The Craft of Grant Writing

Phyllis McBride, Ph.D.

Assistant Director Office of Proposal Development [email protected]

Writing for reviewers

Think about your reviewers

 Remember that while your application will be submitted to an agency, it will be read by people  Prepare your application with your reviewers in mind

Think about your reviewers

    Smart Accomplished Dedicated Fair

Think about your reviewers

    Busy Overworked Tired Skeptical

Think about your reviewers

 “Distinguishing between innovations that emerge from empirical testing of concepts and pre-existing notions and practices currently embraced by businesses to distinguish themselves from competitors in a given local consumer market illustrates the extent to which competitive incentives to offer new and potentially innovative products may encourage such businesses to adopt practices from other markets, thereby avoiding costs associated with research and development of those new products.” – Example from GWSW

Think about your reviewers

 “We will use the previously designed data collection instrument, described in section B.3.1 on page 16, and the statistical analysis, similar to that which is in the methods section of the reprint attached as appendix VI, to measure the extent to which our healthcare assessments approaches will be reflective of the community standards described in Section B.2.1 on page 5.” – Example from GWSW

Write for your reviewers

 “In language, clarity is everything.” – Confucius

Write for your reviewers

 Make sure that all of your reviewers – no matter what kind or level of expertise they may have – will be able to follow your argument   You want your reviewers to be your advocate For reviewers to be your advocate, they must be able to understand your proposed research project well enough to explain it to other reviewers

Write for your reviewers

  Remember that the proposal is the only reality  Assume nothing  Include everything the reviewers will need to evaluate your proposed research and your qualifications to conduct that research Remember that you are telling a story  Synthesize all key concepts for the reviewers   Clearly articulate the links between the overall goal, the individual objectives, the hypotheses, the rationale, the expected outcomes, and the significance and impact Don’t count on the reviewers to make leaps of logic for you

Create a reviewer-friendly application

 Prepare reviewer-friendly text  Develop reviewer-friendly formatting  Incorporate reviewer-friendly graphics

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Create reviewer-friendly text

Divide the proposal into the required sections Place the sections in the required order Use parallel structure at the section level Incorporate logical paragraph breaks Open paragraphs with clear topic sentences Avoid the use of inflated language Use declarative sentences Define potentially unfamiliar terms Spell out acronyms and abbreviations Employ appropriate style and usage Use correct grammar, punctuation, spelling Run a spell check and proofread the application

Create a reviewer-friendly format

 Observe page limitations   For whole proposal For individual proposal sections  Observe margin requirements  Observe font and point size requirements  Incorporate headings and subheadings  Incorporate ample white space

Create reviewer-friendly graphics

       Make graphics large enough to be useful Place graphics as close to the text they are meant to illustrate as possible Refer to graphics in the text Number and title all graphics Prepare a caption for all graphics Label axes and data points, as needed Provide a legend, as needed

Reading the proposal solicitation

Read the instructions

 Read the instructions!

 Read

all

of the instructions!

 Read all of the instructions

carefully

!

 Read all of the instructions carefully

again

!

   Agency’s proposal preparation guide Program’s proposal solicitation Solicitation’s supplemental instructions

Analyze the solicitation

  The proposal solicitation is

not

:   A list of suggestions A menu or smorgasbord from which you can choose what to address The proposal solicitation

is

:   A non-negotiable list of proposal requirements A treasure map

Analyze the solicitation

  Use information presented in the announcement to help you develop a competitive proposal strategy   Remember that a proposal is a persuasive “sales” document  Emphasize hot buttons  Echo language of announcement Address the review criteria Call your program manager with questions

Preparing the application

Prepare the application

       Cover sheet Title Abstract Executive summary Background Significance Project description        Project schedule Biographical sketch Resources Grant support Budget Budget justification Supplementary materials

Cover Sheet

  Requires that you provide basic information  Program name and number        Principal investigator information Administrative official information Organization name and type Requested award amount Proposed project period Human and animal subjects assurance numbers Signatures Oftentimes offers you the opportunity to indicate if you are a “new investigator”

Title

   Create a good first impression   Must be informative Must be interesting Conform to restrictions on length  Know if restrictions apply to characters only, or to characters and spaces Conduct market research  Ask colleagues to help you select the most compelling title

Abstract

   Provides a concise overview of the proposed project Requires that you provide a great deal of information within a tightly prescribed format   Who, what, when, where, why, and how Additional agency-specific information   NIH – Relevance of the research to public health NSF – Intellectual merit and broader impacts Frequently becomes public record if the project is funded   Should be written in third person Should not include confidential or proprietary information

Introduction / executive summary

   Critically important   Often the only part of the proposal that all reviewers will have an opportunity to read Must be able to stand alone Must be clearly written   Must provide a conceptual overview Must generate enthusiasm Serves as a roadmap to the application

First paragraph

   Introduce the project  Relate the project to the agency’s mission Educate the reviewer  Summarize the important knowns Identify the gap in the knowledge and/or state the critical need  Explain why the gap or need presents a problem  Remember: You must present a way to solve the problem or fill the need

Second paragraph

    Describe your long-term research goal  Should support the agency’s mission State the objective of the proposed research project  Should represent a step toward reaching your long-term goal Present your central hypothesis or statement of need  If presenting a central hypothesis  Make sure it is a real hypothesis, not a predetermined conclusion, i.e., make sure it can be objectively tested to determine its validity Explain your rationale  Explain what it will be possible to accomplish when your research is complete

Third paragraph

  Describe your qualifications    Special training, and/or expertise Quantity and quality of preliminary data Unique approach, technology Describe your research environment    Access to unique equipment and resources Access to research subjects Collaborations and partnerships

Fourth paragraph

 Delineate your objectives / specific aims     Provide a reasonable number of objectives  Don’t be under- or over-ambitious Present objectives in a logical order Make sure each objective can stand alone  Make sure no objective is dependent on the successful completion of another objective Provide conceptual objectives that focus on your idea rather than descriptive objectives that focus on tasks

Fifth paragraph

   Describe the project’s innovation Delineate the project’s expected outcomes  List specific deliverables Summarize the project’s significance / impact     Fill a gap in the knowledge Advance the field Meet a need Provide an application

Background

  Demonstrate your familiarity with the field Provide a context for the proposed project  Literature review  Preliminary studies

Literature Review

   Cite only literature relevant to the proposed project  Don’t try to be comprehensive Provide a critical review of the relevant literature  Don’t simply summarize contributions Situate your proposed research project in the field  Explain how your proposed research project will contribute to and/or advance the field; don’t expect reviewers to make this leap for you

Preliminary Studies

    Provide an account only of the preliminary studies relevant to the proposed research project Determine how much preliminary data to include   Published studies  Summarize the results and provide offprints in the appendix Unpublished studies  Describe the results in more detail to assure reviewers of the reliability of the results Present the results in a logical order Illustrate the results with graphics

Project Description

   Organize the project description around the objectives Try to devote an equal number of pages to each of the objectives Use parallel structure to describe each of the objectives

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Project Description

Title of objective Introduction to objective    Hypothesis or statement of need Strategy Rationale Project / experimental design for objective    Emphasize concept Be specific when describing approach / methodology Refer to your previous work, if appropriate Expected outcomes for objective  Express confidence Anticipated problems for objective  Provide solutions and/or alternative strategies

Project schedule

   Indicate anticipated start date  Obtain this date from the proposal solicitation Delineate key milestones  Base milestones on the objectives Incorporate agency and program requirements  Include dates for reports and other deliverables

Project Schedule

Year 1 Year 2 Task Objective 1: Evaluate the extent to which John of Rupescissa drew upon, and expanded, the research of his contemporaries Transcribe and collate manuscripts Translate manuscripts Analyze manuscripts Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Biographical Sketch

  Highlight accomplishments that demonstrate your capacity to conduct and manage the project Adhere to agency’s formatting requirements      Use the required form (if applicable) Follow the prescribed page limits Include the required headings Place information in the required order If you are collaborating  Format your colleagues’ resumes like your own

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Biographical Sketch

Name Title Institutional affiliation Education  Field of study, degrees, years degrees were earned Professional appointments  Department, institutional affiliation, term of appointment Publications  Full bibliographic citations  Verify if inclusion of publications in press or submitted is allowed Grant awards  Completed, ongoing, and pending support Collaborators  Co-authors, co-editors, advisors, advisees

Resources

  Demonstrate that it is feasible to conduct the proposed research project at your institution  Facilities       Office, laboratory, library Equipment and instrumentation Clinical Animal Computer Other Demonstrate that you are part of an intellectually stimulating and supportive research environment   Collaborations and partnerships Affinity groups

   

Completed, Ongoing, and Pending Grant Support

Show that you have a clear research agenda Show that you have been productive on past projects  Presented results of research at professional conferences  Published papers in peer-reviewed journals Demonstrate that you have sufficient time to conduct and manage the proposed research project Demonstrate that there is no overlap between one of your already funded projects and your proposed research project

        

Completed, Ongoing, and Pending Grant Support

Contract number Principal investigator’s name Sponsor’s name Project title Project period Project summary Investigator’s role Investigator’s percent effort Annual and/or total direct costs

Budget

   Adhere to agency and program requirements  Include only allowable costs Request what you need to complete the project  Make sure the budget reflects the research project’s objectives, scope, and duration Base budget on real costs    Remember that reviewers know what things cost Factor in cost escalations for multi-year projects Factor in both direct and indirect costs

Budget

 Understand typical budget categories   Direct costs  Personnel    Equipment Materials Travel Indirect costs

Budget Justification

  Use this section to continue to persuade reviewers that you are a thoughtful investigator Provide a clear and persuasive explanation of why each budget request is needed  Include sufficient detail   Enables program managers to understand how the budget was calculated so that they can see that the request was reasonable Allows program managers to negotiate the budget in the most appropriate way

Supplementary Materials

   Verify that supplementary materials are accepted Avoid using supplementary materials to circumvent page limitations Include only supplementary materials that support the application       Offprints or photocopies of publications Samples of curricula Samples of surveys, questionnaires, or data collection instruments Clinical protocols or informed consent documents Photographs, graphics, or other media Letters of support or other endorsements

Vetting, editing, and proofreading the application

Vet your application

    Identify colleagues to review the application  Select reviewers carefully Provide reviewers with the information they need   Proposal solicitation Complete application Give reviewers ample time   You want them to conduct a thorough review You want them to help you catch “fatal flaws”   In scholarship and/or science In grantsmanship Review, evaluate, and incorporate feedback

Revise your application

 “You will have to write and put away or burn a lot of material before you are comfortable in this medium. You might as well start now and get the necessary work done. For I believe that eventually quantity will make for quality.” – Ray Bradbury

Edit your application

   Set aside the instructions and application for a few days Re-read the instructions and application  Ensure that you have included all required sections  Confirm that you have placed sections in the required order  Verify that you have addressed all review criteria Ask yourself if you have told the “story” of your proposed research project in the most clear, compelling, and convincing way possible

Proofread your application

 Check for errors       Facts Spelling Punctuation Grammar Usage Style  Run a spell check

Route and submit your application

   Remember that your institution will submit your application on your behalf Allocate ample time to route your application for institutional approvals Allow time to finalize application   Paper submissions  Allow ample time to photocopy, bind, and mail application Electronic submissions  Allow ample time to e-mail and upload application

Wait for news

 And wait . . .

 And wait . . .

 And wait . . .

Receive review comments

 If your proposal is funded, celebrate!

 Or, if it is not funded, . . .  Deal with rejection

Deal with rejection

 “We have read your manuscript with boundless delight. If we were to publish your paper, it would be impossible for us to publish any work of lower standard. And as it is unthinkable that in the next thousand years we shall see its equal, we are, to our regret, compelled to return your divine composition, and to beg you a thousand times to overlook our short sight and timidity.” – Rejection slip from a Chinese economic journal

Revising and resubmitting the application

Revise and resubmit your application

   Respect the views of reviewers Review the reviews  Discuss the reviews with senior faculty and with your program manager Decide whether or not you have a viable project  If you don’t, revise the idea or come up with a new one  If you do, revise and resubmit the application  Verify that the targeted program is the best one for the project   Respond to reviewer comments Focus on submitting a great proposal

Revise and resubmit your application

 “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions or honor and good sense.” – Winston Churchill

Questions