Proposal Writing

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Proposal Writing

• John Townshend

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Todays presentations

• Proposal writing
• Content
• Logistics

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Why are grants important?

• To allow certain kinds of research get done
• Large scale projects data rich projects.
• Not all research needs a lot of money and its
  easier if you dont have to raise resources.
• Also gives you independence in terms of attending
  meetings and basically anything that costs money.
• Deans and chairs tend to favor grant-getters
• Important indicator of external approval of your
  activities
• May benefit the department financially through OH
  return
• Typical OH is 48
• at UMD 50 to State and 50 to campus
• the campus 50 is split between the VP for
  Research, the College and the Department.
• Department gives a small proportion of its
  resource to the PI.

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Getting ready

• Its a good idea to be aware of Agency or
  Foundation overall priorities.
• Read the Announcement of Opportunity carefully
  then read it again.
• NASA Fellowships are unusual in that they offer
  few constraints in terms of subject area.
• If you are unclear whether your research fits
  with the AO, contact the manager by phone (or
  e-mail) and ask them.
• Rarely will they say no, so listen carefully to
  what is said.
• If you want to collaborate with anyone sort this
  out at the beginning.
• Note that if you want genuine cooperation then
  the co-I has to get something concrete
• Try and determine if you might be competing in
  topic with other people in your unit.

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Timing

• Work backwards from the date of submission to
  determine when things have to be done.
• How long does Fed-ex take.
• How long does it take to route it through your
  organization
• (note at UMD you can start routing once the
  budget is sorted out and have just a filer for
  content, then once the routed version is returned
  with signatures, replace the content but do not
  alter title budget etc).
• Allow half a day for reproduction of multiple
  copies (often 20 copies are needed just for the
  agency).
• If its a matter of electronic submission make
  sure you know how to do this ahead of time.
• Add references and final figures
• Write text
• Work out budget
• Write initial text

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Timing

• Total time taken depends greatly on size and
  complexity of grant.
• Sub-contracts take time
• At least for NASA the new ROSES document helps a
  lot
• Dates and times are normally very firm
• Even an hour late can lead to a rejection.
• You cant blame Fedex.

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Content of proposal

• Proposal should make it clear how you are
  responding to the AO.
• Proposal should be persuasive and not merely
  descriptive.
• You must demonstrate and explain why your
  research is important and what will be its
  impact.
• Nearly all successful proposals have some
  preliminary results
• Demonstrates feasibility.
• Demonstrates your capabilities.
• Figures/illustrations are almost always
  necessary.
• The abstract and opening section are very
  important as is the title.
• Need to include references just as with any paper.

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Physical form

• The proposal should look thoroughly professional
• Use imaginative lay-outs (bullets, wrap around
  text etc) to help the reader understand the text
  and not get bored.
• Pay attention to the length specifications
  (number of pages, font size etc.)
• Examples of successful proposals will be made
  available in the departmental office.
• Read the small print and make sure everything is
  included (e.g. signed letters from all
  collaborators)
• Note that a lot of the needed bumpf is included
  by the campus (e.g. certification of a drug-free
  work-place)

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What happens next

• Letter reviews normally requested
• Panels meet to consider proposals
• Panels make recommendations to the agency
  managers (they do not make the decision)
• Agencies then decide on who wins and how much is
  to be awarded.
• Their decision may be based on programmatic
  priorities.
• Then inform the PI. May be some negotiation in
  terms of funds.
• Then eventually funds arrive at campus.
• Normally can start spending 90 days before money
  arrives (but can be a risk).

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Other issues

• Normally if you are PI the grant is transferable
  between institutions.
• But strictly it is the organization that holds
  the grant not you.
• Once you get substantial sums of money then you
  have to fund people to help run your activities.
• Management is a skill that can be learnt like any
  other and you should aim to be a good manager.
• You should have a shadow system for tracking your
  expenditures and in particular for making
  projections.
• Only the PI can do this properly all that can be
  done by outsiders is to assume rate of
  expenditures will stay the same.

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What affects success

• Quality of proposal
• Persuasiveness
• Responsiveness
• Riskiness (peer-review process can be a negative)
• Value for money
• Feasibility in relation to resources
• Reputation/record of proposer
• Reputation/record of collaborators
• Reputation/record of unit
• Facilities of unit
• Other support (matching funds letters of support)