Basic Proposal Writing
at Penn State
By Lisa Wiedemer, CRA
Manager of University College Grant Relations
Why should I go to all the time
and bother of writing a proposal?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Research what you want, how you want
Summer salary
Travel
Student assistants
Publications
Campus share of indirect costs
What we’ll be discussing
• Coming up with the idea
• Figuring out who might pay for it
Getting Started
• The idea
-- What interests you?
Have a concrete idea in mind before you start looking—
successful grantees are those who find a funder interested in their
ideas, not those who tailor their ideas to fit a funder’s interests.
-- What would you be happy studying for years?
Remember—grants often last for several years.
-- What’s fresh?
Grantors don’t want to keep funding the same old ideas. If
nothing else, try to find a new twist for your idea.
Getting Started
• Finding funding
Getting Started
• Sponsor/peer networking
– Try conferences, journals, list servs—don’t be
afraid to ask colleagues how they were able
to fund their research or programming.
• University resources @
http://www.research.psu.edu/osp/find-funding/front-page
Getting Started
http://www.research.psu.edu/osp/find-funding/fundingsearches
• Grants.gov
– http://www.grants.gov/
– “One-stop shop” for accessing federal grants
and contracts information.
– Includes:
• Database with search option
• Links to Federal Register
• Application packages
Getting Started
http://www.research.psu.edu/osp/findfunding/funding-searches
• Community of Science
– Bills itself as the most comprehensive source
of funding information on the web: 23,000
records, 400,000 funding opportunities worth
$33 billion
– Database includes sciences (including social
sciences), arts and humanities funders
– COS Expertise feature allows you to register
your research interests so you can be notified
of funding opportunities
Getting Started
http://www.research.psu.edu/osp/find-funding/fundingsearches
• Sciences:
– Grants Net: Sponsored by the American
Association for the Advancement of
Science—biomedical sciences and
undergraduate science education.
– Science.gov: Database with links to dozens
of science-related agencies and websites.
Getting Started
http://www.research.psu.edu/osp/find-funding/fundingsearches
• Foundation Center
– Provides annotated links to private and
corporate foundations and public charities by
subject or geographic keyword
– Excellent resource for any aspiring proposal
writer. Offers free virtual tutorials on proposal
writing, budgeting, etc.
Getting Started
http://www.research.psu.edu/osp/find-funding/fundingsearches
• Pennsylvania Bulletin
http://www.pabulletin.com/
– Document of record for the Commonwealth.
Includes information and guidelines for grant
programs as they become available
• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
http://www.state.pa.us/
– Links to all state agencies
Getting Started
• Register for e-mail alerts
– Community of Science
• http://www.cos.com/services/funding.shtml
– Foundation Center
• http://fdncenter.org/pnd/rfp/index.jhtml
Help!
• I sat through this whole thing and I
STILL have questions!
– Lisa Wiedemer, Manager of Grant
Relations
– llw13@psu.edu
– (814) 865-6014
And if you need more….
• Fax number
– (814) 865-3692
• Address
– 111 Old Main
University Park, PA 16802