ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL GRANTS

Sobha Jaishankar, Ph.D.Assistant Vice President for Researchsjaishan@ufl.edu392-9271

Research at UF

1st grant @ 1946 from ONR to Chemistry Dept. @ $10K

FY 09-10 = $574M 59% = Federal Agencies 9% = Industry 15% = State/Local Gov’t. 12% = Foundations 5% = Other

5,887 proposals submitted 6,974 active awards 1,007 different sponsors

Why write grants?

Grants fund MORE than research* Education – graduate/undergraduate programs * Student training – summer internships* Community outreach programs – schools, youth

groups* Money to host conferences* Funding for travel * Fellowships for scholarly activities* Workforce development* Summer support

Strengthens your CV

What a grant proposal is …..

a sales document

Hartley, C. (2002). Getting grants from the Department of Defense. Seminar presented in the College of Engineering. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

What a grant proposal isn’t……..

a comprehensive review of the literature

a report suitable for journal publication

a place to express your personal philosophies or political convictions

• The MOST important – YOUR IDEA (CREATE A NICHE)!

• The TIME you dedicate to your idea

• Your proposal-writing skills

Bottom line: any creative, well-trained person can acquire grant-writing skills and be extremely successful

Creating your niche

Questions to ask:* What is your niche?* What other related work is out there?* How are you different?* How will your work move the field forward?

(Me too work!)* Refine your idea so the impact on the field is maximum* Be critical of your ideas* Seek feedback

“It’s important that the project not sound like it is happening in a vacuum.There should be recognition that others are addressing the same issue and a

description of how your project fits into the overall context of the problem.” (Donna Dunlop)

Finding the TIME

Successful grants come from time invested in researching, planning, writing and rewriting

Cannot be done overnight! (or in a week)

This MUST become a priority

Learn to say NO to some activities!

Proposal writing skills

Are ACQUIRED (no one is born with it!)

Practise makes perfect! Hone your skills by being persistent

Find a mentor/trusted colleague who will give you HONEST feedback

Getting Started Start EARLY!!!!!! Contact your Research Dean/Sobha (for

Interdisciplinary Work) early on Find a mentor Services offered through VP Research

Identify funding opportunities Find collaborators with specific expertise Collect background information for the grant Organizing the grant Administrative support Review and edit grant (internal/external) Assistance in repackaging and submitting to

alternate sources We WILL NOT write your proposal!

Who funds grants???

Government Federal State Local

Private Foundations Private Industry

Office of Research

Research Support – 2nd Floor Grinter Hall – 392-4804

Division of Sponsored Research – 2nd Floor Grinter Hall – 392-1582 Proposal Processing Awards Administration Compliance (IRB; IACUC; Conflict of

Interest) Office of Technology Licensing – 3rd Floor

Walker Hall – 392-8929 Research Communications – 3rd Floor

Walker Hall

Office of Research Internal Funding Programs

Special Matching Requests Support for Meetings, Workshops, Conferences Graduate Student Travel Research Opportunity Incentive Seed Fund Fine Arts & Humanities Scholarship Enhancement

Fund UFRF – Professorships; Matching Funds for New

Training Grants

Grant Information Services

Central Research Support Unit 2 Senior Information Specialists Monitor Grant Opportunities University-wide Disseminate Info to Colleges, Depts, Individual PI’s Funding Searches Faculty training Provide support for interdisciplinary/Center type of

grants

Information Dissemination Tools

Web-Based Funding Newsletter “FYI”

Text Descriptions + Links to Download Applications Biweekly throughout the Year http://apps.research.ufl.edu/research/fyi/ Information collected by Staff

Funding Alerts to Individual PI’s

Community of Science Weekly/Periodic Email Alerts Email Alerts from private & government sources Notices from Office of Research

Other Email Alerts

Grants.gov (all federal grants, including NEA, NEH)

FedBizOpps (fbo.gov) (all federal contracts)

Agency Alerts (NSF, NIH, EPA, NASA, Energy, USDA, etc.)

Foundation Center’s “RFP Bulletin” & “Arts Watch” (http://fdncenter.org/newsletters/)

Archive of Arts & Culture grants from the Bulletin (http://www.fdncenter.org/pnd/rfp/cat_arts.jhtml)

Your Personal Research Expertise Profile

“Electronic CV” Maintained by Community of Science/Scholars for

UF Expertise & Research Interests very important Funding Alerts based on this info Annual email reminder to update your profile

Other Office of Research Web-Based Sources

Federal Register* Florida Administrative Weekly* Links to All Federal Agencies* Links to Foundations* Foundation Center Guide to Funding Research

(http://fdncenter.org/getstarted/ tutorials/gfr/ Fundsnet Services (www.fundsnet.com/)*Access from Office of Research websitehttp://www.rgp.ufl.edu/researchsupport/external_funding.html

What is interdisciplinary research?

Crosses multiple disciplines – not limited to any one

Between different departments, colleges, institutes Mathematical Biology Nanomedicine Environmental science Genomics/Bioinformatics Training – students, post-doctoral fellows

Identifying a Sponsor

FIND THE AGENCY THAT FITS YOUR IDEA!Resources at UF Research Support Unit Foundation Relations – UFF Online resourcesUse these resources to find out what an agency WANTS

to fundRemember - you are helping the agency fulfill ITS

missionContact the agency (program officer) and listen

carefully!(Send them an overview of your program – the White

paper)

Points to ponder before writing your program overview – the white paper!

What is the funding agency’s agenda? What does the agency WANT to fund? How does your area of expertise help them

fulfill THEIR mission?

“A proposal succeeds because there is congruence of their ideas and our priorities. We are looking for unusual ways to solve problems.” (Norman Brown)

Your White Paper (Program Overview)Write the White Paper FIRSTThis is a concise presentation of your program/philosophy

It MUST set the flow of logic – from the more general to the narrower focus the individual proposal is to fund.

Most difficult to write!Remember – you are going to use this to sell your idea to the agency!!

Your White Paper…..

• Your vision – how does your work mesh with the mission of the agency?

• Your Long-term Goal - Identify the niche YOU will fill. Say why you are best-suited for this work

• Objective – of this particular proposal• The hypothesis around which the current

work is based• What will be the benefits of the work?

White Paper ……..

Should not be too long – 2 pages

Have it critiqued by your colleagues/mentor

Send it to the program officer at your chosen agency

Pay close attention to their feedback!

BEFORE you write the proposal !!!!

Read the Program Announcement/agency guidelines.

Formatting – font size, margins, line spacing Page limits – absolutely enforced Attachments – only send what is requested Budget – determine floor and ceiling; how

many will be funded Read the review criteria – some programs

have special emphases for review

BEFORE you write ……….

Note the deadlines:Letter of IntentProposal submission date

Set your self a time line – plan to finish at least 10 days before the proposal is due at the agency

Who is the program officer?

The proposal ……….. Remember – your language must be simple

– reviewers should not have to reread to understand.

Thus, one team project that might emerge would be a project on group identity and ancestry that puts indigenous social constructions of identity at the center of the project obtains community consent, and examines the genetic consequences of social constructions (assortative mating, admixture, etc.), while also comparing genetics research on various Native tribes in the US and comparing it to the tribes’ conceptualization of tribal and Indian identity as reflected in cultural texts, thus attending to the question of potentialsocial consequences of genetics research.

Thus, one team project that might emerge could be on group identity and ancestry. Having obtained community consent, participants could examine the genetic consequences of social constructions (assortative mating, admixture, etc.). In addition, students could compare genetics research on various Native tribes in the US with the tribes’ conceptualization of tribal and Indian identity.

The proposal ………..

Make the grant reviewer friendly

Use graphs and tablesLeave spaces between lines

Use formatting (underline, italics, bold font) not only to emphasize key points, but also to maintain continuity and flow.

Write as if you are writing an article for the newspaper

Anatomy of a Grant

Abstract/Summary Significance Review of literature Specific Aims of this proposal Research Plan (Rationale, protocols,

expected outcomes) Alternative hypotheses, approaches ** Benefits of the proposed work Resources Broader Impacts (NSF)

Significance

The significance must be relevant to the mission of the funding agency

Is probably the most important paragraph in your proposal

Start by identifying the gap in existing knowledge base

How does your proposed work fill that gap? What will be the long term benefit of your

work?

Review of literature

Does not have to be a completely exhaustive review

Provide a critical review of the relevant work

Identify the gap in the existing knowledge in the field

Introduce what your contribution can be What makes you the best suited to do this

work?

Resources

Do NOT gloss over this section Emphasize institutional commitment

(space, equipment, release time) Intellectual resources: other colleagues

doing complementary work – will they be co-investigators on your proposal?

Broader Impact This is an NSF requirementhttp://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2004/nsf042/bicexa

mples.pdf Most faculty have difficulty with this section The activity you propose has to be an

integral part of your application – and not a stand alone entity.

It cannot be put in just to satisfy the requirement

Try to generate an activity that is creative CPET – Center for Precollegiate Education

and Training. http://www.cpet.ufl.edu/ Director - Dr. Koroly Spring graduate course conducted by Bruce

MacFadden on Broader Impactsbmacfadd@flmnh.ufl.edu

Developing a Budget

Be reasonable – you don’t have to ask for the maximum allowed

Read the guidelines to determine what a particular program will pay for

Provide complete justification for your request

Agencies will often cut your budget – sometimes due to financial constraints, but more often if the request is not justified adequately

Biosketches

Each agency has a preferred format – obtain the relevant forms

Pay attention to the instructions – starting with the most recent, or vice versa

Stay within the specified page limits For proposals involving multiple PIs, use the same

font/size for all the biosketches Be consistent in the way the list of publications is

assembled Current and pending support

Grants vs. Contracts

Grants give you money to carry out work knowing that the results are unpredictable.

They are ‘relatively unrestricted’ in their specification of what funds can be used for

Annual reporting is required Contracts have more conditions and

stipulations attached and usually have timelines for deliverables

Contracts can be either for services rendered, or for deliverables

Contracts are negotiated by with the sponsor by DSR only

Administrative issues …

The award goes to the University Faculty do not receive the funds directly Faculty conduct the work; The University provides assurance that the work will

be conducted in an ethical manner Faculty may NOT sign grants or contracts on behalf

of the institution If you are hosting a conference/workshop, and

charging registration fees – go through DSR to collect them.

ONLY DSR can negotiate indirect costs with the sponsor. We have standard negotiated rates that are applicable – otherwise we use the rate allowed by the sponsor

Administrative issues …

COST SHARING

Institutional Review Board

Animal Care and Use

Electronic submission!!!!!

SUBMISSION guidelines

Getting institutional signatures (DSR 1)Department ChairDean of the CollegeUniversity

Go to ‘Proposal Processing’ 207 Grinter Hall Copying the proposal FedEx

A FINAL TIP FOR SUCCESS……

BE PERSISTENT!!!

We will help you repackage and get funded!

How can you help???

Background information - institutional Budget preparation Biosketches Resources Coordinate the assembly of the grant Maintain timelines References Checking for consistency

THANKS!!!!!!!!

Questions???

Concerns???

AcknowledgementsGuide to Proposal writingDr. Vivian Correa