Finding Funding

Presented by Beth Hodges April 2011

Today’s discussion

 Before you Begin: Considerations  Identifying Funding Sources  Online demonstration of COS  Tips

Before you begin: Considerations

Make Sure You Have Clearly Defined Your Research      Have a clearly defined research agenda For beginning investigators, it is essential to define a problem that provides the foundation for a longer term effort.

Confirmatory efforts that break little new ground should be avoided.

Focus on “Transformative Research” The problem should be hypothesis driven What is the question? What is the rationale for asking this question?

Identifying Funding Sources

Ways to Locate Funding

 The Web  Discussion with colleagues  Searching literature & by researching where colleagues in your area are obtaining funding – can be done through COS  Contact program officers at agencies and pitch ideas; visits to agencies are welcome. FSU has a program for faculty which supports trips to Federal agencies (Funding Agency Travel [FAT] Program http://www.research.fsu.edu/crc/fat.html

)

Using the WWW for Funding Searches       FSU has resources available on the

Office of Research Website

Community of Science Grants.gov

Individual Agency Links Federal Register Etc.

 Let’s look at the pages….

www.research.fsu.edu

Community of Science

 Not just for the hard sciences  Arts, humanities, social science opportunities  Over 25,000 records worth over $33 Billion  Not just federal opportunities  Private and Non-profit funders also listed  Easy to Search  Storable Searches  Funding Alerts USER TRAINING AVAILABLE ONLINE http://www.research.fsu.edu/cos/index.html

http://fundingopps.cos.com/

Entering your Profile into COS Why Bother?

 Completing your COS Expertise profile allows others to find you – provides opportunities for partnerships  MyProfile.cos.com – Creates a home page for your CV.  Manage your Saved Funding Searches and Tracked Funding Records

Other Resources?

 The Office of Research Newsletter  The Foundation Center Online  Available from the FSU Foundation Contact at the Foundation is Gabe Grass [email protected]

COS Funding

LIVE SEARCH

Looking for funding…Tips

Be Assertive and Proactive

• Discuss your research proposal with the funding agency, if you have any questions about their interest in your type of research or the application process • Don’t rely on one submission---submit multiple applications for the same project (worry about turning down the award later, if you get more than one application funded) • Seek out details of grant eligibility don’t assume you aren’t eligible by reading the title of the application notice

Grant Application Tips

• Read the proposal thoroughly before you begin. If you are applying for a limited submission program, find out what the internal deadline is. • Start well ahead of the submission deadline(s) - Gathering supporting documents - Adequate time to solicit and incorporate feedback from others - Last minute revisions to proposal - Internal reviews and approvals

Grant Application Tips (cont’d)

   Spend whatever time is needed to present a well-thought out proposal Be certain to submit all of the funding agency’s required materials ON TIME Adhere to guidelines- page length, font size/density, margins etc.

Don’t let your proposal be rejected because of an oversight on your part.

Preparing the Budget- Key Points

Ask for what you Need

 Low ball budget undermines your credibility; you will appear naïve in the eyes of the reviewers and panel  Same goes for an unrealistically high budget  The reviewers and panelists are usually successful grants people. They know the costs of doing business

Develop a tough skin

Understand that MANY more proposals are declined than awarded.

 Overall, proposals are increasing and dollars are decreasing  At NSF & NIH, less than 25% of proposals are awarded

Responding to the declination of a proposal   Take the comments of the reviewers very seriously Panel summaries are written to be constructive (and instructive)  Contact the program officer; these individuals take detailed notes. He/she will be able to fill in between the lines  If your proposal is deemed uncompetitive and has irreparable flaws, move on  Respond to the reviewers comments in the resubmission; point out elements that were changed and points that you agree to disagree on;

avoid defensive language

Finally…

Be kind to your grants administrators

Questions or Assistance:

Beth Hodges FSU Office of Research  3012 Westcott North Building Tallahassee, Fl 32306-1330  [email protected]

 (850) 644-2257  (850) 645-0108 (FAX)