Funding Alerts emails.
• Create and monitor lists of funding opportunities that are a good match for your work.
• See funding opportunity recommendations on your Pivot homepage.
• Receive automatic alerts when a funding opportunity specifically matches your profile.
• Be found by potential collaborators from Miami and other institutions.

ACCOUNTS

To create a Pivot account, follow these steps:

• Navigate to pivot.cos.com. (Remember, you must be on campus or connected to Miami’s VPN.)
• Click on “Sign up” in the upper right corner.
• Enter your information. You must use your @miamioh.edu email address (and the domain name must be entered in all lowercase). You can choose any password. It does not have to be the Miami password you use to login to Banner, Niikha, and eSPA, because Pivot is not connected to Miami’s single sign-on system.
• Click the “Create my account” button.
• The next time you visit Pivot, click on the “Log in” in the upper right corner and enter your email address and password.

PROFILES

Pivot profiles include key biographical information, research interests, selected publications, and contact information, enabling users to identify and contact relevant scholars based on their research, publishing, and professional credentials. The profile database is a unique tool for finding researchers by specific area of study, providing keyword access to the community behind the content. Profiles are viewed by thousands of Pivot users who may be looking for potential collaborators for a research project.

Since Pivot automatically creates and maintains faculty profiles, it’s possible you already have one in the system. To claim it:

• Log in to Pivot.
• In the upper right-hand corner, your name is displayed. Click on the arrow to display the options. If you see a “Claim profile” link, you know there is not a profile linked to your Pivot account. Click the “Claim profile” link.
• A list of potential profile matches may be displayed.
• If you locate your profile from the results list, click the “This is me” button to the right of the profile name. (If no results display or none of the possible matching profiles is yours, see the directions for creating a profile below.)
• After clicking on the “This is me” button, a message will be displayed informing you that you that a new window will be opening to complete the profile claim process.
• If the email on the profile you are claiming matches the email on your Pivot account, you will see a message that a verification email has been sent to you. Otherwise, you will then be asked to confirm whether or not you still have access to the email address listed on your Pivot profile.
• If you confirm that you still have access to the email on your profile, you will receive verification email at that address that will link your profile to your account and will grant you access to update your profile.
• You must click through on the link in the verification email to complete the claiming process.
• If you do not have access to one of the emails displayed, select “I no longer have access to any of the above email addresses” and hit the submit button. You will be taken to a form to complete to request access to edit your profile. The information submitted is reviewed by Pivot’s editorial team and once validated, you will receive an email at the new email address submitted. This links your profile to your account and grants you access to update your profile.

To create a profile:

• Begin by trying to claim an existing profile following the steps outlined above. If you do not find a profile for yourself, click the “Create a Profile” on the Claim Profile results page.
• Clicking the “Continue” button will take you out of Pivot and to the profile creation tool.
• In the profile creation tool, your name will be displayed and you will be prompted to add any additional names that you have used to publish under.
• Pivot will confirm the email address on file for this account and will allow you to enter any additional email addresses you may have.
• You will also have the opportunity to add more details to your affiliation.
• Click the “Finish” button when done.
• Your profile has been created and claimed. You can add more information to your profile by clicking on the “Edit Profile” button. Or, you can click “Return to Pivot” to continue working elsewhere in Pivot.

Pivot provides the capability for you to update certain fields or areas of your profile. Updating your profile can increase the quality of the funding matches recommended for you from the Pivot Advisor. To update your profile:

• Log in to your Pivot account.
• Click on your name to display the options.
• Click the “Your profile” link. You will be brought to your Pivot profile.
• Click the “Update your profile” link to the far right of your name.
• Clicking the “Continue” button will take you out of Pivot and into the profile editing system.
• In the profile editing system, click the “Edit” button.
• You will see various buttons or icons that will allow you to edit, add, and re-order information related to your profile. Click the “Edit” button or edit icon to modify the information in a specific section of your profile. You must click the “Save” or “Add” button for each field after making changes, adding new information, or removing information. You cannot move to another field until you either save or cancel your changes.
• Click the “Done” button at the top to exit the edit view and review the changes you have made.
• Your submissions will be immediately viewable in Pivot. The profile will be time-stamped with the date updated and the name of the person who edited the profile. Pivot editors will not edit any profile information (with the exception of the automated publication linking) for at least one year when a profile has been updated by a scholar or a Pivot Administrator.

If you need your Pivot password reset, have a question, or would like to schedule one-on-one training or consultation, contact Heather Johnston in OARS.

Profile photo by Walt Stoneburner via Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.