University of Virginia
Center for Diversity in Engineering
Grant Proposal Writing
GRADUATE ENGINEERING
STUDENT COUNCIL
October 25, 2011
GRANT WRITING TIPS
For every grant:
• Read the RFP (request for proposal) closely and carefully.
• Make sure your understand the funding agency’s goals and
priorities for the proposal: they will give you money only
if you can help them reach their goals.
• The goals of funding agencies (public and private) vary
dramatically. A successful proposal to NSF looks nothing like
a successful proposal to NASA. Even within an agency, the
style of proposals can be different among internal divisions.
• Therefore, find out everything you can about the agency, its
goals, and its review system for your specific RFP.
GRANT WRITING TIPS
All proposals should answer the following questions in one
form or another:
• What is the problem or hypothesis being addressed? What is
the goal of the proposed research?
• Why is the problem important and interesting?
• What will you DO to address the problem? If you complete
the plan, will that bring us closer to an answer to the problem?
• Do you have the resources (equipment, grad students, access
to industry ...) necessary to complete the research?
Very Helpful Links to Proposal Guides for PBS, EPA, NIH,
NSF, SSR, & Other General Guides:
http://www.pitt.edu/~offres/proposal/propwriting/websites.html
NSF TIPS
Know your funding agency, observe their protocols for grants.
• NSF--search the NSF Web site broadly, identify relevant NSF
organizational areas and grant solicitations for your research. For each RFP:
• Study the Proposal Solicitation carefully, noting any specific questions.
• Next, call or send e-mail to the program director for your program area
to discuss the ideas in your proposal.
• You must ensure that your proposal meets all the particular program
requirements. Follow the directions!
• DO NOT submit essentially the same proposal to several programs,
duplicate reviewers are very possible and will reject both proposals.
• NSF Further information:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sfinger/advice/advice.html
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/a
rticles/2007_07_27/caredit_a0700108
NIH TIPS
NIH--For each RFP:
• Ask 3 senior colleagues to first act as a “grant review committee” to
discuss your initial proposal ideas.
• Gather preliminary data, consider appropriate collaborators (but work
to establish your independence as an investigator), and contact NIH by
web or phone to discuss your proposal.
• Proposal prep: ZERO tolerance for errors in spelling, grammar, or
formatting, include the relevant literature, write clearly & concisely,
identify priorities &timeline, have others proof your proposal.
• If funded, talk with your program director at least once a year to
discuss you progress.
NIH Further information:
NIH “All About Grants Tutorials”:
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/researchfunding/grant/Pages/aag.aspx
NIH Grant Review Process Videos on YouTube:
http://cms.csr.nih.gov/ResourcesforApplicants/InsidetheNIHGrantReviewP
rocessVideo.htm
FOUNDATION TIPS
Foundation proposals: have a better chance of succeeding if they are
preceded by an informal letter (two pages or less) outlining the project,
suggesting why the foundation should be interested in it, and requesting an
appointment to discuss it in further detail.
• Such a letter permits an investigator to make inquiries to several
foundations at once and gives an interested foundation the chance to
offer suggestions before receiving the formal proposal.
• Most foundations fund specific areas of interest. It is essential that the
foundation’s interests align with the proposed project.
• Read the foundation's annual reports to learn more about the
foundation has actually supported.
• Foundations are usually interested in projects that: address large-scale
problems, introduce new educational methods, may serve as a model
or stimulus for further work, are sustainabile after the end of the
funding period, and are not eligible for governmental funding.
Foundations Further Information:
http://www.drda.umich.edu/proposals/PWG/pwgfoundations.html
THANK YOU
ANY QUESTIONS?