Writing Effective Research Grant Proposals Office of Proposal Development Presentation for Dean of F

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Writing Effective Research Grant ProposalsOffice
of Proposal DevelopmentPresentation for Dean of
Faculties Seminar Series Lucy Deckardand John
IvyOctober 4, 2006
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Overview of Presentation

• Office of Proposal Development who we are
• Identifying Funding Opportunities
• Understanding the Funding Agency and Program
• The Craft of Writing a Competitive Proposal
• Funding Opportunities for Junior Faculty
• Overview of Specific Agencies
• NSF, DoD, USDA, NASA, National Labs
• NIH
• Examples

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VPR/OPD Research Development Support

• Workshops, seminars and presentations
• Center level initiatives
• Multidisciplinary initiatives
• New Faculty Initiative
• Help develop collaborative research activities
• Link to System universities and support System
  Pathways Initiative
• Identify institutional funding opportunities

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Office of Proposal Development
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Check out our Websitehttp//opd.tamu.edu/

• Funding opportunities
• Upcoming seminars
• Proposal resources
• Resources for junior faculty
• Craft of Grant Writing workbook
• Presentations from past seminars
• To find this presentation with resource extra
  materials, go to http//opd.tamu.edu/seminar-mater
  ials and click on todays date

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Members, Office of Proposal Development

• Jean Ann Bowman - Ecological and environmental
  sciences/ agriculture-related proposals and
  centers, jbowman_at_tamu.edu
• Libby Childress - Scheduling, resources, training
  workshop management, project coordination,
  libbyc_at_tamu.edu
• Mike Cronan - Center-level proposals, AM System
  partnerships, new proposal and training
  initiatives, mikecronan_at_tamu.edu
• Lucy Deckard - New faculty initiative,
  fellowships, physical science-related proposals,
  equipment and instrumentation, interdisciplinary
  materials group, OPD web management
  l-deckard_at_tamu.edu
• John Ivy NIH and related agency initiatives in
  the biomedical sciences partnerships with the
  TAMU Heath Science Center
• Phyllis McBride - Craft of proposal writing
  training, NIH and related agency initiatives in
  the social and behavioral sciences editing and
  rewriting, p-mcbride_at_tamu.edu
• Robyn Pearson - Education, liberal arts, social
  behavioral sciences, and humanities-related
  proposals, support for interdisciplinary research
  group development, educational proposals, editing
  and rewriting, rlpearson_at_tamu.edu

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Looking For Funding Opportunities
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Ways to Find Funding

• Talk to colleagues doing similar research
• Look for funding sources credited in books and
  journal articles describing similar research
• Use the web and other information resources

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Information on the Internet

• Funding Agency websites
• Compilations of funding opportunities
• Automatic e-mail notifications services
• Database services
• Google is your best friend

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Types of Funding Agencies

• Basic research agencies
• (e.g, NSF, NIH)
• Mission-oriented agencies
• (e.g., NASA, DoD, Dept of Ed.)
• Foundations
• Other
• (industry, professional organizations, etc.)

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Unsolicited vs. Solicited Proposals

• Unsolicited
• Investigator-initiated no specific solicitation
  or RFP
• Typically long-running program relatively
  general statement of research topics of interest
• For NSF and NIH, recurring due dates or target
  dates each year
• Rare for Mission Agencies (DOE, USDA)

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Unsolicited vs. Solicited proposals

• Solicited
• Terminology
• Request for Proposal (RFP)
• Program Solicitation
• Request for Application (RFA)
• For NIH, Program Announcement (PA)
• Tied to specific agency initiative
• May only last a few funding cycles or may go on
  for years
• Have specific additional evaluation criteria
• Often have specific formatting requirements

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Steps in Writing Competitive Proposals

• Understand the agency
• Understand the solicitation or program
• Have a good idea that fits the solicitation and
  meets the agencys goals
• Write a clear proposal that
• Convinces the reviewers that your project is a
  good idea that will help the agency meet its
  goals
• Is likely to be successful

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Backgrounding an agency and evaluating a
potential funding opportunity
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Backgrounding the Funding AgencyQuestions to Ask

• What are its mission and goals?
• What are its investment priorities, strategic
  plan?
• What time horizon are they aiming for?
• How do they get their funding?
• What procedures do they use to notify the
  community of funding opportunities?
• Who influences their planning and goals?
• What language do they use?

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Backgrounding Funding AgencyQuestions to Ask

• What is their culture like?
• What procedures do they use to review proposals
  and make funding decisions?
• What are their review criteria?
• How are they organized?
• Who are the personnel and what is their
  background?
• What have they funded in the past?
• What is their budget?

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Backgrounding the Funding AgencySources of
Information

• Web site
• Solicitation
• Organization Chart
• Strategic Plan/ Roadmap
• Bios of Program Officers
• Reports, Publications
• Contacts with Program Officers (visits,
  conferences, phone and e-mail conversations)
• Agency workshops and seminars

• Leadership Speeches
• Congressional Testimony
• Current Funded Projects Databases
• Project Abstracts
• Contacts with Funded Researchers
• Contacts with former Program Officers
• Contacts with former Reviewers

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Funding Agency Investment PrioritiesExamples

• National Science Foundation
• Strategic Plan 2003-08 (http//www.nsf.gov/od/gpra
  /Strategic_Plan/FY2003-2008.pdf)
• Office of the Director (http//www.nsf.gov/od/)
• National Institutes of Health
• NIH Roadmap (http//nihroadmap.nih.gov/)
• NIH Director Elias Zerhouni (http//www.sciencemag
  .org/feature/plus/nihroadmap.pdf)
• NIH Directors Page (http//www.nih.gov/about/dire
  ctor/)

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Funding Agency PrioritiesExamples

• Department of Education
• Dept of Ed Strategic Plan http//www.ed.gov/about/
  reports/strat/plan2002-07/index.html
• Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative
  Services
• Mission Statement, Strategic Plan and Goals
  http//www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/aboutus
  .html
• Reports and resources http//www.ed.gov/about/offi
  ces/list/osers/reports.html

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Funded Projects Databases

• NSF Award Search Site (abstracts of awards
  available) http//www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/index.js
  p
• NIH Award Search Site (abstracts of awards
  available) http//crisp.cit.nih.gov/crisp/crisp_qu
  ery.generate_screenhttp//crisp.cit.nih.gov/ DoD
• SBIR/STTR Search http//www.dodsbir.net/Awards/Def
  ault.asp
• NEH Awards Search http//www.neh.gov/news/recentaw
  ards.html
• USDA Awards information and Forms
  http//cris.csrees.usda.gov/
• US Dept. of Education Awards Search (limited)
  http//wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/CFAPPS/grantaward/start
  .cfm

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Researching a Specific Funding Opportunity
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Reading the Solicitation

• Read and re-read the solicitation!
• The solicitation is not a list of suggestions it
  is a list of requirements
• It is a window into the thinking of the funding
  agency

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Things to Look for in the Solicitation

• Purpose of the program
• Research topics of interest
• Changes from previous programs
• Inspiration for program and references
• Program requirements
• Proposal requirements
• Budget guidelines
• Review criteria
• If you are pursuing an unsolicited
  opportunity, you will have to find these things
  out using other available information sources

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Explicit Proposal Requirements

• Note carefully formatting rules (page limits,
  fonts, margins, etc.) these may be in a
  separate document
• Look for suggested or required sections
• Make an outline that mirrors solicitation
• Include checklist of everything that must be
  addressed, divided by sections keep this
  checklist through early drafts
• Note supplementary documents needed
• Bios, Lists of Current Funding, Letters of
  support, Facilities and Equipment, etc.

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Unspoken Expectations

• Qualifications and experience of PI(s)
• Infrastructure provided by PIs institution
• Preliminary data
• Very important!
• Varies greatly depending on agency, discipline,
  etc.
• Info sources
• Previous awardees
• Previous reviewers
• Program officers and previous program officers

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Talking to the Program Officer

• Do your homework first
• Read solicitation carefully
• Read background documents
• Investigate previously funded projects
• Prepare a concise description of your project
• Goals, objectives, outcomes
• One short paragraph
• Try e-mail and phone
• If possible, use e-mail to set up phone
  conversation
• Ask open-ended questions and listen carefully

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Talking to Previous Awardees

• Most previous awardees very generous (unless they
  will be competing with you for renewal)
• Ask about program reviews, feedback from program
  officer
• Be aware that programs may evolve and criteria
  change
• Previous awardees often also reviewers
• May make sense to cite results of previous
  awardee or forge a connection with previously
  funded programs

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Review Criteria

• Most important part of solicitation!
• Plan how you will meet each review criterion
• Structure your proposal outline to reflect review
  criteria
• If you are weak in an area, plan how you will
  address this

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Preparing to Write

• Research agency
• Research program
• Develop detailed outline
• Research literature and previous work
• Generate preliminary data, if needed
• Develop collaborations, partnerships, support, if
  needed
• Line up institutional support, if needed
• Line up colleagues to edit your outline and
  proposal
• Generate schedule for producing your proposal

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Contact Your Proposal Administrator

• Agencies providing proposal administration
• Research Foundation
• http//rf-web.tamu.edu/preaward/proposaladm.html
• TEES Research Services
• http//trsweb.tamu.edu/contact.html
• TAES Preaward Services
• http//agcg.tamu.edu/staff.htm
• TTI
• Toni Monroe979-862-3942t-monroe_at_ttimail.tamu.edu
  
• If unsure which agency to contact, talk to your
  Department Head

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Writing the Proposal
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Must Convince Reviewers

• Your proposed research should be funded
• Its important and supports the agency mission
  and program goals
• Its exciting
• It has a good chance of succeeding
• You are the person who should conduct the
  proposed research
• You are knowledgeable and well-qualified
• You have the support and resources required

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Make your proposal easy to read

• Reviewers often have 8 or 10 proposals to read
• Use white space, underlining, bold, bullets,
  figures, flowcharts to make main points easy to
  find
• Put main idea of sections and paragraphs up front

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Structure of Proposal

• Often dictated by solicitation or other agency
  document
• NSF Grant Proposal Guide
• NIH PHS 398
• Also guided by evaluation criteria

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Proposal Sections Examples

• Project Summary
• Project Description/Research Narrative
• Goals/Objectives/Specific Aims
• Introduction/Overview
• Background and Significance
• Preliminary Data
• Approach/Methodology
• Research Plan
• Broader Impacts (NSF)
• Literature Cited
• Budget
• Budget Justification
• Biosketches
• Funded Projects
• Equipment and Facilities

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Summary

• Provides a concise overview of the proposed
  project
• May be the only section the reviewer reads!
• Generates enthusiasm for the proposed project
• Requires that you provide a great deal of
  information within a tightly prescribed format
• Who, what, when, where, why, and how
• Additional agency-specific information
• NIH Relevance of the research to public health
• NSF Intellectual merit and broader impacts
• Frequently becomes public record if the project
  is funded
• Should be written in third person
• Should not include confidential or proprietary
  information

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Goals/Specific Aims

• State specific, measurable goals of your project
• Tie to program/agency mission and goals
• If hypothesis-based research, state your
  hypothesis
• Discuss expected outcomes

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Introduction/Overview

• Provides a framework for the reviewer
• Remainder of proposal will flesh out this
  framework
• Opportunity to make important points up front
• Communicate your excitement!

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Background/Literature Review

• Spend some time researching this
• This section should tie closely to your proposed
  research
• What are the holes in current knowledge that your
  work will fill?
• How does your research extend and advance
  knowledge in the field?
• Do not be dismissive of previous research
• Be thorough in citing important work but be
  concise

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Significance

• Explain explicitly why proposed research is
  important
• Tie to agency and program goals
• Relate to review criteria
• Make this easy to find

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Approach/Research Plan/Methodology

• Be very clear about how you will accomplish your
  stated goals and objectives
• Include details
• What, specifically, will you do when you get the
  money?
• Schedules and milestones may be helpful
• This is especially important if you are a
  relatively new researcher
• Address any potential dead ends, roadblocks,
  show-stoppers and how you will deal with them
• Avoid ambiguous terminology be very specific!

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Connect narrative text to budget

• Budget categories are defined by the funding
  agency
• Be sure activities discussed in narrative are
  reflected in budget
• Connect narrative text to the budget to ensure
  appropriate balance and proportion,
• If a budget justification section is requested,
  use it to complement and deepen the narrative
  detail

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Outcomes or deliverables

• Develop short, hard-hitting lists off-set by
  bullets or other typographical formats
• Relate outcomes to goals and objectives
• Outcomes should be specific and measurable
• Timelines and schedules with milestones can
  orient reviewers and provide a quick overview of
  how program components fit together

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Project assessment and evaluation

• How will you know if you were successful?
• Describe what will be measured in order to assess
  how well project met each of its objectives
• Who will conduct assessment?
• Discuss logistics
• Formative assessment conducted throughout
  project and results fed back to improve project
• Summative assessment final assessment at end of
  project

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Examples Specific Agencies
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National Science Foundation

• Funds research in
• Biological Sciences (BIO)
• Computer and Info Science and Eng (CISE)
• Engineering (ENG)
• Education and Human Resources (EHR)
• Geosciences (GEO)
• Math and Physical Sciences (MPS)
• Polar Research (OPP)
• Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE)
• Cross-cutting Research

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NSF

• In addition to research grants, NSF funds
• Instrumentation
• Conferences and Workshops
• Doctoral Research in Selected Areas (Doctoral
  Dissertation Improvement Grants)
• International Travel
• Graduate Fellowships

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Funding opportunities

• see Guide to Programs at http//www.nsf.gov/fund
  ing/browse_all_funding.jsp
• Program Description or Program Announcement
  (unsolicited)
• Solicitations
• Supplements
• Dear Colleague Letter
• SGER (Special Grants for Exploratory Research)

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Example funding opportunitiesCAREER

• http//www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_k
  eynsf05579 Duration 5 years
• Funding level minimum 400K total (except min.
  500K total for BIO directorate)
• Eligibility
• Have a PhD
• Untenured, holding tenure-track assistant prof.
  Position or equivalent
• Have not competed in CAREER more than two times
  previously
• Have not won a CAREER award
• Due July 17 19 depending on directorate
• Typical 10 20 success rate

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NSF Review Criteria

• Intellectual Merit
• How important is activity to advancing knowledge
  and understanding in own field and across fields?
• How well-qualified is proposer to conduct
  project?
• How creative and original are ideas?
• How well-conceived and organized is proposed
  activity?
• Is there sufficient access to resources?
• Broader Impacts
• How well does the activity advance discovery and
  understanding while promoting teaching, training
  and learning?
• Will it enhance infrastructure for research and
  education such as facilities, networks,
  partnerships?
• Will results be disseminated broadly to enhance
  understanding of science?
• What are potential benefits to society of
  proposed research?

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Review Process

• May be ad hoc or panel review (at least three
  reviewers)
• Proposal rated
• Excellent, Very good, Good, Fair, Poor
• Comments included as feedback
• NSF tries to return reviews within 6 months of
  due date

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USDA

• Mission-oriented
• Mission to provide leadership on food,
  agriculture, and natural resources through
  scientific research and education.
• The USDA is divided into seven major focus areas.
  Of the seven, only one Research, Education and
  Economics maintains a sizeable competitive
  grants program on a consistent basis

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USDAGranting Mechanisms and Awardshttp//www.csr
ees.usda.gov/

• Primary USDA competitive grant program managed
  through the Cooperative State Research,
  Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).
• Research programs are organized around the
  following national emphasis areas
• Agricultural Food Biosecurity
• Agricultural Systems
• Animals Animal Products
• Biotechnology Genomics
• Economics Commerce
• Families, Youth, Community
• Food, Nutrition Health
• Natural Resources Environment
• Pest Management
• Plants Plant Products
• Technology Engineering

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Department of Defense

• Defense Advance Research Agency (DARPA)
• www.darpa.mil
• Army Research Office (ARO)
• www.aro.army.mil
• Office of Naval Research (ONR)
• www.onr.navy.mil
• Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
• www.afosr.af.mil
• Congressionally Directed Medical Research
  Programs (CDMRP)
• http//cdmrp.army.mil/default.htm
• See DoD Director of Research site
  http//www.acq.osd.mil/ddre/research/opportunities
  .html

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Culture

• Highly mission-oriented
• Research designated
• 6.1 basic research
• 6.2 applied research
• 6.3 applications
• DARPA funds more basic, high-risk research but
  6.1 also funded at other agencies
• See web sites for technical areas of interest
• Highly directed by Program Officers
• Personal relationship very important!
• Connection to defense companies helpful
• Intramural research

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Funding Opportunities

• Unsolicited
• Research priorities outlined in Long Range Broad
  Agency Announcement (BAA)
• Discuss idea with Program Officer
• If interested, will ask for white paper or
  preliminary proposal
• If PO likes white paper, s/he will request full
  proposal
• Solicited
• Targeted BAAs and Programs
• Get to know your technical point of contact!
• Discuss ideas with him/her
• Find out what they are interested in

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National Laboratories

• Largely collaborative
• Must develop a relationship with scientists at
  the National Labs
• Take a summer position at a National Lab