strategies for effective grant writing

Gail E. Gasparich, Ph.D.

Associate Dean, Fisher College of Science and Mathematics

Towson University

STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE GRANT

WRITING

Workshop Questions:

1.Where do you search for appropriate funding sources? 2.What should you know before beginning the grant writing process?3.What are the main components of a research grant (Best Practices and What to Avoid)?4.What is the general grant review process?5.What if you do not get funded?

What is a Grant?

A sum of money given by an organization (esp. a government) for a particular purpose

What would be your expectations as the grantor? – Return on investment– Worthy of risk

You have to become a salesperson of sorts—convince the grantor your idea is worthy of funding

STEM Granting Agencies

Government Foundations/Non-Profit Organizations Business and Industry (e.g. contracts)

Important Considerations

Be aware of the mission and criteria of the funding agency– Read RFPs/RFAs carefully (Request for

Proposal/Application)– Discuss ideas with Program Officers (check fit)– Review recently funded grants by same

program

Where is the Money?

Major Agency/Field Shares of Federal Academic Research ObligationsSource: NSF Science and Engineering Indicators 2008, www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind08

Government Sources

Most can be found consolidated on www.grants.gov (26 agencies consolidated)– NSF -NIST– NIH -EPA– DOE -DHHS– NASA -DOD

Foundation Grants Foundations Interested in Engineering:

– AT&T– Exxon/Mobil– Intel– W.M. Keck Foundation– Luce Foundation– Andrew W. Mellon Foundation– Alfred R. Sloan Foundation– Verizon Foundation– Foundation Center (foundationcenter.org)

Databases Requiring Institutional Subscriptions GrantSelect SPIN (Sponsored Programs Information

Network) ResearchResearch IRIS (Illinois Research Information Service) GRC (Grants Resource Center) COS (Community of Science) Grant Advisor Plus

Getting Started!

Review Guidelines Carefully! Contact the Program Officer Review Abstracts of Past Awardees Contact your Sponsored Project Office Create a Timeline for Preparation Organize Narrative Outline Following the

Sequence of Components in RFP/RFA

Title

The reader’s first impression Should capture and intrigue the reader Should be clear, concise and meaningful Too detailed appears too narrow and too

broad appears unachievable

Elevator Speech Activity1.Find a partner

2.In two minutes convey your project to them and then switch

3.Try to cover the following:

What is the problem you are addressing?

How will you address it?

What is the significance?

What is the likelihood of success?

Summary Written last to summarize, aim for non-

technical audience and will be made public if funded

What do you intend to do and why is it important? How are you going to do it and what has already

been done? Why are you, rather than someone else, qualified

to do the project? What difference will the project make to: your

university, your students, your discipline, the state, the nation, etc.?

GoalsObjectives/Specific Aims AimsHypotheses driven and testable with

defined measurable outcomes– based on new ideas– should be succinct– should be independent

Potential Problems with specific aims: Too ambitious, Too much work proposed; Unfocused and/or limited aims

Background and Significance

Why is the problem important to the agency? What have others done to address this problem

and why wasn’t that sufficient? (Literature Review)

What do you plan to do that is different from previous studies?

How will your research have an impact on the public?

Why is your plan novel, cutting edge, and exciting?

Literature Review Support proposal’s significance with a

balanced literature review Establishes the framework for the study Demonstrates your knowledge of the field Incorporate references that support and

conflict with your contentions if appropriate Be as comprehensive as possible—never

know who will be a reviewer Include your work to show expertise!

Preliminary Data

Your chance to highlight your ability to be successful with what you propose

Demonstrate feasibility of project Data should be unequivocal and clearly

presented Discuss limitations Balance unpublished data with published

work

Experimental Design

Organize according to specific aims Provide enough detail (published vs.

unpublished) including controls Provide alternate approaches Justify the approach you will use Explain how data will be collected,

analyzed and interpreted Discuss potential difficulties and limitations

Experimental Design (cont.)

Potential problems: – Inappropriate level of experimental detail– Feasibility of each aim not shown– Little or no expertise with approach– Lack of appropriate controls – No discussion of alternative models or

hypotheses– No discussion of potential pitfalls – No discussion of interpretation of data

Personnel Qualifications

Indicate your expertise in the area PI vs. co-PI Collaborators Bottom Line-Are investigators competent to

perform the experiments described in the proposal

Timeline

BE REALISTIC Not too overly ambitious Show you are familiar with the techniques

and know how long it should take for each of your objectives

Good place to use a graphic to save space

Sample Timeline

Broader Impacts Includes discovery, increasing knowledge

base (basic and applied), promoting teaching, training and learning– Technology transfer– Science policy influence– K-16 STEM education and teacher

development-broadening participation– Increase science literacy and public

engagement– Broad dissemination of results

References Cited

List all relevant literature You never know who will be reviewing!

Budget Be realistic--Do not be excessive or a

bargain-be "just right" Check what is allowable and median

funding level in RFP/RFA to use as guide Direct Costs: Personnel costs, Tuition

remission, travel expenses, equipment and maintenance, supplies, consultants, pub costs, etc.

Indirect Costs: “Tax” to university for overhead—rate negotiated with agency

Budget Justification

Explain time and effort for salary and wages- describe what each person will be doing

Explain why equipment is needed Explain specifics on travel (what meeting, when,

who to go) Explain supply budget (in sufficient detail to

demonstrate you have anticipated needs for proposal)

Cost share??? Only if needed usually

Appendices

Only if allowed—read RFP/RFA carefully Letters from collaborators showing

agreement with what is written and what their role will be

SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF!

Follow the guidelines (font size, font type, margins, page limits….)

PROOFREAD Get outside critiques Use “friendly” writing style for reviewers

Grant Review Process

May request someone be excluded as reviewer Grant submitted and reviewed for general

compliance and fit to guidelines (6-9+ months) Sent out for review (ad hoc) Review by grant panel Program or foundation officers determine funding

based on panel review Might be follow up questions and budget issues to

grantee before final answer

Foundation Requests

May require letter of inquiry and/or pre-proposal (~3 pages):– succinct description of problem– proposed project– your qualifications

Determine if the fit is right to get invitation to submit a formal proposal

Rejection…………..

Allow 8 hours of depression and commiserate with friends, then….

Use the comments to make a better proposal Resubmit an improved proposal (address

ALL comments and questions) Usually 3-4 attempts max-then move on to

modified or different project

Key Points

Match the mission of the funding agency Read funded grants and talk to program

officer Follow the instructions Make friends with your Institutional

Sponsored Projects officer

Questions?

Contact Information:Gail Gasparichggasparich@towson.edu

Websites for Granting Agencies NSF Engineering: http://www.nsf.gov/dir/index.jsp?org=ENG (can get email alerts) Grants.gov provides funding for most other government agencies--keyword Engineering

(can get email alerts) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA):

http://www.darpa.mil/Opportunities/Solicitations/DARPA_Solicitations.aspx Air Force Research Laboratory:

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=8981 Office of Naval Research:

http://www.onr.navy.mil/en/Contracts-Grants/Funding-Opportunities.aspx Army Research Laboratory: http://www.arl.army.mil/www/default.cfm?page=8 NIH: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm NIST: http://www.nist.gov/director/ocfo/grants/grants.cfm NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/about/research/ EPA: http://www.epa.gov/ DOE: http://www.doe.gov/ STEM Grants: http://stemgrants.com/

Websites for Foundations Annenberg Foundation, http://www.annenbergfoundation.org ExxonMobil Education Foundation,

https://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/community_foundation.aspx Ford Foundation, http://www.fordfound.org Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, http://www.rwjf.org W. K. Kellogg Foundation, http://www.wkkf.org John D. and Catharine L. MacArthur Foundation, http://www.macfdn.org Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, http://www.mellon.org David and Lucille Packard Foundation, http://www.packard.org Pew Charitable Trusts, http://www.pewtrusts.com Rockefeller Foundation, http://www.rockfound.org AT&T Foundation, http://www.att.com/gen/corporate-citizenship?pid=7736 Intel Foundation, http://www.intel.com/intel/community W.M. Keck Foundation, http://www.wmkeck.org Luce Foundation, http://www.hluce.org Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, http://www.mellon.org Alfred R Sloan Foundation, http://www.sloan.org