Thoughts on Finding and Achieving Research Funding

Ray Vaughn

Associate Vice President for Research

vaughn@research.msstate.edu

Teresa Gammill

Assistant Vice President for Research

tgammill@research.msstate.edu

662-325-3570

Finding Funding Is Like HomeworkHomework is too time consuming?

At least 2/3 of your time in:• Finding the agency

• Investigating previous projects that the agency has funded

• Learning about the grant proposal requirements

• What can I find from the funder’s website or a company report

• Who at my institution has received funding from this funder and knows about this funder?

http://research.msstate.edu/rresources/externalfunding.php

Funding Approaches

1. Shotgun: Shoot a scatter shot and see what falls.

Look for funding agencies, investigate what they fund, and apply for something from the agency. Your goals are broad enough to be modified to fit their goals.

2. Rifle: Take careful aim at one specific target.

Look for funding agencies that fund only what you want. Search for an exact match to fund your project using your specifically stated goals.

Strategy Approach

1. Pick the appropriate federal agency(s)2. Pick 3-6 appropriate agencies/foundations3. Develop relationships4. Search with focus – direct to the agency or

using a search engine5. Constantly scan – ½ hour per day – lists,

eNewsletters, alerts, newslettersEx: ORED Webpage http://www.research.msstate.edu/rresources/rdevwritingnews.php

Identifying Funding Sources

• Previous funders• Sponsors that have funded your colleagueshttp://research.msstate.edu/rresources/externalfunding.php

• Industry contacts• Professional associations• Database searches• Web searches

Types of Funding

• Government - Federal, State, Local –

26 Federal Agencies (900 programs)Grants.gov - http://www07.grants.gov/index.jsp

• Foundations

Second-largest source – 900,000 • State Agencies• Direct Industry/Corporations

Types of Funding

Philanthropists

• Philanthropy News Digest – www.foundationcenter.org

• Philanthropy News Network Online – www.pnnonline.org

• Education World Grants Desk - http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml

• Open Directory - dmoz.org/Society/Philanthropy/Grants/Grant-Making_Foundations/

• Professional Associations & Societies

• “Other” Grant making organizations

Grant Sources/Information• Funding Alert at DC (includes some foundation grants)

http://opgd.dc.gov/opgd/lib/opgd/services/grant/funding_alerts/currentnewsletter.pdf

• Chronicle of Higher Education – chronicle.com/

• Don Peek (k-12 schools) – www.schoolfundingcenter.com

• Sheryl Abspire

http://www.cpsb.org/scripts/abshire/grants.aspEducation

• World Grants Desk - http://www.educationworld.com/maillist.shtml

26 Federal Agencies• Institute of Museum and Library Services -

http://www.imls.gov/• National Aeronautics and Space Administration -

http://www.nasa.gov/• National Archives and Records Administration -

http://www.archives.gov/• National Council on Disabilities - http://www.ncd.gov/• National Endowment for the Arts - http://www.nea.gov/grants/

Mississippi Arts Commission: http://www.arts.state.ms.us/grants/index.php

• National Endowment for the Humanities - http://www.neh.gov/• National Science Foundation - http://www.nsf.gov/funding/• Small Business Administration - http://www.sba.gov/

26 Federal Agencies• Social Security Administration -http://www.socialsecurity.gov/• US Agency for International Development -

http://www.usaid.gov/• US Department of Agriculture -

http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/funding.cfm• US Department of Commerce - http://www.commerce.gov• US Department of Health and Human Services -

http://www.hhs.gov/Mississippi Delta Health Alliancehttp://www.deltahealthalliance.org/

• US Department of Defense - http://www.defenselink.mil/• US Department of Education -

http://www2.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/grantapps/index.htmlMississippi MDE: http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/Grants.htmMississippi IHL: http://www.ihl.state.ms.us/

26 Federal Agencies• US Department of Energy - http://www.energy.gov/• US Department of Homeland Security -

http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/homeland/index.html• US Dept. of Housing &Urban Dev. - http://www.hud.gov/• US Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/• US Department of Justice - http://www.justice.gov/• US Department of Labor - http://www.dol.gov/• US Department of State - http://www.state.gov/• US Department of Transportation - http://www.dot.gov/• US Department of Veterans Affairs - http://www.va.gov/• US Environmental Protection Agency -

http://www.epa.gov/epahome/grants.htm • US Institute of Peace - http://www.usip.org/

Grant Resources

• Grants.gov - http://grants.gov/applicants/find_grant_opportunities.jsp

• All Federal grants - www.grants.gov• Institute of Education Sciences - http://ies.ed.gov• K-12 Grants without Deadlines

http://k12grants.org/Grants/nation-no_deadline.htm• FedBizOps - www.fedbizopps.gov/

• Funding Advantage - http://www.fcfaonline.com/

• Foundation Directory Online – http://www.fconline.fdncenter.org/

Funding Sources

• Foundation Center Newsletters– http://foundationcenter.org/newsletters/index.jhtml to

register for:• RFP Bulletin• Philanthropy News Digest • Job Alert

• Small Business Innovation Research - http://www.sbir.gov/solicitations

• GrantsAlert.com - www.GrantsAlert.com“Our number one goal at is to make life a little easier for those who devotetheir time to searching for education grants and identifying new funding

opportunities for their organizations, schools, districts, consortia and state education agencies.”

Funding Advantages

• Provides support dollars for:– Release Time– Travel– Undergrads/graduate students– Materials/supplies– Equipment– Helps with P&T

Caveats• These are thoughts – not a formula for success

in every case

• You must find something interesting to you and something you can actually do

• Industrial contracts are good too

• You need to listen to your P&T committees and department heads

• Early success is important – early failure is not

What works well… • Don’t be limiting in your search for opportunities

• Be willing to work with others

• Think outside the box – not everything is an exact fit for what you are looking for

• Selection rates for grants are low (10/15% is normal). Why would you think that writing one or two grants/year will result in success?

• Look for service/educational grants as well as technical grants

What works well (continued) …• Read the solicitation and give them what they ask for• Start with the budget…• Work with other experience people• Volunteer to serve on review panels• Get a review of your work before you send it in (spelling

counts…)• Talk to program managers• Read the reviews you get and improve.• Don’t be overly sensitive

Sources of Research Information

www.research.msstate.edu

Sources of Information

Interdisciplinary Research Grant Program

• The ORED interdisciplinary seed grant program is designed to provide faculty members with small grants to assist with their research and in building collaborations across disciplines. These awards are for $2000 or less and can be used for small equipment purchases, travel to meet with a program sponsor, purchase of special scholarly tools, or other needs as appropriate.

• Thirty projects were funded in 2010-2011

• We expect to repeat the program in 2011-2012

ORED Faculty Research Support Program

• Provides limited and shared support for faculty that require financial investment in order to pursue research successes;

• Priority will be given to requests for faculty travel to meet with grant program managers to discuss ideas for future proposal submissions;

•This program replaces the research initiation program, quick grant program, faculty travel program, and the summer research program;

•All faculty financial research support requests should be sent to Dr. Ray Vaughn, the Associate Vice President for Research, for review and consideration;

•Each request should be routed via email though the appropriate department head and dean for comment and recommendation (in the case of a research center request, the center director will be expected to comment). A form for this purpose is provided for download from this web site.

http://www.research.msstate.edu/funding/

Office of Sponsored Programs Administration

• Sponsored programs administration deals with the preparation and submittal of proposals (Pre-award).

• Grant administrators are assigned by colleges.• Director is Mr. Richard Swann (662) 325-7404

What does SPA do???• SPA is pre-award – they are a contracts office and

make sure you are compliant with the law

• They check your budget

• They make sure all the reps/certs are acceptable

• They can obligate the university

• They submit your proposal for you

• They review your proposal for completeness

• They look for red flags – like export control

What does SPA not do?• SPA will not check the technical work of your

proposal

• SPA cannot perform superhuman fetes and review your proposal in minutes – they need time (3 days)

• They cannot turn lead into gold (alchemy)

• They cannot determine whether or not IP is involved – you must do that

Questions?

More Information: http://www.research.msstate.edu/