Tips for Writing a Successful Grant Proposal

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Tips for Writing a Successful Grant Proposal

• Diana Lipscomb
• Associate Dean for Faculty and Research
• CCAS

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Life Cycle of a Proposal
Proposal submitted by ORS to Sponsor
90 days
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Life Cycle of a Proposal
Proposal arrives and is checked for
appropriateness and compliance
Not OK
Proposal returned unfunded
30 days
4
Life Cycle of a Proposal
Proposal arrives and is checked for
appropriateness and compliance
OK
30 days
5
Life Cycle of a Proposal
Reviews received
Outside Panel meets and recommends proposals
for funding
4 Months
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NSF Merit Review Criteria

• Intellectual Merit
• Advancing knowledge and understanding
• Proposer qualifications (and results of prior
  work)
• Creative and original concepts?
• Conception and organization
• Resources

• Broader Impacts
• Promoting teaching, training and learning?
• Broaden the participation of underrepresented
  groups
• Enhance the infrastructure for research and
  education (facilities, instrumentation, networks
  and partnerships)
• Broad dissemination
• Benefits to society

Typical NSF Panel Review Meeting
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Life Cycle of a Proposal
Not Recommended for Funding

• Proposal returned with
• reviews
• summary of panel discussion

30 days (total time 6 months)
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Life Cycle of a Proposal
Recommended for Funding
Program officer determines which of the
recommended proposals can be funded
60 days (total time 7 months)
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Life Cycle of a Proposal
Recommended for Funding
Program officer determines which of the
recommended proposals can be funded
Congratulations!
90 days (total time 8 months)
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Proposals to Federal SponsorsVS.Non-Federal
Sponsors
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Federal Sponsors

• Federal agencies detailed requirements and forms.
• Proposals to federal agencies are submitted by
  ORS.
• Proposals to federal agencies generally will go
  out for peer review.
• Some federal agencies have a mission and your
  research must closely match their interests (U.S.
  Department of Energy, NASA), while others are
  not, and you may submit a research project of
  your own creation (National Science Foundation,
  National Endowment for the Humanities). The U.S.
  Department of Education is a little of bothyou
  can submit your project idea within one of their
  different areas of interest.
• Federal agencies send reviews if a proposal is
  rejected. If for some reason you don't receive
  them, ask for them.

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Non-Federal Sponsors

• Most proposals to foundations or corporations are
  called "letter proposals", only several pages
  long, and will need to stress what you propose to
  do, why it is important, and how you will do it.
• They generally do not send your proposal for a
  peer review but instead have a review panel.
• Read their guidelines carefully to determine
  their areas of interest. If you and they "fit",
  submit your letter proposal if they do not list
  specific proposal requirements.
• If you are rejected you may never know why.
  Reviews are often not sent.

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Read the Request for Proposals! (RFP)

• Do NOT deviate from the guidelines
• Address all the points raised in the RFP

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Parts of a Proposal

• Cover or Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Abstract
• The abstract should not be an abstract of the
  proposal, rather a self-contained description of
  the research that would result if the proposal is
  funded.

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The Narrative

• Write with the reviewers and panel constituency
  in mind
• Write for both experts and generalists
• Need to show mastery of relevant content/areas
• Need to avoid overloading readers with jargon and
  technicalities

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What Reviewers Look For

• Proposals that are organized. Make their job
  easier by exactly following the guidelines.
• Proposals that they can understand. Avoid jargon.
  Keep your language as clear and concise as
  possible. Don't leave reviewers guessing, and
  leave nothing to the imagination.
• Proposals that are pleasing to the eye. Think
  what you can do to counter a reviewer's "fatigue
  factor." They will frequently be reviewing from
  20 to 50 proposals at one time. Small type and
  long paragraphs are seldom a good idea. Use
  plenty of white space, as well as bulleted items
  to catch attention
• Proposals that someone else had read. Leave
  enough time to have your advisor and friends read
  and critique what you have written.

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What Reviewers Look For (cont)

• Proposals that answer the questions
• What is this person doing? (Many reviewers have
  complained that they were pages and pages into
  the proposal before they could winnow out the
  project.)
• Why is it important?
• Is it innovative? (Innovation is an essential
  ingredient in proposals today.)
• How is this person going to do it?
• Has this person made the case?

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Basic Steps in Writing a Budget
(ORS will help you with this! Go to them early
in the process)

• Decide which budget line items are required by
  the project.
• Price the items. Prorate costs to accommodate
  anticipated increases if a multi-year budget is
  included.
• Review budget to ensure that it is complete and
  justified.
• Typical budget items
• Salaries
• Fringe benefits
• Travel
• Supplies
• Publication Costs
• Other direct costs (ex. photocopying, equipment)
• Indirect costs or overhead

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Budget Justification

• Arrange by budget categories and briefly explain
  how budget items were estimated.
• Details of salary and benefit rates, travel
  rates, equipment needs, supplies, and indirect
  costs are among the items usually included.

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Do not give up!

• According to NSF, one out of every four
  competitive grants you write will be funded
• Decision not to fund, does not necessarily
  reflect on the quality of your grant proposal
• Good people (even excellent people) can have
  proposals rejected, take rejection as a learning
  experience