How to Start the Grant Writing Process

1
How to Start the Grant Writing Process

• The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
• Montclair State University

2
Office of Research Sponsored Programs

• Anne Braden, Interim Director
• Megan Delaney, Interim Assistant Director
• Carol Gelormine, Post Award Facilitator and
  Office Manager
• Fitzgerald Edwards, IRB Administrator
• College Hall Room 309
• Office extension x4128
• Interim Directors extension x5367

3
Office of Research Sponsored Programs

• www.montclair.edu/ORSP
• What you will find on our website
• Featured Awards
• Special Announcements
• Internal Routing Sheet
• Budget Templates Guidelines
• Institutional Information
• Internal Award Information (as it becomes
  available)

4
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
helps faculty and staff secure external funding.

• We register faculty with the SPIN database for
  funding announcement notifications.
• Review funding announcements with faculty.
• Review proposals for formatting, accuracy, and
  adherence to agency objectives.
• Assist with the preparation of proposal budgets.
  
• Coordinate the internal MSU approval process.

5
More ORSP Functions

• Coordinate the electronic submission of the
  proposal.
• If an award is made, we setup the internal FRS
  budget and forward it to Grants Accounting.
• Assist with the internal requirements for
  purchasing on grant accounts.
• Act as the administrative liaison between the
  funding agency and the investigator.
• We maintain a University wide database of
  proposals and awards.

6
Reviewing the Funding Announcement

• Eligibility
• Time Frame
• Appropriateness
• Effort Required
• Likelihood of Success

7
Reviewing the Funding Announcement

• Understand the announcement completely.
• Then, contact the program officer if you need
  further clarification and/or you want to briefly
  introduce yourself and discuss your idea.
• Ask smart questions, not questions that are
  already answered in the announcement.

8
Common elements of a proposal

• Cover Letter
• Signed Face Page
• Abstract (Summary)
• Table of Contents
• Narrative/Project Description
• Budget/Sustainability Plan
• Resumes/Biosketches/Job Descriptions

• Project Description
• Introduction (background)
• Problem Statement
• Specific Aims
• Goals Objectives
• Methodology Work plan
• Personnel Facilities
• Evaluation
• Dissemination Plan
• Conclusion

9
Budget Template
10
As you are writing, remember

• Be finite and measurable.
• State the specific accomplishments that must be
  achieved to meet your goal(s).
• Define the minimum measures of success for your
  project.
• Be extra careful and clear when writing the
  methods section of the proposal.
• Be program-focused, not budget-oriented (never
  mention buying!!)

11
As you are writing, remember

• The potential sponsor wants to fund a project to
  help their own mission. Sponsors see themselves
  as agents of change. How does your project fit
  their to do list? State that in two sentences.
  Use those sentences in the Project Summary
  section.
• Dont criticize others in your field.
• After the project is written, give it to a
  respected peer. Get feedback.

12
Advice from NSF

• A good proposal is always readable,
  well-organized, grammatically correct, and
  understandable.
• The narrative should be specific about the
  proposed activities. Reviewers want details.
• Be explicit in your narrative about how the
  program will make an improvement and why the
  particular application you propose is better than
  other ideas.
• Demonstrate in the narrative that you have a
  broad knowledge of current scholarship and
  activities in your field and how this is relevant
  to your projects design.
• Include examples that illustrate innovative
  activities or exercises that students will be
  doing. Reviewers like projects that include an
  emphasis on active learning and student directed
  inquiry.

Excerpts from the National Science Foundation A
Guide for Writing Proposals http//www.nsf.gov/pub
s/2004/nsf04016/start.htm
13
Advice from NSF

• Schedule proposal writing for a reasonable time
  and carefully manage the schedule. Consider
  scheduling the writing in small, regular amounts
  of time. The effort needed to write a proposal
  might, at first sight, seem insurmountable. By
  proceeding a step at a time, you will be able to
  accomplish the task.
• Typically a final version of a proposal will have
  gone through several drafts and revisions. Dont
  plan on writing a final version in a first draft.
• The proposal should be written so that, if
  funded, it can serve as a blueprint for executing
  the plan.

Excerpts from the National Science Foundation A
Guide for Writing Proposals http//www.nsf.gov/pub
s/2004/nsf04016/start.htm
14
More Advice

• Consider a subaward. Partnering with a respected
  member of your field can get you started.
• No grant is too small. Investigate smaller
  opportunities to get preliminary data.
• Investigate grants from the State of New Jersey
  and private foundations that have a geographic
  focus on New Jersey.
• If you are rejected, get the reviews and read
  them. Revise. Chances of success improve on the
  second and third submission.

15
More Advice

• Volunteer/Apply to become a reviewer of proposals
  at a relevant Federal agency.
• If appropriate, meet with Program Officers for
  proposal development.
• Review the list of previously funded awards. Who
  received them? For how much?