Recognise that NHMRC grants are very competitive

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Recognise that NHMRC grants are very competitive!
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Grants - quotable quotes

• Success is how high you bounce when you hit
  bottom. -- General George Patton
• Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but
  in rising every time we fall. -- Confucius
• You lose with potential. You win with
  performance. -- Bill Parcels
• Obsession does not guarantee success. But, on the
  other hand, a lack of obsession does guarantee
  failure. -- Tom Peters

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Thoughts

• Before Writing
• Read and understand funding agency
  announcements/instructions
• Consider departmental and institutional
  regulations
• Know the specific aims, approximate costs, and
  necessary preliminary data for the proposal

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Recognise Assessment criteria

• Innovation/novelty
• International competitiveness
• Approach
• Feasibility
• Track Record

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WOW Factor

• Remember
• SIMPLE and STRAIGHTFORWARD is not boring.
• BORING is boring!

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Grant applications

• Dont make committee think
• Put relevant information where it is expected to
  be found
• Be kind to the Assessors (Charts, Tables,
  Headings)
• Assessors are never right and never wrong

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Why?

• Problem Statement
• Scientific Significance
• Related Research
• Preliminary Studies

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Why Common Mistakes

• Statement or Purpose Unclear/Diffuse
• Limited Significance/Insufficient Importance
• Scope Overly Complex or Ambitious

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What

• Hypothesis
• Research Question
• Objectives

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What Common Mistakes

• Poor Fit with Problem Statement
• Objective/Research Question Unclear
• Poorly Presented/Too Vague
• Not Testable
• Poor Fit with Methods Section/Not Predictive

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How?

• Methodology
• Population/Sample
• Design
• Instrumentation/Data Collection
• Analysis
• Work Plan

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How Common Mistakes

• Inadequate Analysis
• Inadequate Evaluation
• Potential Pitfalls not Addressed
• Unrealistic Time Schedule
• Responsibilities/Duties Unclear

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How Much?

• Full Cost Budget
• Realistic
• Justified

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Have others review before submission

• Those in your field
• Someone to look at the Guidelines
• Someone who knows nothing about what you do

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Conclude 1

• Be Nice to Your Assessors
• Your proposal should
• Be informative, succinct, and logical
• Emphasize and re-emphasize the important points
  in your argument
• Use fonts, headings, and spacing that improve
  readability
• Not hide important information in the Appendix
• Contain the kinds of buzzwords, phrases and
  arguments that the reviewer will want to see

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Conclude 2

• Think
• Outline
• Seek advice
• Identify funding source(s)
• Rethink
• Prepare a draft budget
• Discuss plan
• Write
• Revise
• Begin internal paperwork
• Ask colleagues to review draft

• Revise
• Finalize budget (with administrator
  checking)
• Solicit final review by colleagues
• Revise
• Submit for internal sign-off
• Proofread
• Revise
• Package

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Possible reasons for why Proposals Don't Get
Funded

• Guidelines are ignored
• Importance of the project is unclear
• Hypotheses are not supported by literature and/or
  preliminary data
• Project is technology-driven rather than
  hypothesis-driven
• Required personnel and expertise not assembled
• Experimental plan is unfocused and hard to
  understand
• Experiments do not include all relevant controls
• Potential obstacles and alternate approaches are
  not discussed
• Application is trying to do too much in time

• Problems with methods and data analysis
• Work load, budget and/or time-frame unrealistic
• Weak conceptual framework
• Inappropriate acknowledgement of previously
  published research
• Investigators and/or consultants named in
  research narrative but not listed on budget or
  "Key Personnel" page
• Application lacks detail (vague) or is so dense
  message is not obvious
• Institutional resources are insufficient
• Insufficient investigator time allocation

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Did you . . . . ?

• Receive (and read) comments from colleagues?
• Adhere like epoxy glue to all of the funder's
  guidelines?
• Proofread for errors in both narrative and
  budget?
• Have someone with a fresh eye also proofread?
• Write an abstract that agrees with the rest of
  the proposal?
• Obtain all the necessary approvals?

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Acknowledgements

• Those who have given their thoughts on how to be
  successful in gaining funding (Mike Waters, David
  Gotley, Bill Schweri, UQ ORPS)
• The NHMRC for the experiences in applying,
  assessing giving us a chance to have a go.