Docsity
Docsity

Prepare for your exams
Prepare for your exams

Study with the several resources on Docsity


Earn points to download
Earn points to download

Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan


Guidelines and tips
Guidelines and tips

Writing Successful Proposals for Research Funding: A Comprehensive Guide, Slides of Career Counseling

An in-depth understanding of the research funding landscape, focusing on various sources of funding such as federal agencies, state governments, industry, foundations, and research institutes. It covers unsolicited and solicited proposals, fellowship proposals, and the review process. The guide also offers insights into writing effective proposals with clear objectives, tasks, and competence, as well as targeting the reviewer.

Typology: Slides

2012/2013

Uploaded on 08/21/2013

annuu
annuu šŸ‡®šŸ‡³

4.8

(8)

43 documents

1 / 10

Toggle sidebar

This page cannot be seen from the preview

Don't miss anything!

bg1
HOW TO WRITE A SUCCESSFUL
PROPOSAL
docsity.com
pf3
pf4
pf5
pf8
pf9
pfa

Partial preview of the text

Download Writing Successful Proposals for Research Funding: A Comprehensive Guide and more Slides Career Counseling in PDF only on Docsity!

HOW TO WRITE A SUCCESSFUL

PROPOSAL

THE

FLOW

OF

RESEARCH

MONEY

Federal :NSF, NASA,

EPA, DOE, NOAA, DoD…

State

Industry

Foundations

Research institutes

(NCAR, EPRI. SAO…)

Research teams(TES, GMAO…)

Individual investigators

Arrow on right is most important for university investigators; arrows on leftmay be more important for scientists in national labs (or other large labs)

HOW

TO

COMPETE

FOR

MONEY

Unsolicited

proposals:

that’s

the

way

NSF

mainly

functions.

Send

in

your

proposal

anytime,

to

the

program

that

seems

to

fit

best

Solicited

proposals:

that’s

the

way

other

agencies

mainly

function.

They

issue

a

ā€˜call

for

proposals’

in

a

certain

area,

with

a

certain

pot

of

to

be

competed

with

a

deadline.

Programs

within

agencies

generally

issue

yearly

calls

in

order

to

maintain

a

stable

community

of

investigators

Fellowship

proposals:

encourage

young

investigators

at

the

PhD,

postdoc,

or

early

faculty

level.

Selection

is

mostly

decided

by

your

record,

reference

letters,

vision

expressed

in

proposal.

They

generally

have

low

overhead

rates.

Industry,

foundation:

funding

is

more

ad

hoc,

often

uncompeted;

need

to

develop

relationships

HOW

PROPOSALS

GET

REVIEWED

Proposals
are
sent
to
program
manager;
at
least
for
all
govt
funding
the
proposals
go
for
peer
review
NSF
solely
uses
mail
‐in
reviews
‐^6
reviewers);
decision
to
fund
is
largely
based
on
reviewers’
ratings.
Other
agencies
and
fellowship
programs
use
review
panels,
sometimes
in
combination
with
mail
‐in
reviews;
idea
is
to
have
a
cohesive
program,
calibrate
across
reviewers,
make
the
best
of
a
fixed
pot
of
money.
Review
panels
typically
have
primary/secondary
reviewers
assigned
to
individual
proposals;
These
primary/secondary
reviewers
any
mail
‐in
reviewers)
are
the
ones
who
will
actually
read
your
proposal;
others
on
the
panel
may
only
read
abstract
and
check
out
your
CV
for
evidence
of
quality.
First
round
of
discussion
categorizes
proposals
as
ā€˜definitely
fund’,
ā€˜try
to
fund’,
ā€˜don’t
fund’.
Add
up
costs
of
ā€˜definitely
fund’
proposals,
compare
to
total
pot
of
money
available.
If
extra
money
is
available,
bring
in
ā€˜try
‐to
‐fund’
proposals;
consider
breadth
of
program,
cost
‐cutting
opportunities…This
is
where
most
of
the
discussion
takes
place
Typically
of
submitted
proposals
are
funded;
of
fellowship
proposals
are
selected.

docsity.com

GENERAL

FEATURES

OF

A

GOOD

PROPOSAL

Has
clear
and
itemized
objectives:
shows
clear
vision
Generally
need
a
bullet
list
in
bold
font
of
‐sentence
objectives
to
early
in
the
proposal.
Can
be
expressed
as
objectives,
questions,
or
hypotheses
Some
solicitations
require
you
to
deliver
a
specific
product;
this
ā€˜deliverable’
is
then
an
objective
Explicitly
state
how
your
objectives
respond
to
the
solicitation
(if
appropriate
non
‐obvious)
Has
clear
and
itemized
description
of
tasks,
i.e.,
the
work
to
be
done
to
achieve
these
objectives
There
should
normally
be
a
ā€˜Task’
section
mapped
to
each
objective
Describe
your
research
tools
and
how
you
will
apply
them.
Reviewers
want
to
know
what
work
will
actually
be
done
to
justify
the
budget
Have
enough
technical
detail
to
convey
competence,
not
so
much
as
to
lose
reviewer
or
invite
pickiness.
Mention
tools
that
you
may
use,
options
if
things
don’t
work,
etc.
Oozes
with
competence:
you
need
to
convince
reviewer
that
you’re
the
right
person
for
the
job
Proposal
should
include
mini
‐review
of
literature
on
research
topic,
including
discussion
of
your
own
previous
accomplishments;
this
is
usually
the
material
that
the
reviewer
enjoys
reading
most
Nothing
beats
having
relevant
publications
to
show
that
you
know
what
you’re
doing,
that
you
can
publish.
Advertise
your
publications.
Most
proposals
are
tied
to
general
professional
development
and
reviewers
will
want
to
see
this.
Talk
about
how
the
proposed
work
fits
into
your
larger
‐scale
research
plans
and
interests,
your
career
development,
your
teaching/outreach
objectives,
etc.
A
proposal
should
be
intensely
personal.

docsity.com

TYPICAL

PROPOSAL

STRUCTURE

Abstract

Should include clear statements of objectives and tasks.

I

generally use numbered lists of objectives and tasks; a proposal isn’t a literary work. It is most important to be clear. Program manager and broader review panel may only read your abstract.

Introduction/background

Start from big picture (show that you have perspective) but quickly focus on motivating what you want to do; stay focused

Review of relevant literature should be exhaustive; show that you know what’s been done and how your proposed work builds on it 2. Objectives

‐sentence bullet list, followed by some explanatory text if needed; this should be at the end of intro or as a separate section right after the intro.

Previous accomplishments

Very important; advertise what you’ve done that demonstrates your expertise, and show that money spent on you is well spent.

NSF

requires such a section. Include it in proposals to other agencies too.

Research tools

Tasks

One task section/subsection per objective

Expected outcome

State how knowledge will be increased and the world will be a better place as a result of your research. Why should one invest in your proposal? - This may include education/outreach 7. Schedule

Solicitations may require a certain proposal structure (which you should followscrupulously) which generally is some variant of the above.

docsity.com

SOME

MYTHS

ABOUT

PROPOSALS

You
can
only
get
funded
for
work
you’ve
already
done.
Would
be
a
little
ridiculous
(not
to
mention
unethical)
and
reviewers
could
see
through
this.
But
there
is
some
truth
in
that
you
generally
can’t
get
funded
unless
you
demonstrate
previous
expertise,
i.e.,
that
you
can
do
the
work.
And
showing
preliminary
results
can
be
very
valuable
in
that
regard.
Modeling
proposals
are
cheaper
than
experimental
proposals.
In
either
case,
most
of
the
cost
is
personnel.
It’s
nearly
impossible
for
a
young
investigator
to
break
in.
Most
agencies
will
try
to
fund
young
investigators
but
you
need
to
be
low
‐cost
Agencies
try
to
maintain
some
stability
in
their
programs
and
successful
past
investigators
therefore
enjoy
some
favorable
prejudice
(these
will
typically
occupy
the
ā€˜must
‐fund’
category).
But
this
leaves
room
for
low
‐cost
proposals
from
young
investigators,
which
also
enjoy
some
favorable
prejudice.
Personal
contacts
with
program
managers
are
key.
The
funding
system
is
in
fact
highly
meritocratic.
What
is
really
ā€˜key’
in
getting
funded
are
prior
relevant
publications.