EXPEDITING AND COMPLETING THE APPLICATION

Navigating the Sea of Competition Positioning Proposals for Funding

Dianne Donnelly, Ph.D. Sandy Justice, USF-CRA

The Stakes

The Stakes

Guardians of Grantsmanship

Our MissionThe complexity of research administration requires knowledgeable, highly adaptive, and skilled professionals who have expertise in an ever expanding variety of areas characterized today by evolving regulatory requirements and a need for managed risk.

Navigating the Sea of Competition

Kicked to the Curb Activity

Positioned for Success:The Grant Process

1. Novel Idea2. Grant Opportunities3. Grant Application Process4. Grant Decisions (Award/Reject)

Identify Novel Idea

1. Novel Idea

2. Grant Opportuniti

es

3. Grant Application

Process

4. Grant Decisions

(Award/Reject)

Generate Novel Idea

• The idea, as presented, is worth pursuing Think 5 years out (Arrow Electronics)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67NkkFE4WYs

• The idea, may do the following: Fill gaps in science Take scholarship in new direction Bring disciplines together

100 GRAND Activity

• Identify your novel idea• Develop your pitch• Persuade your audience • Consider the impact and significance

Align the idea with funding priorities• Offer peer review perspectives

Reference clarity, feasibility, significance, and impact

Identify Grant Opportunities

1. Novel Idea

2. Grant Opportuniti

es

3. Grant Application

Process

4. Grant Decisions

Where to Find the Right RFP?

News Digest

Finding Funding: 6 Key FOCUSED Words

• Global• Diaspora• Sustainable • Entomology• Hazards• Energy• Autism• Materials• Economics• Health

• Women• Political Reform• Water • STEM Ed• Forensics• Research• Engineering• Cancer• Migration• Digital Humanities

Eligibility Match

Principle Investigator (PI)• Postdoc• Early-career• Mid-career• Established PI• Tenure Earning• US resident, Visa

Status

Request for Funding (RFP) • NIH – Which R grant?• NSF – disciplinary• PECASE, CAREER• NEH Fellowship• ACLS, Fulbright• Foundation grants• DOD

Broad Brush Proposal Steps

Understand the preliminary and subsequent steps needed to be and stay competitive

Pilot Data Project Team – demonstrated expertise Facilities, equipment, infrastructure Broader Impacts – diversity, engagement, relevance Publications and presentations

Grant Application Process

Guidelines

Checklists &

Timelines

Proposal Pieces

Partners &

Planning

Compelling

Writing

Submission

Checklists and Timelines Internal checks & balances Proposal pieces Letters of support Budget (cost share?) Compliance (COI) Subs / Collaborators CV/Bio Sketch

Careful Examination of Guidelines

Look for Revisions or Changes from the last time this grant was offered…

Sample Proposals

Look at what has been done … seek examples of success

Proposal Pieces: Tailor for Proposal

• Data Management Plans• Postdoc Mentoring Plans• Digital Data Research Plans• Intellectual Property Plans• Facilities, Equipment & Infrastructure• 5% Other

Timelines: Planning Ahead

Budget Activity

• A PI walks into a bar ….• What budget categories are you, as the

RA, going to write on your cocktail napkin?

Cocktail Napkin Budget

• Sr. Personnel (% effort > calendar months)

• Other Personnel (Center coordinator, Lab manager, Equipment technician)

• Fringe Benefits• Equipment (F&A bearing?)• Travel• Participant Support Costs

Gift cards or cash Travel support Bread and water Supplies (binoculars,

iPads)

• Other Direct Costs Materials and Supplies Publication costs Consultant services Computing Subawards Other (Lab fees)

• Total Direct Costs (A through G)• Non F&A ‘Other’ – Tuition• Indirect Costs (F&A)

Partners & Planning

• Partners should support with clarity and confidence: “I support this project because…”

• Commitment should resonate (specific, ‘real’)

Partners and Planning

Subs and Contracts

Grant Application Process

1. Novel Idea

2. Grant Opportuniti

es

3. Grant Application

Process

4. Grant Decisions

(Award/Reject)

Crafting the Compelling Story

The Stakes

Genre & Time

AudienceWriting & Revising

The 3 D’s

Submitting

Process

Grant Writing: A Genre of Its Own

Focus: on scholarly pursuits of writer

Past-Oriented: completed research

Audience: Like-discipline peers

Specialized Terminology: (“inside jargon”)

Focus: aligns with priorities of agency

Future-Oriented: Research plan

Audience: PO’s & both narrowly & broadly defined peers

Accessible Language: (broader audience)

Academic

Writing

Grant Writing

Timing is Everything!

# of narrative pages allowed in grant x 4 hrs. of writing, editing, proofreading/page

+ 1.5 hrs. to carefully read & outline RFP guidelines

+ 5 hrs. to write a detailed budget justification and complete budget forms

+ 5 hrs. to obtain letters of support, resumes, & job descriptions

+ 1 hr. to complete grant forms

+ 5 hrs. to do a final review, compile, & submit proposal

For typical 15 page proposal: 60 hrs. +15 hrs. +5 hrs. +1 hr. +5 hrs. ~73 hrs. = Four 18 hrs. days -- if this is all faculty do!

More on Timing

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect• Activate portions of brain through practice • QUANTITY of grant writing practice is important

to improving skills but so is the QUALITY of the practice—do it often and do it effectively – perfect grant writing practice makes perfect.

Knowing Your Audience

• Panelists (experts) vs. ad hoc

• Interdisciplinary vs. multidisciplinary

• Fair vs. prejudicial/biased

Thinking Like a Reviewer

• Readability is the key• Assume the audience

is well-educated, but don’t assume topical knowledge

• Aim the application at a wider breadth of audience

• Write in a single voice, so the proposal is a coherent, well-integrated story

• Make sure terms are well defined when you use them

Competitive

• Novel, original idea • Succinct & focused plan • Clear ROI• Credible PI who can

accomplish work in given timeframe

• Clarity concerning future direction

• Convincing evidence

Compelling

• Persuasive story• Quantifiable argument• Impactful research• Solid guideposts for

reader• Clear, concise confident,

cohesive writing• Meaningful

visuals/captions

• WHAT are you proposing to do?

• WHY is this important?

• Can YOU do it?

3 Important Questions

In More Proposal Terms

• Intellectual Merit• Probability of success• Feasibility• Applicant’s qualifications• Preliminary work• Broader Aspects

Persuasive Proposal Writing

1. “Sell your best idea” clearly2. Make them care 3. Prove that you can do it

High Quality Proposals

Immediately state the fundamental elements of the project

• Methodology: Experimental, theoretical, survey, fieldwork, observational, computational, archive, database

• Techniques: Use recognizable terms

• Stake: What is “at stake?”

Goals/Aims and Objectives

Goal/Aim

“Our aim with this innovative curriculum is to improve the supply of graduates with National Registry certification.”

Objective

“At least 90 per cent of course graduates will pass the National Registry certification.”

Anchor Activity

Write a brief outline of your new/established project and come up with these foundation requirements: 1. Methodology: Theory, experimental,

survey, fieldwork, etc. 2. Technique: Slightly more detailed than

above 3. What’s at stake?

Delivery, Design, Documentation

• Delivery (following the guidelines, guiding your reader, presenting confidence, and providing concision, cohesion, clarity)

• Documentation (delivering facts & evidence)

• Design (conveying visual messages)

Back to the Stakes

• # of proposals nearly doubled, # of awards Unchanged, success rates dropped to single-digit numbers

• Panels review many grants

• Reviewers have limited time to make the case for your grant

Intangibles Influence Funding

• Reviewers will eliminate 50% of proposals as “undiscussed” – no opportunity for funding

• Funding success can depend on reviewer’s area of expertise

• All else being equal – some institutional bias

Revise, Revise, Revise

Guide the Reader• Use topic sentences that both introduce and

summarize the info in a paragraph.• Make connections to your project aim through

your proposal in various sections• Emphasize research questions, aims, sub-aims

with headings • Bold section headers and subheaders and

critical components to guide readers (some PIs italicize critical statements).

• Propel message forward with visuals and captions.

Concision

• Incorporate direct concise language • Consider brevity • Simplify sentences • Vary future tense• Construct parallel structure

Confidence & Clarity

• Use active verbs• Sound confident, but not arrogant• Craft concrete “visual” language • Limit adjectives and adverbs• Watch clichéd words • Make subjects and verbs agree in number • Make pronoun usage clear rather than vague or

ambiguous

Activity: Change Passive to Active

• It has been demonstrated by research that….

• The SAP Program is being implemented by our department this year.

• Following administration of the third dosage, measurements will be taken.

• Make it easier for reviewers to understand your ideas

• Help show the flow of ideas/aims, highlight important points, & convey your thinking and approach

• Connect the graphic to the aims of the proposal• Provide value in the time/effort you invest in

incorporating these visuals • Establish the “identity of the project”

Informational Design

Visuals & Captions: Propelling Messages Forward

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9i769czbV_YYm1rZ3ZYUFYzTGM

Project Summaries or Abstracts

• Presents ideas, methods, and expected outcome• Must be clear, concise, and comprehensive• First impressions – read by reviewers completely

Compelling Introductions

• Lead sentence should get reviewer’s attention (create tension; what’s the problem? What’s your answer?)

• Note why prior studies have not resolved problem and why your study has merit

• Why is unique about your site, methodology, collaborations?

• What is your proposal’s purpose?

Project Description• Page limit awareness• A broader theoretical framework that works down

to one or a few focal questions• A well-specified, scientifically sound research

plan to test answers to the focal questions• Clear and believable statements regarding

prospective intellectual merit and broader impacts• A sound management plan and descriptions of

who will do what work

Sound Management Plan

Intellectual Merit/Significance

Why is your research important for the advancement of your field? • What is already known?• What is new?• What will your research add?• What will this do to enhance or enable research in your field or the field of others?

Intellectual Merit Activity

• Develop your Intellectual Merit Section

How is your work going to advance knowledge in your field?

Are you addressing gaps in the knowledge base? Do you have evidence of that gap?

• Share with your colleague(s)

Broader Impact• How will your research results be applied?

Economic/environment/energy Education and training Providing opportunities for underrepresented groups Improving research and education infrastructure

Offering transparency and publication plans

Broader Impact Intrinsic to Research

• Improves theoretical knowledge and operational models of weather systems, storm forecasting, and resilience planning post Hurricane Sandy

• Improves predications of severe weather• Engages in cutting-edge research in optical

sciences with the potential for profound impacts on human health & counterterrorism

* see NSF Perspectives on Broader Impacts

Broader Impact Education and Outreach• Creates a traveling exhibition: Human Plus Real

Lives – displays extraordinary technological advances being made to restore and extend human abilities

• Provides students with opportunity to work at a premier global lab

• Connects Florida’s manufacturers, teachers, & students with its workforce

• Researches innate plant immunity

* see NSF Perspectives on Broader Impacts

Broader Impact Activity• Develop your Broader Impact/Significance

Section How will your work promote teaching,

training, and learning?How might your work broaden participation

of underrepresented groups? Help the stakeholders who will be affected

by your work understand the value of your research and why your project is worthy of investment.

Letters of Collaboration

• Triage – selective LOIs• Gauge response – all LOIs move forward• Know the art of the elevator speech

Form a clear introduction Tell a story Hook your reader Conclude with a call to action

LOIs and Letter Proposals

• Speak to WHY you, WHY this grant• Write succinctly – brevity is key

From 15 pages to 1, 3 or 5 pages Not an abstract of a full grant

• Avoid technical jargon and acronyms• Bold statement of positive language • Know and define your purpose

Typical LP/LOI Structure

• Project Title – descriptive, impactful, succinct• Project Summary (Opening paragraph)• Project Description – systematic, foundation-

speak, assertive• Summary budget – Clear, reasonable,

competitive

ACTIVITY

Submitting Your Proposal: Measure Twice, Cut Once

• Checklist before submission• NSF bio – top 5 ‘products’ not ‘publications’• Formatting follows guidelines … including the

name of the project title, ‘CAREER:” and your file, ‘narrative’

• Budget check – fringe rate, F&A, tuition• Internal approvals

@ Submission

• Know your deadline – receipt date (and time … EST)

• If there is an error, there is time to remedy • Understand how to address issues, or (first time

with this agency?) partner with a veteran, keep a hotline handy

• Confirm receipt – encourage patience – waiting for funding decision is hard to do.

Positioned for Success:The Grant Process

1. Novel Idea

2. Grant Opportunitie

s

3. Grant Application

Process

4. Grant Decisions

(Award/Reject)

Fund Me, Maybe

Funding Decisions

Unfunded

R & R

Awarded

NSF• Lack of Focus• Lack of PI experience/credibility • Scope is out of proportion to

budget and workload• More specificity on

goals/objectives and project purpose needed

• Work doesn’t address broad current interests

NIH• Approach to problem is

not clearly defined• Competence of

Investigators is not confirmed

• Allocation of time is out of proportion to PI’s teaching or other non-research duties

Common Reasons for Low Ratings

Why Unfunded?

• Project didn’t match program funding• Proposal was unreasonable

Guidelines weren’t followed, Objectives/methods were unclear, budget didn’t match scope

Needs more data and proof that the project is achievable (seed data, infrastructure)

• Shrinking program funding – ltd. # awards

Unfunded Proposals: Revise & Resubmit

• Learn from Experience: How can the next proposal benefit?

• Address Peer Review Comments: Is it worthwhile to revise / resubmit?

• Talk with your Program Officer

Revise & Resubmit

Addressing Peer Review Comments

• Rejection – lack of PI experience, dearth of pubs, insufficient infrastructureRemedy – add senior collaborator (Co-PI),

strengthen management plan

• Rejection – too vague, difficult to read or followRemedy – clear/specific format, guiding

headings, relevant illustrations

• Rejection – a peer reviewer says, ‘I didn’t understand where the PI was going with this”Remedy – additional clarity on process

• Rejection – the proposal seems too ambitious or unachievableRemedy – timeline and flow chart mapping

out objectives and deliverables

Addressing Peer Review Comments

Awarded. Now What?

• Thank your Program Officer• Read over the reviewers’ comments (no

comments? Ask for them.)• Discuss the comments with your PO so that you

can improve for the subsequent proposal• Understand how to establish the award, and meet

sponsor’s reporting requirements

Questions?

Dr. Dianne Donnelly, Assistant Dean of Research, College of Arts & Sciences, USF ddonnelly@usf.edu

Sandy Justice, USF Certified Research Administrator, TRAIN® Ambassador, Sr. Research Administrator, Office of Research and Scholarship, USF College of Arts & Sciences sjustice@usf.edu

Resources• Stay current with the research news and what’s trending at the

federal funding agencies… one way is through GUIRR, the Government University Industry Research Roundtable

• The Foundation Center posts the text of its Proposal Writing Short Course.

• The University of Michigan hosts a useful Proposal Writer’s Guide.• The Human Frontiers Science Program posts its monograph on

the Art of Grantsmanship.• This ACLS article outlines the essentials of 

proposal writing for fellowship competitions.• Michigan State University has a listing with links to over 100

proposal guides, including ones that focus on specific disciplines or on applications to specific agencies and organizations.

Resources

Advanced Manufacturing

Cybersecurity Big Data Education Energy & Env

ironment

Innovation International Research

IP/Patents Jobs/Workforce

Outsourcing Research & Development

Navigating the Sea of Competition