Writing Research Grants: Strategies for Success Research Consortium 2004

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Writing Research GrantsStrategies for
SuccessResearch Consortium 2004

• Barbara Ainsworth
• San Diego State University

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Yahoo! We submitted our grant

• Of course, Ill be funded
• Ill have release time
• Ill have grad students
• Ill get summer salary
• Ill publish a lot
• Ill be tenured/promoted
• Its wonderful

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What?! We didnt get funded?

• Why not?
• What was wrong?
• The review sheets told me nothing
• Review teams are biased
• Its hopeless
• Its a waste of time
• Im quitting

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Wisdom from a successful researcher
Unsuccessful proposals
My stack of Un-funded proposals is 10 times hi
gher
than the funded ones
Funded proposals
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Where Proposals Fail
Topic or purpose is not appropriate for
agency/reviewers Lack of research expertise
a research team Lack of new or original ideas
Poor communication of ideas and plans
Purpose and plan not sufficiently detailed
No specific products or end-points or benefit
Insufficient attention given to related work of
others Poor evaluation design
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Finding the Agency
1. Is an agency is interested in your idea?
2. Does the agency have special mandates?
3. What is the agencys funding profile?
4. Are they interested in your idea?
5. Would they like to receive a proposal?
Is there a champion for your project?
Sometimes requests are just wired
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Federal NIH, NSF, DOE, NEH, CDC
R-01 Established investigator
R-18 Dissemination R-21 Exploratory K- series
Mentored opportunities T- series Training grants
SBIR Business-University collaboration
Foundation - RWJ, Gates, Reeve
Organization AAHPERD, ASPH, ACSM
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Where Proposals Fail
Topic or purpose is not appropriate for
agency/reviewers Lack of research expertise
a research team Lack of new or original ideas
Poor communication of ideas and plans
Purpose and plan not sufficiently detailed
No specific products or end-points or benefit
Insufficient attention given to related work of
others Poor evaluation design
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Research Expertise and Research Team

• Research Team
• PI expert in specific area
• Statistician
• Interventionist
• Specialists PA Measurement
• Nutrition School PE Health
• Community Minority Evaluation
• Senior mentor or consultants

Your Expertise Published papers Graduates studen
ts
Presentations Pilot studies
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Where Proposals Fail
Topic or purpose is not appropriate for
agency/reviewers Lack of research expertise
a research team Lack of new or original ideas
Poor communication of ideas and plans
Purpose and plan not sufficiently detailed
No specific products or end-points or benefit
Insufficient attention given to related work of
others Poor evaluation design
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(No Transcript)
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Actual Causes of Death, United States
of all deaths
18
15
3
Mokdad, A.H. et al. JAMA, 2004
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Sedentary Death Syndrome (SeDS)
A major cause of death in the US is sedentary
living One of top 3 causes of all-cause mortali
ty in US Directly contributes to 2nd highest ca
use obesity Direct indirect costs of inacti
vity 150 billion 15 of 1.6 million chronic
conditions due to inactivity Contributes to 82
of CHD 91 of type 2 diabetes
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Where Proposals Fail
Topic or purpose is not appropriate for
agency/reviewers Lack of research expertise
a research team Lack of new or original ideas
Poor communication of ideas and plans
Purpose and plan not sufficiently detailed
No specific products or end-points or benefit
Insufficient attention given to related work of
others Poor evaluation design
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You are Selling a Product
Good Proposal Good Idea Good Plan
Meaningful and much needed test
of an idea that may solve a problem
Do-able Well thought out Sufficient skills
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Identify What You Want to Do
Do you Know Can you Communicate
What you want to do? What you want to accomplis
h? Why you want to do it? Why this project is ne
eded? Who you want to do it? Who will carry out
the project? If it will work? How much it will
cost? If you are qualified to do it? Does it m
atter to anyone else?
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Write to Convince the Reader Be Outcomes Orien
ted Assume They Know Nothing Use Tables
Figures
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Where Proposals Fail
Topic or purpose is not appropriate for
agency/reviewers Lack of research expertise
a research team Lack of new or original ideas
Poor communication of ideas and plans
Purpose and plan not sufficiently detailed
No specific products or end-points or benefit
Insufficient attention given to related work of
others Poor evaluation design
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Your Purpose Plan What you want to accomplish
? Why this project is needed? Who will carry ou
t the project? If it will work? How much it w
ill cost? If you are qualified to do it? Does it
matter to anyone else?
Essential Elements Aims Objectives Plan Obe
sity Epidemic Co-Investigators Staff Pilot D
ata Must Be Realistic Your Track Record Hea
lthy People 2010
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DESIGN OVERVIEW The proposed study will assess th
e effect of a six-month walking intervention
on concentrations of insulin, glucose, and
distribution of body fat in obese,
insulin resistant women, ages 20-40 years in a
randomized clinical trial.
Figure Overview of the Study Plan
Recruit Insulin Resistant Women, 20-40 years
Screen, Eligibility, Consent
Baseline Assessments
Walking Intervention n 100
Follow-up Assessments (6 months 1 year)
Randomize
Stretching Control n 100
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Months 1-6 Planning, Recruitment, Enrollment
Month 1 2 3 4 5 6 Planning x Hiring x Recrui
tment x x
Screening x x Enrollment x
Staff hired 1 GA, 2 Recruitment specialists
Recruitment N600 recruited Screening N 400 s
creened
Enrollment N 200 eligible
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Where Proposals Fail
Topic or purpose is not appropriate for
agency/reviewers Lack of research expertise
a research team Lack of new or original ideas
Poor communication of ideas and plans
Purpose and plan not sufficiently detailed
No specific products or end-points or benefit
Insufficient attention given to related work of
others Poor evaluation design
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End Points of Benefits
By 2010, the U.S. Public Health Service and the
hundreds of agencies involved in developing healt
h goals for the nation must report their success.
HP2010 Robert Wood Johnson PA...Policy E
nvironment Secretary of DHHS Steps for Health
NIH Obesity Epidemic You can help the
m reach their goals
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Where Proposals Fail
Topic or purpose is not appropriate for
agency/reviewers Lack of research expertise
a research team Lack of new or original ideas
Poor communication of ideas and plans
Purpose and plan not sufficiently detailed
No specific products or end-points or benefit
Insufficient attention given to related work of
others Poor evaluation design
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Where Proposals Fail
Topic or purpose is not appropriate for
agency/reviewers Lack of research expertise
a research team Lack of new or original ideas
Poor communication of ideas and plans
Purpose and plan not sufficiently detailed
No specific products or end-points or benefit
Insufficient attention given to related work of
others Poor evaluation design
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Present an Organized Document
Long Short Term Goals Objectives to Meet the Go
als
Justification Why Project is Needed
Justification Why You are Qualified to Do It
Methods to Meet the Objectives
Evaluation Plan to Determine if Objectives Were
Met
Realistic Time Budget to to Meet Objectives
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Things we all should know
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Types of Funding
Cooperative Agreement Yours Theirs You Th
em
Mostly Yours High CDC, Foundation -
Grant Yours You Yours Highest NIH -

Contract Theirs You for Them Theirs Mod - Va
ries
All Areas -
Idea Work Ownership Value Agency Money
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Your 100,000 Grant - Federal
Sub-Contracts 15
Subcontract
(Includes their indirect)
Indirect Costs (FA) 50
University
You
Direct Costs 35
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Your 100,000 Grant - Foundation
Indirect Costs (FA) 7
Sub-Contracts 15
Universities
(Includes their indirect)
Subcontract
Yours
Direct Costs 78
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Ways FA are Distributed
PI
High Volume PI (another)
University
100,000 _at_ 50 50,000 FA (5,000 to 10,000 to
PI . )
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Research Consortium Grants Program
Competitive Program Funded by Hoops for Heart Pro
gram Cooperative, Established Investigator, Seed
Projects, Dissemination Small amounts of mone
y (5,000 to 15,000) No indirect cost recovery p
aid Not a career builder -- good way to get pilot
data
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Ways to Improve your Chances
Be sure proposal is neat, clean, easy to read
Use ample figures tables to help tell the stor
y
Avoid unsupported assumptions
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Once Funded
Keep funding agency in the loop
Be a good steward of their money Try to get p
ilot data for your next project
PUBLISH YOUR (THEIR) WORK!