Grant Writing Articles December 1, 2008
Grant Writing Articles
Office of Proposal Development, Texas A&M University
Article 1: Writing a CAREER proposal
Article 2 :DARPA Funding Tutorial
Article3: Equipment/Instrument Grants
Article 4: Contacting Program Officers
Article 5: Writing a White Paper
Article 6: Finding Research Funding
Article 7: Funding Related Quick Tips
Article 1: Writing Proposals to Programs for Early Career Investigators
If you are a new or junior faculty member, it can seem a daunting prospect to compete with senior researchers with long track records for research funding. Agencies understand that it can be difficult for new researchers to win funding when competing against more established researchers, but the agency must fund promising new researchers in order to ensure that the next generation of researchers will flourish. Therefore, many agencies offer funding programs specifically for early-career researchers. For a list of programs that fund early career investigators, go to
These kinds of programs are investing not only in the research proposed but also in the researcher and his or her career, and writing those proposals often requires a somewhat different approach compared to writing standard research proposals. In addition to focusing on the particular research project proposed, reviewers for these programs are looking for signs that the PI, if given the chance, will become one of the leaders in her or his field and will conduct important research in the funder’s area of interest. Some agencies have additional criteria; for example, NSF wants to encourage junior faculty to engage in innovative education and outreach activities that integrate with their research. Usually, these criteria will be clearly expressed in the solicitation.
When evaluating whether to apply to a particular program for early-career researchers, first check the eligibility rules. These vary significantly from program to program. Some programs fund only postdoctoral fellows, some fund only researchers in tenure-track positions, some fund researchers who earned their degrees within the last five years, and so on. Second, make sure that you understand the funder’s research interests. These may be very broad (for example, the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation New Faculty Awards program funds new faculty in chemistry, biochemistry or chemical engineering) or quite narrow (Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of American Career Development Awards, which funds research related to inflammatory bowel disease).
Even when research interests of an agency cover a broad range of fields, however, program directors and reviewers will tend to fund research in areas they view as dynamic and “leading edge.” It is therefore important to make a strong case that your selected research area holds the potential for years of continued advancement and discovery. Research topics that have been well-researched and promise only incremental advancements are unlikely to help a new researcher to rise to the top of his or her field.
Although these programs are targeted specifically at “new” investigators, don’t make the mistake of thinking that funders will be happy to fund researchers with little or no track record. Reviewers will be looking for evidence that an applicant is likely to be successful, and an important part of that evidence will be previous publications and preliminary data related to the proposed research project. One exception, however, is the NIH Career transition award, which is specifically aimed at helping researchers transition from one field (e.g., clinical work or basic science research) to biomedical research. In that group of programs, one or more mentors must be named, and their track record and publications are extremely important in the review process.
The largest of these early career programs is the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program. NSF awards over 400 CAREER grants each year in a wide range of disciplines.
Next month, we will discuss the NSF CAREER program in detail.
By Lucy Deckard
Article 2: DARPA Research Funding Tutorial
A compilation of information from http://www.darpa.mil/
All of DARPA’s research is performed by outside researchers at large and small businesses, universities, non-profit institutions, government laboratories and other outside research organizations. DARPA funds these researchers based on a competitive review of proposals that are submitted in response to a solicitation calling for research ideas.
DARPA research runs the gamut from conducting basic, fundamental scientific investigations in a laboratory setting to building full-scale prototypes of military systems. They fund research in a wide variety of scientific disciplines — biology, medicine, computer science, chemistry, physics, engineering, mathematics, material sciences, social sciences, neuroscience, and more.
DARPA solicitations are published in the U.S. government’s one-stop virtual marketplace, Federal Business Opportunities, also known as FedBizOpps. Click here to go to the FedBizOpps site that will allow you to view DARPA solicitations issued in the last 365 days. You can also register with FedBizOpps to receive notifications when new DARPA-related content is posted. Once you have registered and logged in, you can set up a “Saved Search” that will periodically review all newly posted information and send an email notification. Each technical office also maintains a list of its current and past solicitations.
Obtaining Funding: Step 1
The first step in obtaining research funding from DARPA is to review DARPA’s research interests. Each DARPA technical office maintains a list of current programs and research thrust areas. In addition, DARPA’s Strategic Plan includes information on DARPA’s overarching strategic focus areas. Lastly, DARPA holds a Systems and Technology Symposium (DARPATech) approximately every 18 to 24 months, to share our priorities for future programs that will help bridge the gap between far-side possibilities of tomorrow and the near-side capabilities of today. Dates of the upcoming DARPATechs are advertised on the website as soon as dates are available.
Obtaining Funding: Step 2
DARPA solicitations most often take the form of a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), but can also be called Special Notices, Research Announcements, Requests for Proposals, or something similar. DARPA issues BAAs, each for a specific DARPA research program, throughout the year. DARPA BAAs are published in the U.S. government’s one-stop virtual marketplace, Federal Business Opportunities, also known as FedBizOpps (www.fbo.gov). DARPA also publishes BAAs on www.grants.gov, the central storehouse for information on federal grants. In addition to program-specific BAAs, each DARPA office issues what we call an “Office-Wide” BAA. These BAAs solicit proposals across a broad range of technology areas.
What is a BAA?
Each DARPA BAA includes general information about the DARPA program, outlines the research being solicited and provides detailed information on how to submit a proposal. DARPA’s BAAs are “open” (i.e., proposals can be submitted) for a full year, but many BAAs impose an earlier deadline (often 45 days after issuance) for researchers interested in having their proposals reviewed during an initial review period. Many DARPA BAAs require or encourage the submission of a proposal, abstract or white paper prior to the submission of a full proposal. All of these details will be outlined in the BAA.
Small Business Funding Opportunities
For information on opportunities available only to small businesses, please visit the Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) website, or DARPA's Small Business Support Center (SBSC). SBIR and STTR solicitations are available online.
Getting Your Ideas Considered by a DARPA Program Manager
Don’t constrain your great ideas by how you think DARPA may react. Even though DARPA may not appear active in a particular area doesn’t mean the Agency won’t be interested in a great technological idea in a new arena. In fact, your idea could lead to new areas of research. The key to working with DARPA is through a program manager.
To maintain an entrepreneurial atmosphere and the flow of new ideas, DARPA hires program managers for 2 to 6 years; the best way to foster innovations is to bring in new people with fresh outlooks. DARPA program managers:
· Provide feedback regarding whether an idea is suited to DARPA.
· Help shape ideas to synchronize with an ongoing or new DARPA program.
· In some cases, a program manager may substantially alter what he or she plans to do based on a new idea.
· A big part of a program manager’s job is to find great ideas upon which to build new programs.
· Information exchanges with DARPA program managers are the foundation for “Doing Business with DARPA.”
Some of the best opportunities to pitch ideas for DARPA programs are when DARPA program managers are starting new programs. When considering an idea, DARPA program managers will ask:
· What are you trying to do?
· How is this done now? What are the limitations?
· How will this approach remove those limitations and improve performance? By how much?
· If an idea is successful, what difference will it make?
DARPA program managers often fund studies (“seedlings”) as initial research to determine if a more formal program is appropriate. This brochure provides guidance for transforming your ideas into agreements with DARPA.
Notices of DARPA Business Opportunities
DARPA provides information about research areas of interest to the Agency by the following means:
- For information on DARPA programs and areas of research by individual technical offices, go to www.darpa.mil and click on “DARPA Offices.”
- To find solicitations, got to www.darpa.mil and click “Solicitations.” Another option is the official Federal acquisition opportunities Web site at www.fedbizopps.gov.
- DoD Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program solicitations can be found at http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/. Current DARPA SBIR programs are described at http://www.darpa.mil/sbir.
- Federal grants—awards of financial assistance from a Federal agency to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United States—are listed at www.grants.gov .
DARPA Methods of Soliciting Business
DARPA uses requests for proposals (RFPs) and broad agency announcements (BAAs) to solicit business. Both types of solicitations can be found on the DARPA Web site at www.darpa.mil.
Because DARPA understands that creating proposals involves a great deal of time and effort, many DARPA solicitations encourage the submission of a white paper or abstract to determine whether an idea is likely to be selected. DARPA does not tend to think in terms of individual contracts, but rather collections of contracts or projects. It is the program manager’s job to develop projects, so be sure to demonstrate how your idea will fit as part of a larger project. As a Government contractor, it is helpful to be familiar with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) from the Government Printing Office or at www.arnet.gov/far/ .
Requests for Proposal (RFPs)
An RFP provides a specific statement of work, contract deliverables, and evaluation criteria for Government selection. It lists the Government requirements, solicitation provisions, proposal preparation instructions, and the evaluation method for the review of proposals. An RFP serves as the basis for award selection. If the proposed award is for a cost-type contract, the awardee must have an approved cost accounting system to audit costs.
Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs)
A BAA is a competitive solicitation procedure used to obtain proposals for basic and applied research and that part of development not related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement. The type of research solicited under a BAA attempts to increase knowledge in science and/or to advance the state of the art compared to practical application of knowledge. BAAs are described in FAR 6.102, “Use of Competitive Procedures,” and FAR 35.016, “Broad Agency Announcements.”
Each DARPA technical office has an office-wide BAA that covers a broad range of topics and is usually open for 1 year. Program-specific BAAs are targeted specifically to a particular area of research. DARPA BAAs describe:
- The Agency’s research interest for either an individual program requirement or broadly defined areas of interest covering the full range of the Agency’s requirements;
- Criteria for selecting proposals, their relative importance, and the method of the evaluation;
- Specific time available for submission of proposals; and
- Specific instructions for the preparation and submission of proposals.
Preproposal Information
DARPA industry days are held after publication of a program notice and prior to the submission of proposals. They provide the opportunity to hear program managers and meet potential industry partners for teaming. DARPA industry days are not limited to the promotion of BAAs; they are used for all methods of soliciting business.
White papers are the initial ideas submitted to a DARPA program manager and are not considered proposals. They permit the presenter to make a detailed, written explanation of the idea/concept. A white paper allows for feedback from a DARPA program manager and, if appropriate, may result in a formal proposal submittal.
Evaluation and Award
BAA proposals are evaluated on technical merit and are not compared to other proposals. There is no common statement of work. DARPA identifies general areas of interest, but does not tell organizations how to propose work or how to solve problems. The basis for the selection of proposals is the technical importance with respect to Agency programs and funding availability.
Cost realism and reasonableness are also considered, to the appropriate extent, in the evaluation of a proposal. The award may be in the form of a contract, assistance agreement, or an other transaction. The proposal can list the type of preferred agreement; however, the appropriate type of award is subject to negotiation.
Compilation by Mike Cronan
Article 3: Grants for Instrumentation and Equipment
There are a significant number of federally-funded programs that specifically fund the purchase or development of research instrumentation. You can find a list of such programs at http://opd.tamu.edu/funding-opportunities/funding-opportunities-by-category/instrumentation-and-equipment . When writing proposals for these kinds of grants, it’s important to understand that the requirements and expectations for these programs are quite different from general research grants. Instrumentation grants generally come in two types: instrument acquisition grants (programs that fund the purchase of an instrument from a vendor), and instrument development grants (which fund the development and fabrication of a new type of instrument). Because the objectives, requirements and review criteria for acquisition programs differ significantly from development programs, they are discussed separately below.
Instrument Acquisition Programs
The motivation of agencies funding acquisition of instruments is to use those grants to enhance projects already funded by the agency or to support projects in areas that will likely be funded by the agency in the near future. Therefore, an instrumentation proposal will generally be more competitive if the PI and co-PIs have projects funded by the agency and can convincingly describe how the proposed instrument will significantly enhance those projects. However, exact expectations in this regard vary by agency and program. NSF may fund an instrumentation grant even if no one on the grant is currently funded by NSF, assuming the research is of interest to NSF. In contrast, for the Department of Defense instrument programs such as the DURIP, it is extremely important to have one or more Program Officers within a DoD agency act as champions for the proposal; these will usually be Program Officers who are currently funding research projects that will benefit from the acquisition of the instrument. NIH’s Shared Instrumentation Grant program explicitly states that at least 75% of total usage of the instrument must be on NIH peer-reviewed research grants.
For most instrumentation acquisition programs, the agency is looking for maximum impact for the money spent, which usually means having multiple users of the instrument, and may mean having users from multiple institutions and disciplines. In addition, one of NSF’s goals is to enhance the research infrastructure for predominately undergraduate institutions and for minority-serving institutions. Proposals to NSF’s instrumentation acquisition programs will often be more competitive if they present a plan explaining how the instrument will be made available to researchers from those types of institutions.
Common features of most instrument acquisition programs are:
· The proposed instrument should enhance projects already funded by the agency
· The agency is looking for maximum impact for the money spent, which may include having multiple users or users from multiple disciplines, as well as having an impact on research and education
· The sponsor wants to be sure the instrument will be taken care of, so the proposal must describe the infrastructure that is available to support the instrument (space, facilities such as power, funds for maintenance, availability of a technician, etc.)
· The sponsor wants to make sure the instrument will be used, so proposals should describe users with a record of active funded research, publications, and pending proposals
· Most programs will require a “Management Plan,” which should describe who will be in charge of managing the instrument, the infrastructure and expertise available to keep the instrument running, how instrument time will be allotted among users, any user fees, etc., and other plans for maintaining and managing the instrument.
· Most instrument programs will fund expenses directly related to acquisition and commissioning of the instrument, but will not fund costs related to research conducted on the instrument after it is commissioned. It is therefore important to read budget guidelines for the program carefully.
· Proposals should clearly explain what specific research will be enabled by having the proposed instrument that would not otherwise be possible; generic descriptions of research projects that will use the instrument are not sufficient.
Instrument Development Programs
Equipment development programs focus on developing new instruments that will significantly enhance research capabilities in research areas of interest to the funding agency. Proposals to these types of programs must explain how development of the new instrument will enable new types of measurement or information gathering. In contrast to acquisition programs, instrument development programs are actually research projects requiring a detailed work plan, discussion of the scientific basis for the work, and a description of the qualifications of the personnel who will design and build the instrument. Instrument development programs generally allow funds for support of researchers, students, and technicians who are directly involved in development of the instrument. Depending on the type of instrument, it may also be appropriate to team with a corporate partner who can eventually commercialize the instrument.
By Lucy Deckard
Article 4: Advice on Contacting Program Officers
All too often, investigators are hesitant to contact a program officer or director out of concern they may be “bugging” them or uncertainty about what kinds of questions to ask. Keep in mind that these people are the primary liaisons between you as an investigator and the funding agency. While responsibilities of program officers or managers vary somewhat from agency to agency, their foremost role is to provide technical assistance to applicants.
The whole process of extramural research funding keeps individuals on both sides of the table quite busy, and program officers are no exception. Not only are they administrators, they are often researchers as well. A good strategy is to make contact via email first, asking if you can either schedule a phone conference or if it would be preferable to send a “white paper” or overview of your research plan.
Contact with a program official is especially important when you are pursuing an investigator-initiated opportunity, e.g. submitting a proposal that is not in response to a specific funding announcement. The program manager will be able to confirm whether or not your idea is a good match for the particular agency or directorate/division; if not, sometimes they can point you to another program/directorate.
When you are responding to a specific request for proposals, carefully read the solicitation before you make contact. If, for example, you have a question about the budget, make certain to pay close attention to all details under the solicitation’s “Budget” heading. It’s also a good idea to look for other headings, such as “Unallowable Costs,” that may be in a different section. The point is not to ask a question that is already spelled out for you in the solicitation. It’s also a good idea to check for any FAQ sections referred to on the program’s homepage – it could well be that you’re not the only person with a similar question about the budget or another section.
An added benefit of thoroughly reading the solicitation prior to making contact with the program manager is that you can prepare a list of questions to be asked at one time, rather than making three or four separate phone calls or email inquiries. This will save valuable time for both you and the program official.
What kinds of questions should you ask a program manager? Obviously, the first one is whether your project objectives are aligned with the programmatic objectives. You can ask about traits of successful proposals – is there any particular activity or strategy that you could employ to enhance your success? Ask if there are any “red flags” or sections of your proposed research that could decrease your chances of being funded. The program manager may also let you know about common oversights or problems that may have contributed to non-funded applications.
Ubiquitous throughout the literature about writing a strong proposal is the advice to read abstracts from previously awarded grants. Ask the program officer if there is a funded proposal available to review, or if there is a webpage that consolidates information about the program itself (awardees, performance reports, news/publications, etc.). The program officer should be able to tell you if someone else has already been funded for a project that is similar to your own, and if so, you may need to revise your research objectives. It may be helpful to know how many submissions are usually received per funding cycle, and how many are typically funded. How many of these awards been made in your state?
Your program manager can also give you important information regarding the review process. Will the panelist be drawn from a pool of experts, or will they represent a variety of disciplines? Will there be more senior-level investigators serving as reviewers, or will the panel primarily consist of researchers just starting their careers? You may be curious to learn how many people will review your proposal, and how many submissions each reviewer is typically required to read. You can ask the program officer if the proposal rating sheets used by reviewers are available prior to submission. Find out what role the program manager plays during the actual review process, and clarify that you can ask questions about review comments you receive once the grant awards are announced.
In closing, asking for assistance from the program manager can be invaluable when you are seeking extramural funding, whether it’s your first proposal or your fiftieth proposal. In some cases, you may want to schedule a face-to-face meeting with program staff. Developing a healthy rapport with program administrators in your discipline may give you an added advantage when new opportunities are forthcoming since you’ve already opened up a line of communication and made the program officer aware of your research interests. By reaching out to program officers, you are making their jobs easier and your own grantwriting process more efficient.
Article 5: Eight Components of a Good “White Paper”
When you contact a program manager to ask if your project objectives are aligned with the programmatic objectives, it is helpful to have a concept paper or summary of your research plan already prepared. The very act of writing your thoughts down in a concise, logical order can facilitate a more productive conversation with your program official. Also, a white paper may be requested before you are even able to ask specific questions of the program officer, so having a document at hand is a good plan. One page is ideal, two pages are acceptable, and three pages should be the maximum length. Below are eight components to include in a strong concept paper.
1. Title: The title of your proposed idea should be succinct, clear, and preferably a single line in length. For example, while “Social and Economic Benefits and Disadvantages of Ecotourism in Three Ecozones of Central America” is certainly descriptive, the simpler title “Ecotourism in Central America” is amply sufficient for a white paper. Save the details for the body of your paper.
2. Purpose: Why are you seeking this grant? State your plan and how it relates to the agency’s or foundation’s mission.
3. Background: What are the “knowns” and “unknowns”? Is there a particular gap in knowledge or a critical need your project will fill? Again, this gap or critical need should be relatable to the funder’s priority areas.
4. Significance: Why is your project important? How does it advance the field or help address a critical need? If you’ve done previous work in this area, show how you intend to build upon prior results.
5. Methods: State your research question or hypothesis in clear, concise, and scientific terms. Describe how you will collect and analyze your data.
6. Resources: Identify the resources you have at hand that are needed to bring your project to successful completion. If you are requesting additional resources, provide a thorough justification of how such resources will be used in your proposed program.
6. Expected Outcomes: State what you plan to achieve. When possible, state your outcomes as a measurable parameter; e.g., “I will collect 50 samples each from the control group and the test group.” Then relate these expected outcomes to your research question: “These results will be applied to my research question examining the prevalence of factors X and Y.” If you see any potential problems or challenges, bring these to light and propose possible solutions.
7. You and Your Team: Tell why you are qualified to conduct this project, and do the same for any collaborators or partners. Describe the roles of each individual and the responsibilities of any outside committees or special management considerations.
8. Closing: Close with a strong summary statement that relates the importance of your research to the agency’s mission. For example: “The proposed project supports the XYZ Foundation’s mission to reduce health disparities among under-represented populations and addresses the national need for nutritional education and outreach among rural populations.”
Article 6: Identifying Research Funding Opportunities
A key first step in developing and writing proposals is to find research funding opportunities that match your interests. The better the fit between your research interests and the funding opportunity, the more likely it is that your efforts will result in a “win-win” situation for both you and the research sponsor.
Federal agencies that fund university research and related educational initiatives have developed very comprehensive and well-organized web sites to facilitate the search for funding. These sites are often complemented by electronically distributed funding alerts, RSS feeds, newsletters, and research reports from the agency. These automatically generated documents typically include listings of new and upcoming funding opportunities, URLs to program announcements, and other information essential to preparing a competitive proposal.
The Grants.gov web site serves as a single point of access for all federal agency grant announcements. New funding announcements from federal agencies are posted to this site daily, and a range of other features allows users to subscribe to email funding alerts, link to agency web sites, and search for funding at a selected agency, or by keyword and topic across all agencies.
To begin the process of finding funding opportunities to match your research interests:
· Develop search protocols that reflect your research interests based on keywords, phrases, or disciplinary topics, and use these to search Google and Yahoo, federal agency or foundation web sites, Grants.gov, and any other useful websites you have found;
· Identify agencies that are likely to fund research in your area of interest by conducting internet searches, soliciting advice from other researchers who conduct research in similar areas, and familiarizing yourself with funding agency web sites;
· Identify the grant cycles of those agencies most likely to fund research in your domain;
· Identify agencies and programs that allow you to submit investigator initiated or unsolicited proposals.
To develop search protocols reflecting your research interests:
· Define your broad disciplinary domain of interest (e.g., science, social science, humanities, education, health and biomedical sciences, engineering, etc.);
· Characterize the nature of your research interests within the broader disciplinary domain, e.g., basic, applied, applications, or contract research;
· Define keywords, phrases, and topics that describe your broad domain of research interest, and then choose a range of more specific keywords that describe your research topic in increasing detail.
To identify agencies that may fund your research:
· Identify funding agencies (federal and/or foundation, associations, etc.) whose mission, strategic plan, investment priorities, and funding opportunities are aligned with your defined research interests; this information is often available at agency web sites;
· Focus on this subset of agencies in the search for funding; you may need to modify your keywords and go through several search iterations until you find agencies and programs that align well with your research interests;
· Learn as much as possible about promising agencies and further evaluate if they are likely to fund your research by reviewing current funding solicitations, agency mission statements, agency roadmaps and strategic plans, research investment plans and priorities, abstracts of funded projects in areas related to your research interest, and organization charts.
The search for funding opportunities can be further refined by developing funding search skills that allow the researcher to:
· Identify research opportunities that have regular grant cycles within a particularly agency (e.g., NIH, NSF, NEH, DoEd have regular grant cycles for specific research programs that remain open for many years);
· Identify new research opportunities and investment directions at funding agencies; and
· Expand the base of potential research funding sources.
These are easy tasks! It is preferable, for you as a researcher, to become self-sufficient in conducting searches for funding opportunities that fit your research interests rather than depending on others to find those opportunities for you. Self-directed searches of funding agency web sites, combined with the complementary use of Google, Yahoo, or other search engines, are highly effective and efficient ways of identifying research and educational funding opportunities. You have the best understanding of your own research interests, directions, and capacities, and therefore it is most productive if the searches for research opportunities are filtered primarily through your own perspective. Furthermore, regular reading of agency websites and being aware of funding trends will, over time, enhance your understanding of funding trends in your research area and the evolving interests of your selected funding agencies.
Some institutions may subscribe to fee-based research funding database services. However, fee-based subscription services are merely a compilation of funding information readily available in the public domain free of charge on web sites maintained by individual federal agencies and Grants.gov, individual foundations, the Foundation Center, and other funders such as museums, collections, academic and disciplinary associations, national academies, and the like, as well as Google.
Subscriptions to federal agency and foundation email funding alerts, RSS feeds, Google searches, and the like provide the most robust, comprehensive, and timely system for staying current on research funding opportunities available to the researcher. Automated email alerts, combined with RSS (really simple syndication) capacities on many agency web sites, allow a continuous flow of funding opportunities from federal agencies and foundations to be sent daily directly to the researcher’s email inbox and browser (RSS).
Simply signing up for daily email & RSS alerts from Grants.gov gives access to the most comprehensive database of federal funding opportunities available-- and its free! http://www.grants.gov/applicants/email_subscription.jsp
http://www.grants.gov/help/rss.jsp
This can be complemented by checking out funding opportunities posted at Texas A&M University http://opd.tamu.edu/funding-opportunities
Check Out Google Special Searches
http://www.google.com/options/specialsearches.html
By Mike Cronan
Article 7: Funding Related Quick Tips
Solicited & unsolicited proposals
Proposals may be initiated in two general ways by the university researcher:
- in response to a published solicitation (solicited proposal, RFP, BAA, PA); or
- initiated by the investigator (unsolicited proposal).
Unsolicited/Investigator Initiated Proposals
• Program Description or Program Announcement instead of a solicitation
• More general statement of interests of funding agency or program
• Typically the main source of research funding for individual researchers funded by NSF, NIH, DoD
• Majority of external research funded by NSF (~50%) and NIH (~80%) result from unsolicited proposals
• Formatting guidelines often in a separate document
• NSF Grant Proposal Guide
• NIH SF424 Application Guide
• DoD long-term Broad Agency Announcements
Funding unlikely to pan out
• Grand visions
• Ambitious plans to improve the world
• Support for administrative infrastructures
• Bricks & mortar
• Unfocused ideas & enthusiasm disconnected from the agency mission
If you don’t write grants, you won’t get any
• Target the proposal at the intersection where:
• research dollars are available;
• your research interests are met;
• a competitive proposal can be written within the time available.
Searching for funding
• Develop search protocols to fit research interests;
• Know relevant agencies;
• Visit web sites/follow links
• Learn grant cycles;
• Sign up for email alerts and RSS feeds—
OPD RSS Feeds
http://opd.tamu.edu/funding-opportunities/electronic-funding-alert-services-email-alerts
NSF RSS Feeds
CSREES RSS Feeds
http://www.csrees.usda.gov:80/newsroom/rss.html
NIH RSS Feeds
http://www.nih.gov/news/rss.htm
EPA RSS Feeds
http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/rssfeeds.htm
Search in the right places
• Talk to funded colleagues in your discipline
• Read research publications for references crediting funding sources
Searching for research funding
• Define a general disciplinary domain of interest (e.g., science, social science, humanities, education, health and biomedical sciences, engineering, etc.);
• Characterize the nature of the research interests within the disciplinary domain (basic, applied, applications, contract, mission agency);
• Identify funding agencies whose mission, strategic plan, and investment priorities are aligned with the specific research interests;
• Further align research interests with funding agency funding opportunities by:
• reviewing past funding solicitations,
• reviewing agency mission statements,
• reviewing strategic investment plans and related documentation
Grants. gov
The Grants.gov web portal serves as a single point of access for all federal agency grant announcements. New funding announcements from federal agency are posted to this site daily, and a range of other features allow subscribing to email funding alerts, linking to agency web sites, and searching for funding among agencies.
Solicitation Modifications
• RSS feeds and email alerts also post modifications to program announcements that are made prior to the due dates
• This is particularly important for DoD BAAs that have long open periods, or RFPs from mission agencies
• Grants.gov New/Modified Opps by Agency
• http://www07.grants.gov/rss/GG_OppModByAgency.xml
• http://www07.grants.gov/rss/GG_OppModByAgency.xml
By Mike Cronan
