Office of Proposal Development

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Strategies for Writing Successful Grant
Proposals Irma Lerma Rangel College of
PharmacyOctober 8, 2007

• Office of Proposal DevelopmentDivision of
  Research Graduate Studies
• Texas AM University
• Texas AM Health Science Center
• John IvyResearch Development OfficerJohnIvy_at_tamu
  .edu
• http//opd.tamu.edu/

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Presentation Topics

• The Office of Proposal Development
• Identifying Funding Sources
• General
• Foundations
• NIH
• New Investigators
• Evaluating the Opportunity
• Components of a "Good Grant"
• The NIH Review Process
• Recent Developments at NIH

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Office of Proposal Development

• Supports faculty in the development and writing
  of research and educational proposals to federal
  agencies and foundations
• Center-level initiatives,
• Interdisciplinary research teams,
• New junior faculty,
• Institutional diversity initiatives
• Health Science Center collaborations,
• Multi-institutional research partnerships
• Offers a full suite of grant writing training
  programs to help faculty develop and write more
  competitive proposals.

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OPD Proposal Support

• Assistance with finding funding opportunities
• Information on particular programs
• What is the funding agency looking for?
• Experiences of other TAMU faculty who have
  applied for that program
• What types of projects have been funded?
• Project planning
• Strategic planning based on review criteria
• Education and outreach components
• Proposal editing
• Conformity with solicitation requirements
• Clarity and organization
• Grammar, punctuation, spelling

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Your goal is to intrigue the reviewers OPDs
goal is to help you do it
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OPD Member List

• Jean Ann Bowman, PhD (Physical Geography/Hydrology
  ), earth, ecological, and environmental sciences,
  jbowman_at_tamu.edu
• Libby Childress, scheduling, workshop management,
  project coordination, libbyc_at_tamu.edu
• Mike Cronan, PE (inactive), B.S. Civil
  Engineering, BA, MFA, center-level proposals,
  partnerships, new initiatives, mikecronan_at_tamu.edu
  
• Lucy Deckard, BS/MS Materials Engineering, New
  Faculty Initiative, fellowships, engineering and
  physical science proposals, equipment and
  instrumentation, l-deckard_at_tamu.edu
• John Ivy, PhD (Molecular Biology), NIH biomedical
  and biological science initiatives,
  johnivy_at_tamu.edu
• Phyllis McBride, PhD (English), proposal writing
  training, biomedical, editing,
  p-mcbride_at_tamu.edu
• Robyn Pearson, BA/MA (anthropology) social
  sciences and humanities proposals, editing and
  rewriting, rlpearson_at_tamu.edu

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Seminars and WorkshopsCheck our website at
http//opd.tamu.edu/seminars

• One-day Craft of Proposal Writing Workshop
  offered each fall before classes start
• Seminar on strategies for competing for funding
  with breakout sessions on different agencies
  scheduled in the fall
• Semester-long grant-writing workshops offered
  fall and spring semesters
• Seminars on specific programs (instrumentation,
  NSF CAREER, NIH K-awards, etc.) offered
  throughout the year
• Faculty panel discussions on specific agencies
  and research areas in spring

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Resources for Junior Faculty through the Office
of Proposal Development

• One-on-one consultation and proposal support
• Seminars on funding programs that may be of
  special interest to Junior Faculty
• Seminars and discussion panels on specific
  agencies
• One-day workshops on the craft of proposal
  writing
• Semester-long workshops designed to guide
  participants through every step of proposal
  writing
• Information on our website
• The Craft of Writing workbook available on-line
• Toolkits for Programs for Junior faculty
• Funding Opportunities
• Links to other useful information (agency
  tutorials, presentations, articles)
• Presentation and resource information from past
  seminars

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OPD Proposal Support The Process

• Contact us as soon as possible
• We can offer more help if were involved early in
  the process
• Iterative editing process most effective
• Turn-around times for editing depend on office
  workload
• Typically 2 days to 1 week
• Giving us a heads-up that your proposal will be
  coming will help us to plan

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• There is no amount of grantsmanship that will
  turn a bad idea into a good one, but there are
  many ways to disguise a good one.
• William Raubformer Deputy Director, NIH

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Presentation Topics

• The Office of Proposal Development
• Identifying Funding Sources and Opportunities
• General
• Foundations
• NIH
• New Investigators
• Evaluating the Opportunity
• Analyzing the funding agency
• Components of a "Good Grant"
• The NIH Review Process
• Recent Developments at NIH

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Searching for funding

• Develop search protocols to fit research
  interests
• Know relevant agencies
• Learn grant cycles

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Types of University Proposals

• Research (basic, applied, applications, mission,
  etc.)
• Equipment
• Educational
• Institutional (e.g., STEP, T32)
• Direct to applicant (e.g., Fellowships,
  dissertation grants)
• Hybrid research and educational (REU)
• Small , few PIs
• Large , multiple PIs, center-level
• Supplements to grants (NSF, NIH)

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Searching for research funding

• Define a general disciplinary domain of interest
  (e.g., science, social science, humanities,
  education, health and biomedical sciences,
  engineering)
• Characterize the nature of the research interests
  within the disciplinary domain (basic, applied,
  applications, contract, mission agency)
• Identify funding agencies whose mission,
  strategic plan, and investment priorities are
  aligned with the specific research interests
• Further align research interests with funding
  agency by reviewing funded research abstracts and
  related documentation
• Refine your search and agency focus in the search
  for funding opportunities, a process that may go
  through several search iterations

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Searching for research funding

• Who ya gonna call?
• Network with colleagues
• Funding sources cited in literature
  acknowledgements
• Companies and Foundations that support
  professional societies
• Google searches
• University posted listings
• University emails
• Federal agency web sites
• Foundation web sites
• Discussions with Agency and Foundation
  Representatives

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HSC web resourceshttp//www.tamhsc.edu/department
s/orgs/research/awards/index.html
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HSC web resources Hot Topicshttp//www.tamhsc.e
du/departments/orgs/hot-topics/
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OPD-Web Funding Opportunities
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Grants.gov

• The Grants.gov web portal serves as a single
  point of access for all federal agency grant
  announcements. New funding announcements from
  federal agency are posted to this site daily, and
  a range of other features allow subscribing to
  email funding alerts, linking to agency web
  sites, and searching for funding among agencies.

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http//www.grants.gov/
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Search Browse Grant Opportunities

• Searchhttp//www.grants.gov/applicants/search_opp
  ortunities.jsp
• Browse agencieshttp//www.grants.gov/search/agenc
  y.do

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Grants.gov Search
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Grants.gov Browse by Agency
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Receive Grants.gov Funding Email Alerts
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http//foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/
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Additional Life Science Funding Sources

• Grants.gov http//www.grants.gov
• National Science Foundation http//www.nsf.gov/
• Find Funding http//www.nsf.gov/funding/
• Funded Research http//www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/
• GrantsNet sponsored by AAAS and
  HHMI http//sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/funding
• Congressionally Directed Medical Research
  Programs http//cdmrp.army.mil/funding/default.ht
  m
• Philanthropy News Digest RFP listings http//found
  ationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/
• American Cancer Society http//www.cancer.org/docr
  oot/RES/RES_0.asp
• American Heart Association http//www.americanhear
  t.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier9713
• Cancer Research Institute http//www.cancerresearc
  h.org/criprogs.html
• Life Sciences Research Foundation http//www.lsrf.
  org/geninfo.htm
• National Multiple Sclerosis Society http//www.nat
  ionalmssociety.org/

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NIH Overview

• Mission improve the health and well-being of
  humans and reduce the burden of illness on
  population
• NIH is a basic research agency
• Different from a mission-based agency (e.g.,
  NASA, DoD)
• Fund basic science research (molecules to humans)
  in health-related topics
• Encourage translation of bench research into
  patient practices

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DHHS Overview

• Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
  Administration (SAMHSA)
• Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
  (ATSDR)
• Health Resources and Services Administration
  (HRSA)
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Administration on Aging (AoA)
• Program Support Center (PSC)
• Indian Health Service (IHS)

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NIH Culture

• Top down approach to strategic planning
• Information on the strategic plan for NIH can be
  found at http//www.nih.gov/about/researchplanning
  .htm
• Office of the Director sets the tone for research
  priorities
• Advice from many sources solicited
• Scientific community
• Patient and health associations
• Institute Center Advisory Councils
• Congress the Administration
• NIH Staff
• Institute and Center (IC) Directors use this
  information to develop their institutes
  strategic plan
• Important to review the individual IC web pages
  and talk to program officers about the current
  research focus within an IC

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NIH 20 Institutes, 7 Centers
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NIH Culture

• Trans-NIH initiatives research that cuts across
  typical agency boundaries of various ICs
• http//www.nih.gov/about/transnih.htm
• Model Organisms for Biomedical Research
• Blueprint for Neuroscience Research
• Bioengineering Consortium
• Biomaterials and Medical Implants
• Bioinformatics at the NIH
• Mammalian Gene Collection
• Cognitive Emotional Health
• Translational Research
• Part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research
• http//nihroadmap.nih.gov/
• http//nihroadmap.nih.gov/clinicalresearch/overvi
  ew-translational.asp

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NIH Funding Investments and Priorities

• NIH has investment priorities based on past
  research findings and current trends in science
• Targeted areas (FY 2008 proposed budget)
• HIV/AIDs
• Biodefense
• Roadmap for Biomedical Research
• Enhanced Support for New Investigators
• Physical Infrastructure
• NIH FY2007 budget is 28.8 billion (FY2008
  proposed 28.85 billion)
• NIH funds research projects inside their own
  laboratories (intramural) and outside their
  laboratories at national and international
  locations (extramural)
• Extramural funding 85
• Intramural Funding 10
• Research Infrastructure 5

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NIH Research Awards

• Numerous funding mechanisms
• R01 Research Project Grant
• Supports discrete, specific, highly successful
  outcome projects
• All ICs support this mechanism
• R03 Small Grant
• Supports small research projects limited time
  and resources are the key elements
• R21 Exploratory/Independent Research Grant
• Supports high risk-high yield research projects
• R15 Academic and Research Enhancement Award
  (AREA) Grant
• Small research projects in the biomedical and
  behavioral sciences conducted by students and
  faculty in health professional schools and other
  academic components that have not been major
  recipients of NIH research grant funds

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NIH Training Awards

• Individual Training awards for predoctoral
  (F31), postdoctoral (F32), or senior fellowships
  (F33)
• Limited to US citizens or legal aliens

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NIH Kareer Awards

• Some directed at retraining, professional career
  development, and recognition of career success
  (may be restricted to certain ICs)
• K Kiosk
• http//grants1.nih.gov/training/careerdevelopmenta
  wards.htm
• K01 Mentored Research Scientist Award
• Provide mentored career development in a new
  research area
• K02 Independent Scientist Award
• Develop career of funded scientist 5 yr, 75
  effort
• K05 Senior Scientist Award
• Recognize outstanding scientist with sustained
  level of high productivity
• K08 Mentored Clinical Scientist Award
• Development of independent clinical research
  scientist
• K18 Career Enhancement Award for Stem Cell
  Research
• K25 Mentored Quantitative Research Career
  Development Award
• Foster collaborative research in areas
  integrating biomedical science and engineering
• K99/R00 NIH Pathway to Independence (PI) Award
• 2 years mentored postdoctoral research 3 years
  independent research in tenure track position (or
  equivalent)

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Office of Extramural Research (OER)
http//grants1.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm

• Distinction between solicited versus unsolicited
  proposals
• Unsolicited (investigator-initiated) proposals
  (82)
• Solicited (agency-defined topics) proposals (18)
• Program Announcements (PA)
• New research programs and updates to ongoing
  programs (renewable)
• Request for Applications/Proposals (RFA/RFP)
• One time request to fulfill specific agency
  research objective or need

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Funding Opportunity Announcements
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Identifying NIH Funding

• NIH funding opportunities page
• Includes funding opportunities for NIH IC only
• Located at http//grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/ind
  ex.html
• Subscribe to weekly listserv
• Grants.gov
• Includes funding opportunities for NIH in
  addition to the other 25 federal grant-making
  agencies
• Located at http//www.grants.gov/
• Subscribe to weekly listserv

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Grants Process Overview
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Parent Announcements
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Application Due Dates
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Remember, investigator-initiated grants represent
gt80 of those funded by NIH!
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Identifying NIH Solicitations by Topic

• Search by Keyword(s) or Phrase(s)
• Identify funding opportunities
• Determine supporting ICs
• Identify mechanism (R, T, U, etc.)
• Determine eligibility
• Identify review criteria

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Example Sequencing Technology
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Example Sequencing Technology
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Example R21 in Advanced Search
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Identifying NIH Solicitations by IC

• Search by Agency (IC)
• Identify funding opportunities within an agency
• Steps for searching.
• Identify Agency (IC)
• Go to their homepage (http//www.nih.gov/icd)
• Go to their Research Funding or Extramural
  Funding section
• Perform search

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Identifying NIH Solicitations by IC
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Identifying NIH Solicitations by IC
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Staying Informed on NIH FOAs
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NIH RSS feed
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Presentation Topics

• The Office of Proposal Development
• Identifying Funding Sources
• General
• Foundations
• NIH
• New Investigators
• Evaluating the Opportunity
• The solicitation
• The funding agency
• Components of a "Good Grant"
• The NIH Review Process
• Recent Developments at NIH

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Reading the proposal solicitation

• The solicitation represents an invitation by a
  funding agency for applicants to submit requests
  for funding in research areas of interest to the
  agency or foundation.

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Program Solicitation

• The RFP contains most of the essential
  information the researcher needs to develop and
  write a competitive proposal that is fully
  responsive to the agencys funding objectives and
  review criteria.
• It is used continuously throughout proposal
  development and writing as a reference point to
  ensure that an evolving proposal narrative fully
  addresses and accurately reflects the goals and
  objectives of the funding agency, including
  the review criteria.

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Program Solicitation

• The RFP is not a menu or smorgasbord offering the
  applicant a choice of addressing some topics but
  not others, depending on interest, or some review
  criteria but not others.
• The RFP is a non-negotiable listing of
  performance expectations reflecting the stated
  goals, objectives, and desired outcomes of the
  agency.

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Map your expertise to the RFP

• Is it a fit?
• Is it really a fit?
• No partial fits allowed
• No wishful thinking
• Close doesnt count
• If you are not a fitdont submit

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Contents of the RFP

• Agency research goals, objectives, and
  performance expectations
• Statement and scope of work
• Proposal topics to be addressed by the applicant
• Deliverables or other outcomes
• Review criteria and process

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Contents of the RFP

• Key personnel, evaluation, management
• Eligibility requirements
• Due dates, available funding, funding limits,
  anticipated number of awards, performance period,
  proposal formatting requirements, budget and
  other process requirements, and reference
  documents.

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Contents of an NIH PA

• Part I. Overview Information
• Issuing Organization
• Participating Organizations
• Components of Participating Organization
• Title
• Announcement Type
• Program Announcement Number
• Key Dates
• Executive Summary

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Contents of an NIH PAPart II. Full Text of
Announcement

• Section I. Funding Opportunity Description 1.
  Research Objectives Section II. Award
  Information 1. Mechanism(s) of Support 2. Funds
  Available Section III. Eligibility Information
  1. Eligible Applicants    A. Eligible
  Institutions    B. Eligible Individuals 2. Cost
  Sharing or Matching3. Other - Special
  Eligibility Criteria Section IV. Application
  and Submission Information 1. Address to Request
  Application Information 2. Content and Form of
  Application Submission 3. Submission Dates and
  Times   A. Submission, Review and Anticipated
  Start Dates      1. Letter of Intent    B.
  Sending an Application to the NIH    C.
  Application Processing 4. Intergovernmental
  Review 5. Funding Restrictions6. Other
  Submission Requirements

• Section V. Application Review Information 1.
  Criteria 2. Review and Selection Process   A.
  Additional Review Criteria    B. Additional
  Review Considerations    C. Sharing Research
  Data    D. Sharing Research Resources 3.
  Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates
  Section VI. Award Administration Information
  1. Award Notices 2. Administrative and National
  Policy Requirements 3. Reporting Section VII.
  Agency Contact(s) 1. Scientific/Research
  Contact(s) 2. Peer Review Contact(s) 3.
  Financial/ Grants Management Contact(s) Section
  VIII. Other Information - Required Federal
  Citations

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Reading Material Referenced in the RFP

• If the RFP refers to any publications, reports,
  or workshops, it is important to read those
  materials, analyze how that work has influenced
  the agencys vision of the program, and cite
  those publications in the proposal in a way that
  illustrates the topics are acknowledged and
  understood.
• Echo the language of the agency.

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Analyzing the funding agency

• Analyzing the mission, strategic plan, investment
  priorities, and culture of a funding agency
  provides information key to enhancing proposal
  competitiveness.

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Know the funding agency

• In marking our 50th anniversary, we are
  celebrating vision and foresight Dr. Rita R.
  Colwell, former NSF Director. The recently
  retired hockey-great, Wayne Gretzky, used to say,
  "I skate to where the puck is going, not to where
  it's been."
• At NSF, we try to fund where the fields are
  going, not to where they've been. We have a
  strong record across all fields of science and
  engineering for choosing to fund insightful
  proposals and visionary investigators.

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Analyzing the funding agency

• Funding agencies have a clearly defined agenda
  and mission.
• Funded grants are those that best advance the
  mission of the funding agency.
• If a proposal does not meet an agency's mission,
  it will not be funded.

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Analyzing the funding agency

• Who is the audience (e.g., program officers,
  reviewers) and what is the best way to address
  them?
• What is a fundable idea and how is it best
  characterized within the context of the agency
  solicitation?

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Know what was recently funded

• Learning about recently funded research in your
  area helps you understand what an agency is
  looking for in the review process
• Review abstracts of funded proposals on agency
  web sites
• Talk to the principal investigators of funded
  proposals in your area
• Obtain copies of funded proposals
• Ask the PI
• Ask the agency (funded proposals are public)

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CRISP http//crisp.cit.nih.gov/

• Computer Retrieval of Informationon Scientific
  Projects
• A searchable database of federally funded
  biomedical research
• What similar projects have been funded?
• Has someone already been funded to pursue my
  idea?
• Who are my competitors?
• Who are potential collaborators?

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Finding information on funded projects

• NIH Award Search Sitehttp//crisp.cit.nih.gov/cr
  isp/crisp_query.generate_screen
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
  Grants On-Line Database (GOLD) http//www.gold.ah
  rq.gov/
• Department of Health and Human Services
  http//taggs.hhs.gov/AdvancedSearch.cfm
• NSF Award Search Sitehttp//www.nsf.gov/awardsea
  rch/index.jsp
• USDA Awards Searchhttp//cris.csrees.usda.gov/

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Presentation Topics

• The Office of Proposal Development
• Identifying Funding Sources
• General
• Foundations
• NIH
• New Investigators
• Evaluating the Opportunity
• The solicitation
• The funding agency
• Components of a "Good Grant"
• The NIH Review Process
• Recent Developments at NIH

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RFP Read Follow Directions
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Identify the review criteria

• Most agencies publish standard review criteria on
  their web pages and in each solicitation.
• Some programs will have additional review
  criteria specific to the solicitation.
• Addressing the review criteria is a key part of
  the proposal.
• Make the reviewers job easier by using language
  similar to that used in the solicitation.

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Addressing Review Criteria

• A competitive proposal must clearly address each
  review criterion, and the proposal should be
  structured so that these discussions are easy for
  reviewers to find, compare, and contrast.

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Developing the proposal narrative

• Contrary to what some people seem to believe,
  simple writing is not the product of simple
  minds. A simple, unpretentious style has both
  grace and power. By not calling attention to
  itself, it allows the reader to focus on the
  message. Richard Lederer and Richards Dowis,
  Sleeping Dogs Don't Lay, 1999.

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Introductory writing tips

• Summary and introduction are key
• May be all reviewers read
• Must excite and grab the attention
• Reviewers will assume errors in language and
  usage will translate into errors in the science
• Dont be overly ambitious in what you propose,
  but convey credibility and capacity to perform

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Introductory writing tips

• Sell your proposal to a good scientist but not an
  expert
• Some review panels may not have an expert in your
  field, or panels may be blended for
  multidisciplinary initiatives
• Agencies reviewers fund compelling, exciting
  research
• Proposals are not journal articles proposals
  must be user-friendly and offer a narrative that
  tells a story that is memorable to reviewers

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Following agency guidelines

• Read solicitation and/or proposal guide carefully
  for formatting requirements and follow
  scrupulously
• Font and font size
• Arial, Helvetica, Palatino Linotype, or Georgia
  typeface
• Black type face
• 11 pt. or larger
• At least ½ in margins
• Page limits
• Biosketch formats
• Avoids disqualification of your proposal
• Avoids irritating reviewers

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Make your proposal easy to read

• Reviewers often have 8 or 10 proposals to read
• Use white space, underlining, bold, bullets,
  figures, flowcharts to make main points easy to
  find
• Put main idea of sections and paragraphs up front

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Must Convince Reviewers

• Your proposed research should be funded
• Its important and supports the agency mission
  and program goals
• Its exciting
• It has a good chance of succeeding
• You are the person who should conduct the
  proposed research
• You are knowledgeable and well-qualified
• You have the support and resources required

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Structure of Proposal

• Often dictated by solicitation or other agency
  document
• NIH SF424
• NSF Grant Proposal Guide
• DoD Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)
• Also guided by evaluation criteria

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Preparing Proposals

• All NIH proposals use either the electronic form
  SF424 or the paper PHS398.
• The transition to SF424 for F and K awards is
  delayed
• Step 1 Download the Instructions and Forms
• http//grants2.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/
• http//grants1.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs39
  8.html
• Step 2 READ THE INSTRUCTIONS

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Speak with the Program Officer early and often
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Common Elements of PHS398 R01

• Cover page/face sheet (1 page)
• Abstract, performance site, key personnel (2
  pages)
• Table of contents (1 page)
• Budget page(s)
• Budget justification
• Biosketch of PI, biosketch of all other major/key
  personnel (4 pages each)
• Resources (no page limit)
• Research Plan (Items A-D) (25 page limit)
• Other Information under Research Plan (Items E-J)
  (no page limit)
• e.g., references cited, human or animal research
  subjects, inclusion of minorities/children in
  clinical studies, data sharing plans, etc.
• Appendix items (in-press publications, surveys,
  photos)
• Checklist

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Budget Budget Justification

• Budget
• Get help (institutional grants administrator)
• Be reasonable. The reviewers also do research!
• Budget Justification
• Personnel
• Who? What will they do? How much effort ()? Why
  is this person critical to the success of the
  project?
• Equipment
• What do you need? Why do you need it? Is there a
  similar apparatus nearby that you can use (if
  yes, why not use it)?
• Travel
• Where do you need to go? How many times will you
  go there? How many of the project personnel will
  go? Approximately how much will it cost and why?
• Other Supplies
• Equipment maintenance contracts? Fee for service
  resource?

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Connect narrative text to budget

• Budget categories are defined by the funding
  agency
• Be sure activities discussed in narrative are
  reflected in budget
• In budget justification, personnel, materials,
  supplies, equipment, travel should reflect that
  necessary to complete Research Plan

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NIH Biographical Sketch

• Four page maximum
• Section A. Positions and Honors
• Section B. Publications
• List publications reflective of the topic of the
  current proposal (or maximum)
• Section C. Research Support
• Current and completed support
• Begin with projects that are most relevant to the
  research proposed in the application

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Abstract or Summary

• May be the only thing the reviewer reads
• Must grab the reviewer
• Should communicate concisely
• Intellectual framework of proposed project
• The goals and signficance of the proposed project
• Specific Aims
• Who will be conducting the project and, briefly,
  their qualifications
• Project outcomes
• Must communicate excitement
• Check for additional requirements
• E.g., intellectual merit and broader impacts in
  NSF proposals

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Research Plan

• Introduction (Resubmissions only)
• A) Specific Aims
• Long-range goals
• Hypothesis
• B) Background Significance
• C) Preliminary Studies / Progress Report
• D) Research Design and Methods
• Structure based on Specific Aims

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Specific Aims

• Provides a framework for the reviewer
• State a long-range goal of your research program
• Tie to program/agency mission and goals
• State a specific hypothesis that your experiments
  will address
• State specific, measurable Specific Aims
• Discuss expected outcomes
• Do not be overly ambitious!

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Background Significance

• Background should tie closely to your proposed
  research
• Be thorough and concise
• Describe state of the field
• Do not be dismissive of previous research
• Identifies the opportunity
• Provides a rationale for your approach
• Specify how your research will extend and advance
  knowledge in the field

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Significance

• Explain explicitly why proposed research is
  important
• Tie to agency and program goals
• Relate to review criteria
• Make this easy to find
• Opportunity to make important points up front
• Communicate your excitement!

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Preliminary Data / Progress Report

• Be aware of expectations regarding amount of
  preliminary data
• Varies by agency
• Varies by program
• Varies by discipline
• Higher risk projects may require more preliminary
  data
• Discussion of preliminary data must connect
  clearly to proposed project

103
Research Design Methods

• Structure based on Specific Aims
• Be very clear about how you will accomplish your
  stated goals and objectives
• Include details
• What, specifically, will you do when you get the
  money?
• Schedules and milestones may be helpful
• This is especially important if you are a
  relatively new researcher
• Address any potential results and problems and
  how you will deal with them
• Avoid ambiguous terminology be specific!

104
Beware of Boiler Plate

• Thinking of proposal narrative as boiler plate
  will result in a mediocre, disjoint proposal
• Begin each proposal as a new effort, not a copy
  paste
• Be very cautious integrating text inserts
• Strong proposals clearly reflect a coherent,
  sustained, and integrated argument grounded on
  good ideas

105
Additional Resources

• Office of Proposal Development,
  TAMU http//opd.tamu.edu/
• Funding Opportunitieshttp//opd.tamu.edu/funding-
  opportunities
• Resources for Junior Facultyhttp//opd.tamu.edu/r
  esources-for-junior-faculty
• The Craft of Grant Writing workbookhttp//opd.tam
  u.edu/the-craft-of-writing-workbook
• National Institutes of Health http//www.nih.gov/
  
• Grant Application Basicshttp//grants.nih.gov/gra
  nts/grant_basics.htm
• All About Grants Tutorialhttp//www.niaid.nih.gov
  /ncn/grants/default.htm
• Annotated R01 Research Plan and Summary
  Statementhttp//www.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/grants/app/
  
• Mock Peer Review Videohttp//www.csr.nih.gov/Vide
  o/Video.asp
• CRISP funded biomedical researchhttp//crisp.cit.
  nih.gov/

106
Albert Einstein on Grant Writing

• If you can't explain something simply, you don't
  understand it well."
• Most of the fundamental ideas of science are
  essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be
  expressed in language comprehensible to everyone.
• Any fool can make things bigger, more complex,
  and more violent. It takes a touch of genius
  and a lot of courage to move in the opposite
  direction.

107
Presentation Topics

• The Office of Proposal Development
• Identifying Funding Sources
• General
• Foundations
• NIH
• New Investigators
• Evaluating the Opportunity
• The solicitation
• The funding agency
• Components of a "Good Grant"
• The NIH Review Process
• Recent Developments at NIH

108
Review of NIH Proposals

• Center for Scientific Review (CSR)
• http//www.csr.nih.gov/default.htm
• Divisions (4)
• Integrated Review Groups (IRG) 23
• Study Sections (SS) 220
• Scientific Review Administrator (SRA)
• Members (peers with expertise in SS research)
• Standing members
• Ad hoc members
• http//www.csr.nih.gov/Roster_proto/sectionI.asp

109
CSR Integrated Review Groups
110
CSR Review Streamlining

• Proposal received at CSR
• Assigned to an IRG, then to a Study Section (SS)
• The Scientific Review Administrator (SRA) assigns
  a primary, secondary, and tertiary reviewer
• Investigator-initiated proposals (R01, R03, R21)
  are read by the 1, 2, 3 reviewers
• Bottom 50 of proposals are identified about 1
  week prior to the SS meeting (triaged or
  streamlined)
• Streamlined applications receive summary
  statements verbatim from each reviewer, but are
  not discussed nor scored
• All 3 reviewers must agree on the streamlined
  proposals in order for the proposal to be triaged

111
NIH General Review Criteria

• Investigator
• Education, training, relevant experience
• Environment
• Suitability of facilities and institution support
• Significance
• Ability of the project to improve health
• Approach
• Feasibility of methods and appropriateness of
  budget
• Innovation
• Originality of research

112
CSR Scoring Proposals

• SS meets to review applications
• Primary reviewer presents your proposal to the
  group (reads the abstract)
• SS members discuss your application, the primary
  reviewer is able to answer questions about the
  proposal
• SS members assign a score to the proposal between
  1-5 (1outstanding, 5forget it)
• After the meeting the SRA calculates the average
  score for each proposal, multiply by 100 to get a
  3 digit score (100-500)
• SRA calculates a priority score or percentile
  ranking of the score based on the past 3 cycles
  of grant scores within SS
• SRA prepares a written critique of your proposal
  based on reviewers comments

113
Dual Review System for Grant Applications

• First level of review
• Scientific Review Group
• Provides initial scientific merit review of grant
  applications
• Rates applications and makes recommendations
  concerning level of support and duration of award

• Second level of review
• Council
• Makes recommendations to IC staff concerning
  funding
• Evaluates program priorities and relevance
• Advises on policy

114
Summary Statement - Triaged
115
CSR Scored Proposal
116
Revisions Resubmission

• Three strikes youre out
• Read the reviewers comments
• Take a break
• Re-read the reviewers comments
• Dont take them personally
• Read the reviewers comments, AGAIN
• Call the program officer for more feedback
• Evaluate if you should resubmit
• Begin working on the revisions, incorporating the
  revisions that you think make your proposal
  better than the previous submission

117
Interpreting Reviews Planning to Resubmit

• Were certain issues mentioned consistently?
• Plan how to address those issues
• Did the reviewers misunderstand your proposal?
• Plan how to make your text more clear
• Was no clear issue mentioned?
• May not have excited reviewers enough
• May not be an area they wish to fund now
• May not fit into their research portfolio
• Many funded proposals were funded after multiple
  submissions ? intelligent perseverance is the key!

118
Summary Statement for Revised Proposal
119
Success at NIH

• Understand NIHs mission and overall goals
• Propose research topics that cross the boundaries
  of various IC leverage tools and resources from
  other research areas to approach your research
  topic create multidisciplinary research teams
• Focus on NIH priorities
• Search for funding opportunities often and using
  different strategies, e.g., agency or topic
  search, and submit unsolicited proposals when
  possible
• Look for various opportunities to acquire
  funding, e.g., diversity supplements, career
  awards
• Partner with established NIH investigators

120
Presentation Topics

• The Office of Proposal Development
• Identifying Funding Sources
• General
• Foundations
• NIH
• New Investigators
• Evaluating the Opportunity
• The solicitation
• The funding agency
• Components of a "Good Grant"
• The NIH Review Process
• Recent Developments at NIH

121
New Investigator Programhttp//grants.nih.gov/gra
nts/new_investigators/index.htm
122
New Investigators

• K99/R00 Pathway to Independence
• 2 yr Post-doc 3 yr Independent, both periods
  mentored
• R01 fast review for new investigators
• Check box on cover page for new investigators
• Example Oct 5 Submit Mar 1 Summary
  Statement Mar 20 Resubmit (Jul 5, Nov 5, Mar
  5)
• Director's New Innovator Award Program (DP2)
• a special program to fund new investigators who
  propose highly innovative research projects that
  could have an exceptionally great impact on
  biomedical or behavioral science.

123
Multiple PIs

• The multiple-PI option is targeted specifically
  to those projects that do not fit the single-PI
  model, and therefore is intended to supplement,
  and not to replace, the traditional single PI
  model.
• http//grants.nih.gov/grants/multi_pi/overview.htm
  

124
Questions?

• Copies of this presentation will be available on
  the OPD websitehttp//opd.tamu.edu/