The (very) Big Picture   The most important piece of advice I ever got about

grant-writing:

“Write the proposal like you actually want to get the grant.”

(…or words to that effect…Tony Kroch, p.c.)

Introduction

Outline 1.  Some basic advice about the grant-writing process,

based on my own limited experience.

2.  The SAS Dissertation Research Grant   A little one.

3.  The SAS Dissertation Completion Grant   A bigger one.

4.  The National Science Foundation’s International Research Fellowship Program

  The biggest I’ve done so far.   The only external grant I’ll discuss (i.e. U.S. government rather

than Penn)

Introduction

What “write it like you want it” means:   Be specific and clear:

  In budgets, in proposed activities.   In expected results.

  Be enthusiastic and optimistic:   Propose the most work you can possibly get done, without being

wildly unrealistic.   Be confident: if you’re not, no one will want to fund you.

  You are constructing a narrative for a group of scientifically-trained scholars outside your field.   Tell a story in which they just happen to have the right amount of

money with the a certain goal in mind, and you just happen to have a great project to achieve that goal.

  If you can’t do this, maybe you’ve got the wrong grant.

Section 1

A few tips, in no particular order:   Link your proposal to other grant proposals:

  Grants you and collaborators have already received.   Grants collaborators and other similar researchers have

independently received for similar research.   Other proposals/projects you are working on, which show a full

research program.   Proposals other researchers are submitting.

  Cite other successful research:   Related projects that you have done which yielded results.   Related projects that others have done (more senior people) which

yielded results.

  Connect your project to other fields (interdisciplinary work is usually a plus) and potential broader impacts.

Section 1

SAS Dissertation Research Fellowship

  Deadline: February 16th (2008), or thereabouts

  Type of P.I. eligible: senior graduate student, after defending their dissertation proposal

  Amount: generally, ≤ $5,000

  Intended for: research related to an ongoing dissertation   USUALLY, to fund travel and/or research expenses for research

during the summer (not living expenses).   …which can include lodging in the travelled-to location.

  …which can include tuition for courses that will give you a needed skill for your research (I used it to fund travel to Iceland for Icelandic language study).

  LESS OFTEN, used to provide full tuition, stipend, etc. for the following academic year.

Section 2

SAS Dissertation Research Fellowship

  Components:

1.  5-page “Dissertation Proposal” written for a scholar outside the field (i.e. scientifically-trained layperson), including a title and the name of your supervisor.

2.  Specific statement of your intended activities for the research period.

3.  Two letters of recommendation. 4.  List of publications and presentations (CV). 5.  Itemized budget.

Section 2

SAS Dissertation Research Fellowship

  What the granters want to accomplish:   They want SAS students to be successful and write good

dissertations, because it makes them look good, etc.   They want people to do interesting and impressive sounding things

which they would not otherwise be able to do, because…see above…

  They want to avoid: funding people’s summer vacations, funding you to stay in Philly and do what you were going to do anyway.

  Matching narrative you provide to the granters:   You’ve found a great opportunity which fits into your research

program and plan for the dissertation.

  It costs the right amount and takes up the right amount of time.   YOU COULD NOT DO IT WITHOUT THE GRANT.

Section 2

SAS Dissertation Completion Fellowship

  Deadline: February 9th (2008), or thereabouts

  Type of P.I. eligible: senior graduate student without funding for the following academic year.

  Amount: generally the same amount as the current SAS (Benjamin Franklin) stipend, though the applicant may:   …be given half a year at this rate   …be waitlisted for a whole year and/or half a year

  Intended for: one-year, non-renewable support to finish an ongoing dissertation.

Section 3

SAS Dissertation Completion Fellowship

  Components:

1.  5-page “Dissertation Proposal” written for a scholar outside the field (i.e. scientifically-trained layperson), including a title and the name of your supervisor.

2.  Specific statement of your intended activities for the research period.

3.  Two letters of recommendation. 4.  List of publications and presentations (CV). 5.  A writing sample (chapter or chapters) from the actual

dissertation.

Section 3

SAS Dissertation Research Fellowship

  What the granters want to accomplish:   They want SAS students to be successful and write good

dissertations, because it makes them look good, etc.   They want SAS students to FINISH THEIR DISSERTATIONS, and

preferably soon.   They want to avoid funding people who have wasted their time or

will waste their time.

  Matching narrative you provide to the granters:   You have been making progress on the thesis, and everything

could have been done on time if everything had gone as planned.   However, it did not go as planned, but that’s a good thing!

  The project became bigger, the results are more impressive, and next year will let you solidify these gains by doing X,Y,Z.

Section 3

NSF International Research Fellowship Program (IRFP)   Deadline: 2nd Tuesday in September annually (Sept. 14, 2010)

  Type of P.I. eligible:   Will have received Ph.D. by the beginning of the proposed project.   Cannot have received Ph.D. more than 2 years prior.   U.S. citizen or permanent resident proposing collaboration with

researchers abroad.

  Amount: generally $57,000 - $200,000   Depending a lot on the host location.   Depending on duration (9 months to 24 months).

  Depending on expenses for travel, equipment, etc.

  Intended for: U.S. postdoctoral researchers to do original research abroad, in collaboration with a foreign host institution and researchers abroad.

Section 4

NSF International Research Fellowship Program (IRFP)   http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2006/nsf06582/nsf06582.html

  Major Components (see website for complete list): 1.  1-page Project Summary. 2.  7-page Detailed Project Description, with 3 pages for

charts, figures, etc. 3.  Two letters of recommendation. 4.  Invitation letter from a senior researcher 5.  Biographical Sketch of the applicant (CV). 6.  References Cited. 7.  Detailed Budget Breakdown. 8.  Project Timeline

Section 4

NSF International Research Fellowship Program (IRFP)   What the granters want to accomplish:

  “What is the intellectual merit of the proposed activity?”   “What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?”  Create new international ties, solidify existing ones, which

are expected to continue after the project.  Allow U.S. researchers to learn from outside resources, and

show other countries how valuable U.S. researchers are.  Use this knowledge to advance your field and related fields,

Section 4

NSF International Research Fellowship Program (IRFP)   Matching narrative you provide to the granters:

 A project with broad impact in many fields, based on good previous research.

 An ideal host institution and country to collaborate with.   The project cannot get done ANYWHERE ELSE! – The

location abroad is essential to the project.  You already have a relationship with the host institution

and have every reason to expect that relationship to deepen and continue.

  The collaboration fits into a general pattern/program of collaboration with the country in question; i.e., the U.S. already clearly wants a relationship with this country.

Section 4

NSF International Research Fellowship Program (IRFP)   My Project:

Evolution of Language Systems: a comparative study of grammatical change in Icelandic and English

  Timeline: 18 months at the University of Iceland   Including periodic visits back to the U.S. to consult with colleagues

and present results.

Section 4

NSF International Research Fellowship Program (IRFP)   Detailed project description

  If you are also requesting a re-entry component, it must be included within the seven-page limit. I did not.

 Detailed justification for conducting the research abroad.   In my case, research conducted on speakers of Icelandic needs

to be in Iceland. (For that matter, gaining proficiency in the language myself needs to be in Iceland.)

  Identification of the collaborating host(s).  University of Iceland, Dr. Höskuldur Þráinsson

Section 4

NSF International Research Fellowship Program (IRFP)   Detailed project description, cont.

 Clear relationship between your proposed research and the current research efforts at the host institution.  U. of Ice. has ongoing projects, already funded by Iceland, on

Icelandic dialectal variation, the history and evolution of Icelandic, computational methods for building and searching databases to answer these questions.

  I had already participated in 2 NSF-funded workshops on these issues and the comparative study of Icelandic and English.

 Description of facilities and any other evidence of the suitability of the foreign collaborator(s) and site(s).  As I said above, there are only ~350,000 Icelanders.   Experts on the Icelandic language and library materials.

Section 4

NSF International Research Fellowship Program (IRFP)   Detailed project description, cont., cont.

  Explanation of your long-term career goals and the role of this postdoctoral experience in achieving them, including future plans for collaborative activities.  All of the researchers involved, including myself, have other

related projects which will continue afterwards.  We will start new ones together, and I gave some examples.   There are already some ideas kicking around for grants to

continue where the current projects leave off.

Section 4

Conclusions   It’s alright to be optimistic and forceful; have the

courage of your own convictions, or the granters won’t believe you.   Set out a clear, specific plan.  Don’t hedge in your writing.   Frequently, being more forceful and confident is also clearer.

  The real goal is to be clear to a scientifically-trained lay audience.   Tell them what you need clearly and simply, and tell them

why it’s in their interest to give it to you.