Glenn Songer

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• Glenn Songer
• Veterinary Science and Microbiology
• gsonger_at_u.arizona.edu

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• What was really best, everyone knew, was gobs
  and gobs of dough, simoleons raining down in
  torrents, choking great wads of cash that would
  give everyone confidence just by its presence.
• Jane Smiley in Moo

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Tip 1 Develop an analysis of how much money you
need annually for research

• Write proposals accordingly
• More effective than the John D. Rockefeller model

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Tip 2 Funding goes to great ideas

• Quality of an idea is sometimes a matter of gut
  feeling
• Suggestion develop a 1 minute oral statement
  describing research
• Clear, concise, testable hypothesis
• Focused objectives, aims
• Specific experiments to directly test hypothesis
• If you cant do this.
• Present to colleagues for critique
• Carry to program officer at the funding source?

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Tip 3 Find the right funding source(s)

• As a rule
• USDA
• Addresses targeted basic research
• Moderate to substantial amounts of funding
• Difficulty with longterm sustainability
• NIH
• Addresses basic research
• Funding can be substantial many modes (e.g.,
  R01, R21)
• Sustainable if work is competitive

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Tip 3 Find the right funding source(s)

• Industry
• Driven by profit motive marketing may have more
  influence on funding decisions than RD
• Can form solid basis for some projects
• Excellent source if research is problem-solving
• Rarely sustainable, continuity for personnel
  challenging
• Avoid becoming vending machine

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Tip 4 Write as if your professional life
depends on it (it does)

• Abstract
• Make your application a page turner
• Enough detail, but not too much not too dense
• Application cannot be polished too much
• Organize proposal to facilitate reading a bit at
  a time

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Tip 5 Start well in advance of deadlines

• Not unreasonable to start one year ahead of due
  date
• 6 months before deadline
• Initial draft of main proposal section
• 1000 words per day
• Comments from colleagues
• Good writing skills
• Experience as reviewers
• Willingness to spend hours reading, not minutes
  skimming
• Discuss, ignore for 1-2 weeks, revise

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Tip 5 Start well in advance of deadlines

• 1 month before deadline
• Put together final version (with forms,
  figures, references)
• Additional review by colleagues
• Review of entire package is important flaws
  become apparent
• Observe local/program deadlines

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Tip 6 Let review take its course, work on
something else
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Tip 7 Be prepared to resubmit (

• Priority scores and triage
• Deal with reviews
• Hold steady read briefly, allow to lie fallow
  for awhile if possible
• Sift wheat from chaff organize all comments into
  strengths and weaknesses
• Apply to rewrite of proposal

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Tip 7 Be prepared to resubmit )

• Write a response if you must, seeking help from
  linguistically-gifted colleagues
• When ignorance goes to 40 a barrel, I want
  drilling rights on your head.
• Youre like a slinky pretty much without value,
  but itd bring a smile to my face to push you
  down the stairs.
• Your very existence proves that Darwin was
  right.
• Youre a lamb chop short of a mixed grill.
• If you entered a stupid contest, theyd say,
  Sorry, no professionals."
• UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SEND THE LETTER!

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Tip 8 The harder/smarter you work, the luckier
you get

• My formula for success is rise early, work late,
  and strike oil." (J. Paul Getty)

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Tip 9 Persistence may be the most desirable
quality of all

• "Some mornings, it just doesn't seem worth it to
  gnaw through the leather straps." (Emo Phillips)
• Seek encouragement from your colleagues
• if were not there now, we have been and will be
  again soon.