A Roadmap to Success
Writing an Effective Research Grant Proposal
Bob Miller, PhD
Regents Professor
Oklahoma State University
2011
Getting Started
Think.
What do you want to do?
Will the proposed research impact
significantly on the field and can
you convince others that it will?
Do you have an adequate
foundation of preliminary data to
launch a grant application?
Getting Started
If Yes…
Outline three or four concise
Specific Aims.
Getting Started
NOW –––––––––––
FORGET about it!
Find something else to do for a while!
Getting Started – Planning
Now, think about it again….
Assess your field.
Do you want to go it alone or are there opportunities for
collaborating with a more experienced grantee?
Check out the competition!
http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/index.jsp
http://crisp.cit.nih.gov
Getting Started – Planning
Evaluate yourself.
How do your strengths match up with the topics you
uncovered in your database search?
Can you capitalize on your expertise and fill in any gaps with
mentors, consultants or collaborators?
Resources and support
What does your organization have and what other support will
you need?
More Planning
Find two colleagues.
One should be dead-on in the discipline that is
the topic of your nascent grant application.
The other should be generally conversant with
the field, but not an expert in the subject area
of your planned application.
Both should be experienced grantees, preferably
from the agency to which you are applying.
At least one should be on your campus.
Planning with Colleagues
Now, talk with both of them about your ideas for a grant
application.
Ask them if they will share a successful grant they have
written.
Show them your specific aims.
Show them your recent peer reviewed publications that
are relevant to the subject matter of your proposed.
True colleagues will be critical as well as being supportive.
Don’t be thin skinned!
Don’t be reluctant to revise your plans as needed.
Don’t feel obligated to follow their advise…..
Planning
Find an Agency and Program
See if your proposal matches any specific
initiatives at the relevant granting agencies.
Call or email a Program Officer for an opinion of
your idea.
What you want to propose is not always what is
most important. What is important is finding
a program that can fund what you want to
propose!
Schedule a follow-up phone conversation or
videoconference.
Visit if possible.
Getting Started on the Real Thing
Learn from the RFP!
• What does the funder support?
• What does the funder expect?
• What resources are available now?
• 1. Institutional Support
• 2. Institutional Commitment
• What is the Application Process?
• What is the Selection Process?
• Who you gonna call?
OK, Sit Down and Start Writing
With all this and more in firmly in mind, at
some point you actually have to start
writing the darned thing.
Write the application in the Project
Description sequence.
But, if you get stuck, move on to another
section.
Write the Summary last, but not at the
last minute.
It’s the one thing everyone reads.
THE WHOLE STORY
BUDGET
BUDGET
JUSTIFICATION
EVALUATION
THE STORY
INSTITUTIONALIZATION
DISSEMINATION
NSF MERIT REVIEW CRITERIA
INTELLECTUAL MERIT
• DOES IT ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE?
• HOW QUALIFIED IS THE PROPOSER?
• DOES IT EXPLORE CREATIVE CONCEPTS?
• HOW WELL IS IT ORGANIZED?
• ARE THE NEEDED RESOURCES AVAILABLE?
BROADER IMPACT
• DOES IT PROMOTE TEACHING AND LEARNING?
• DOES IT INCLUDE PARTICIPATION OF OTHERS?
• WILL THE RESULTS BE BROADLY DISSEMINATED?
• HOW WILL SOCIETY BENEFIT?
Criterion 1: What is the intellectual
merit of the activity?
Potential Considerations:
• How important is the proposed activity to advancing
knowledge and understanding within the field or across
different fields?
• How well qualified are the team members to conduct
the project? Is it well organized?
• To what extent does the proposed activity suggest and
explore creative, original, or potentially transformative
concepts?
• How well conceived and organized is the proposed
activity?
• Is there sufficient access to resources?
Why is it Unique? –
How is it Novel?
Who makes up the
Interdisciplinary
Team?
Criterion 2: What are the broader impacts
of the proposed activity?
Potential Considerations:
•How well does the activity advance discovery
and understanding while promoting teaching,
training, and learning?
•How does the activity include participation of
underrepresented minority groups?
•To what extent will it enhance infrastructure?
•Will the results be disseminated broadly?
•What may be the benefits of the activity to
society?
PROPOSAL REVIEW
Principal investigators should address the
following elements in their proposal.
• Integration of Research and Education
One of the principal strategies in support of NSF goals is
to foster integration of research and education in
funded projects through the programs, projects, and
activities at academic and research institutions.
• Integrating Diversity into NSF Projects
Broadening opportunities and enabling the participation
of all citizens is essential to the health and vitality of
science and engineering.
The Parts (NSF)
A. Project Summary
B. Project Description
1. Objective and Significance
2. Background
3. Preliminary Results
4. Research Plan
5. [Conclusions]
6. Broader Social Impact and Educational
Outreach
7. Results of Prior NSF Finding
Before we begin!
READ THE RFP or
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
AGAIN!!!!!!
FONTS THAT CAN BE USED
PRINT SIZE
PAGE LIMIT
Project Summary
• Stand alone – This may be the only thing that
most of the panel reads.
• Read the guidelines
– Tells you what should be in it.
– Word or character limit is often included.
Objectives & Significance
• HIT THEM IN THE FACE!
• Include why you want to do the study and
why it’s important.
• HYPOTHESIS DRIVEN! !!!!!!!!!!!
• Goals
– The activities you are going to do to test
the hypothesis
– Not more than 3-4 (Maybe 5). Don’t try to
do everything!
Background
• The state of knowledge at the current
time.
• Make sure that the literature survey is
complete. (Literature cited is not
included in page limit).
Preliminary Results
• Important
• What you have done at the current time
• Include enough data to be convincing
but summarize.
• Cite your papers!
– Especially if they acknowledge a former or
current grant from the agency.
Research Plan
• Follow your “Goals” from the introduction
• Provide enough detail that a person not in
the field understands the procedures
• What do you expect (hypothesis)?
• What do you do if you don’t get the results
you expect?
• What are the potential pitfalls?
Facilities Statement
• What resources do you have?
• Can you do the project with what you have?
• If you can’t, you need to think about what
you need and include it in the budget.
Budget
Must be reasonable for what you want to do
– Not enough is as bad as too much!
– If you need a piece of equipment, include it.
– If you need to contract something out be sure
to include costs
Don’t forget
– Fringe benefits
– Travel
– Publication costs.
Budget Justification
•
•
•
•
•
•
Important!
What is everyone going to do?
Why do you need what you need?
Why do you need the travel funds?
What rate will travel be reimbursed?
Work with your grants office!!!!
THANK YOU