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Finding Funding Beth Keithly Research Development March 18, 2014 Thanks to Research Administration Memes Questions Answered • What should I do before I start looking? • What kind of funding is there? • Where do I find funding opportunities? Who Are We? • Beth Keithly – Associate Director • Jazmin Perez Cabrera – Events & Communication Manager • Alexandra Ferraris – Research Development Coordinator • The Office of Research Development (ORD) supports efforts to develop extramural research funding proposals, research activities and major multi- and interdisciplinary research initiatives: – Expand UTD’s capacity to pursue major multi- and interdisciplinary team based research initiatives. – Promote growth in campus extramural funding for research and graduate training. – Provide advice and support in developing successful proposals that blend faculty expertise with funding opportunity requirements. – Provide project management support for large research conferences hosted by UT Dallas. Before You Start Searching • Develop Your Research Plan: What research topics will you pursue over the next five years and what do you need to be successful? – This creates your keywords and gives insight into what type of grants you need. – This also may help you identify potential collaborators. • Develop Your Education Plan: What are your interests related to education in your discipline. – This helps especially with National Science Foundation grants. • Talk To Your Department Chair: How is funding counted in the promotion/tenure process? – Is one type of grant favored over another? • Research v. Education • Basic v. Equipment • Seek Out Research Grant Mentors: Can be well-funded faculty in your department, school and/or another university completely. • Talk to the Office of Research about how we can help. Starting A Funding Search • Read Acknowledgements: Look in the acknowledgements of papers written on your topic. See if the author received funding from an institution/organization that may also support your work. • Network: Networking has obvious career advantages. Use any professional meeting or conferences as an opportunity to meet funders. • Identify and Select: Examine print and electronic funding sources for both public and private funding sources. • Schedule Proposal Writing: Put time on your calendar to write/search. Starting A Funding Search: Get Keywords With A Problem Statement • What is the problem you are addressing? – – – – • Who will benefit from your project? – – • Include information about geographic location and numbers whenever possible. Always include details! Avoid overstatement: It is a very rare project that benefits “everyone”. What barriers exist that have prevented current programs/technology from solving the problem that your project will address? – • Be clear and precise! Include who, what, when, where and why. Do not be so grim that the situation seems hopeless. Avoid overstating the problem. Add a human element whenever possible. Avoid circular reasoning—the absence of your solution is not the problem you are solving. If considering a development or technology transfer grant, what is the current technology and why is yours better? – Point out how your solution is different without being critical of what others are doing. • • • Mention how you will build off of and improve upon previous work. If considering a training grant, list the types of training and methods you will use. Explain why or how they were selected. How long (in months or years) will it take to fully develop the project? Strong Sample of a Problem Statement Global warming is arguably one of the most pressing concerns of our time. However, we lack an effective model to predict precisely by how much the temperature will rise as a consequence of the increased levels of CO2 and other factors. The width of this range is due to several uncertainties in different elements of the climate models, including the variability in the Sun’s rate of energy output. To gain greater insight into the relationship between solar energy output and global temperature, we propose to launch the internationally led ABC satellite in April 2012. Our aim is to collect for 2 years data on the solar diameter and shape, oscillations, and photospheric temperature variation. We will assess these data to model solar variability. Our findings will dramatically advance our understanding of solar activity and its climate effects. Source: http://www.yale.edu/grants/funding_info/pdf/Abstracts.pdf An Overview There are two major research funding paths open to new faculty: – 1. Responding to an agency-published research solicitation – 2. Following agency specific guidelines to submit an unsolicited or investigator-initiated research proposal • Roughly 50% of NSF and 80% of NIH research funding is awarded this way. • These are best done after building a relationship with a program manager or responding to a multiyear BAA. • Agency websites are the best places to go to get information—each one has a different process, but it usually includes a white paper. DOE (energy) has a guide for unsolicited proposals. NSF has Dear Colleague Letter (BIOMAPS) and a process in their Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide. NIH has Parent Announcements. An Overview (continued) • Agencies name their funding announcements, or solicitations, differently: – – – – Request for Proposals (RFP): State of Texas Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA): CDC Program Announcement (PA): NSF, NIH Broad Agency Announcement (BAA): US Army • Most university research is funded by federal agencies but foundations, industry, state agencies and private sources play an important role. – In humanities and humanities related social sciences, research funding often comes from libraries, collections, associations and museums. • Some agencies have overlapping research areas but the agencies have different missions. Make sure you understand the mission as well as the research area. What Type of Funding? Government Advantages Have the most funding available More likely to make large grants/contracts More likely to pay indirect costs Easier to identify and research Have known application processes and firm deadlines Have set formats for applications Focus on functions that usually affect large portions of society Have renewal policies Have more staff and more resources for technical/programming assistance Funds available to wider array of organizations Disadvantages More bureaucratic Proposals are lengthy, more complex and require compliance with a variety of stipulations May require cost-sharing and matching Reviewers tend to favor established applicants Many more requirements to follow once funds have been received Changing political trends affect security of some programs and continued availability of funds What Type of Funding? Foundation Advantages More likely to focus on emerging issues, new needs, populations not yet evolved into special interest groups Some make large grants Better source of funds for start-up or experimental projects Proposals are not as complex or lengthy Often more flexible to unique needs, circumstances and time frames Less likely to have bureaucratic requirements in grant administration Usually have fewer applicants Often better sources for more local needs Disadvantages Average grant size is smaller Priorities can change rapidly, making continued support harder to predict Applicants have little influence on the decisionmaking process Some unwilling to pay all project costs Limited staff size lessens opportunities for preliminary discussions May not explain a rejection, making resubmissions difficult Contact: Habib Loriot-Bettaieb (Director of Foundation Relations) 972.883.5356 [email protected] Limited Submissions • Limited submission announcements restrict the number of applications or proposals that an institution may submit. This requires that campuses screen potential submissions to determine which will go forward to the sponsor. • An internal deadline consists of one page detailing the researcher(s) involved, basic research or program concept, and how their proposal best fits the referenced solicitation. – This is often a draft of the program summary. • Funding opportunities, internal and external deadlines are available at: http://www.utdallas.edu/research/development/limited.html – This list is not exhaustive. If you find a limited submission opportunity not on the list, contact the Office of Research Development. Places to Find Funding • New Funding Opportunities List on the website: http://www.utdallas.edu/research/fundopps/index.html • Grants.gov • Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance • Federal Register • Websites of the Agencies • Website of Foundations • Foundation Center Website • Foundation Reporter • The Grants Register • Grant Advisor Pivot Can Bring the Options to You! • Pivot (pivot.cos.com) – This is a search tool that provides up-to-date information on current national and international government and private funding sources, including fellowships, research grants, and more. – Thousands of grant solicitations are available in a wide variety of research fields. Searches can be set to run automatically and be sent weekly via email. – UT System has a subscription to this service. If you have a UTD netid, you can get on and search. All You Need Are Keywords! Type in keywords here. Getting Set Up on Pivot Your email address is your user id. Use your UT Dallas email and a password you can remember. (Changing your netid password does not impact this system.) The Initial Search This was the word I chose to search: “statistics”. You can sort by title, sponsor, deadline or amount (the default is relevance). Advanced Searches Across the rows = “or” Down the columns = “and” You can use as many or as few of these as you wish. I recommend narrowing by deadline at least. The ‘Exclude Opportunities’ matching list repeats these below. This can be useful for excluding funding types like “prize or award.” Continuing with my example This is to show you some options of the search. I actually don’t recommend narrowing down the sponsors this much. Clicking on any of these will show you only those results. Results of the advanced search You can sort just as you could earlier. You can save or refine the search, or click on one of the results. When A Option Catches Your Eye You can “track” it and it will appear on your Pivot homepage or email it by clicking “share”. Click on this and go to the sponsor’s website Saving Your Search/Getting Email Email arrives on Sunday from [email protected] with the subject line “COS Funding Alert for (name)” with updates for all your searches. (Name wisely!!) So, Now What? • Research Development can help. – Proposal language and preparation • The Office of Sponsored Projects is tasked with, among other things, submitting proposals to funding agencies. – Each PI has a Grants Specialist • Talk to your specialist—the more they know, the more they can help. • The specialist list is available on the website: http://www.utdallas.edu/research/osp/documents/gran t-specialist.pdf Thank you for listening! Any questions?