Proposal Development

1
Proposal Development

• Starting well is half the job.
• Korean Proverb

2
Why Pursue Grant Funding?

• Expand your research
• Provide student support through student salary or
  scholarship
• Acquire new equipment
• Pilot project or development funding

3
Perceived Barriers To Proposal Writing

• Time
• Lack of release time
• Lack of adequate clerical support
• Indirect cost recovery distribution
• Lack of graduate assistants
• Lack of grantsmanship experience
• Insufficient preliminary data
• Lack of appropriate research software
• Internal routing and approvals
• Lack of knowledge about where the money can be
  found

4
Where Is The Money?

• USD Office of Sponsored Programs Funding
  Opportunities Website - http//www.sandiego.edu/sp
  onsored-programs/funding/index.php
• Links to Databases
• Community of Science (COS)
• Copley Library, Funding Resources
• Grant Advisor Plus
• Grants Alert
• Grants Net
• Other External Funding Sources by Category
• Foundation Center Database OSP and Foundation
• Relations have a subscription
• Email Alert Systems (Sample http//www.nsf.gov/ )

5
What To Look For In A Grant Funding Announcement

• Grants A financial assistance mechanism between
  a sponsor and recipient for approval activities.
  Performance responsibility lies primarily with
  the recipient.
• Contract An award instrument establishing a
  legal procurement relationship between the
  sponsor and the recipient obligating recipient to
  furnish a project or service defined in detail
  and binding the sponsor to pay for it.
• Cooperative Agreement Award instrument
  reflecting an assistance relationship between the
  sponsor and the recipient in which a substantial
  programmatic involvement by the sponsor is
  anticipated.
• Fellowship Financial aid granted to a student
  or faculty member to provide for further study.

6
Terms

• BAA Broad Agency Announcement (grants and
  contracts)
• RFP Request for Proposals (grants)
• RFA Request for Applications (contracts)
• PA Program Announcement (grants)

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Announcement Will Specify

• A type of funding opportunity.
• Scope of work or target opportunity.
• What agency is soliciting the proposal.
• Who is eligible (Do they fund institutions such
  as USD?)
• Geographic restrictions.
• How to apply (Electronic, paper copies, font
  page limitations.)
• General and specific award conditions.
• Budget ranges.
• Who gets the money (you? USD?)
• Other special considerations (cost share?)

8
Before You Write

• Match your needs to the sponsors interests
• Start Early Dates on the calendar are closer
  than they appear.
• Contact the Program Officer.
• What percent of proposals are likely to be
  funded?
• Do you have sufficient preliminary data for this
  RFP?
• Find funded proposals or abstracts to review.
• Talk to your faculty advisor/colleagues/chair/dean
  /unit head
• Dont work alone. Get peer reviews often. When
  possible, seek collaborations.
• Deadlines, letters of intent, matching required,
  page limits, font size, copies.
• How transmitted? Electronic? Paper?

9
Before You Write

• Read the guidelines carefully and then read them
  again.
• Understand the agencys review process. Who will
  read the proposal?
• NSF says proposals should be understandable by a
  non-specialist a scientifically literate lay
  reader. Reviewers are often chosen on the basis
  of the abstract and title. If a non-specialist
  doesnt grasp the issue, it may be reviewed by
  the wrong people.

10
Proposal Development

• When writing is hard
• talk it out.

11
Writing The Proposal

• How is proposal writing different than other
  kinds of writing?
• A proposal is a request for funding crafted to
  persuade a reviewer that
• Your topic is important
• Your plan is sound
• You are qualified to pursue it
• You will complete it successfully and
• Your project matches their priorities.

12
Basic Proposal Information

• A proposal will answer the following questions
• Why do you want the money? What situation are you
  trying to fix? - This is the need section.
• What will the situation look like when you
  finish? What are the goals and objectives you
  will meet?
• What will you do to meet the goals and
  objectives? This is the method section.
• How will we know what was accomplished and that
  methods were valid? This is the evaluation
  section.
• What will all this cost? This is the budget.
• Why should they fund you?

13
Writing The Proposal

• Think like a reviewer
• Format the proposal so that it is easy to
• Find key points
• Read and appreciate
• Directly address the reviewers comment format
  and
• Type the guidelines into your narrative so the
  reader knows exactly where you are.

14
Writing The Proposal

• Think like a reviewer
• Write in paragraphs
• Include only one major idea per paragraph
• Make the first sentence in a paragraph a topic
  sentence
• Use headers frequently
• Break up the narrative text with charts, graphs
  and pictures (when appropriate).

15
Writing The Proposal

• Think like a reviewer
• Let your text flow
• Indent paragraphs
• Skip a line between paragraphs
• The proposal does not have to reach the page
  limits
• Brevity is fine.

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Writing The Proposal

• Government Proposals
• Follow the guidelines precisely.
• Type the reviewers scoring format into the
  proposal.
• Ask faculty advisor or colleagues to review
  initial concept and later full proposal.
• Dont work alone.

17
Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Title
• Conform to the agencys guidelines for titles
  (there may be a limit on length)
• Make the title an accurate statement of long term
  goals
• Include keywords in the title

18
Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Abstract
• First and possibly last section to be read the
  most important part of the proposal
• Write it last (even though its the first item.)
• Every proposal, even very brief ones, should have
  an abstract approximately 200 words.

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Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Table of Contents
• Very brief proposals with few sections ordinarily
  do not need a table of contents.
• Long and detailed proposals may require, in
  addition to a table of contents, a list of
  illustrations (or figures) and a list of tables.

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Common Sections OF A Proposal

• Introduction
• A capsule statement of what is being proposed and
  then should proceed to introduce the subject to a
  stranger.
• Dont assume that your reader is familiar with
  your subject.
• Should be comprehensible to an informed layman.
• If the explanation of the proposed research will
  be complex, the introduction might end by
  specifying the order and arrangement of the
  sections.
• Explain the underlying assumption of your
  research hypotheses.

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Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Need or Problem Statement (Program Proposal)
• This sections describes the situation which
  caused you to prepare the proposal.
• It should refer to the situation(s) outside of
  the organization.
• Use statistics, supplement with quotes from
  authorities.
• The lack of your project is Not The Problem.

22
Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Literature Review (Research Proposals)
• Discuss current thinking on the topic and review
  efforts devoted to it in the past.
• Dont overload reviewers with extraneous
  materials. Literature reviews should be
  selective and critical.
• Should lead logically to the research rationale.

23
Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Typical components of a research plan (NIH
  terminology)
• Specific Aims short overview of what you aim to
  accomplish (5)
• Background Significance Why work is important,
  necessary (10-15)
• Preliminary Data Pilot data (25)
• Research Design and Methods the experiments you
  will conduct (55-60)

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Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Need or Problem Statement (Research Proposal)
• State Objectives Clearly.
• Provide background on the state of the field.
  Include information about general literature.
• Define what additional questions should be
  answered or gaps in knowledge should be filled.

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Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Research Methods
• Explain your previous work related to the topic.
• Explain the work of likely reviewers.
• Be hypotheses driven.
• Highlight your strengths in the area of research
• Your experience and that of collaborators
  (including publications)
• Methodology and equipment available
• Unique approach.

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Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Research Methods (cont)
• Be realistic. Distinguish between long-range
  goals and short range objectives.
• Be clear about the focus of the research. Pose
  the specific question(s) the project is intended
  to answer.
• Explain the connection between the research
  objectives and the research method.

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Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Research Methods (cont)
• Do you have preliminary data?
• Are the time and skills of staff adequate to
  conduct studies proposed?
• Explain expected outcomes and contingencies
• A series of experiments must not rely on finding
  a specific result in prior experiments.

28
Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Institutional Resources
• The institutions demonstrated competence in the
  pertinent research.
• Availability of experts in related areas.
• Supportive service.
• Research facilities or instruments available to
  the project.

29
Common Sections To A Proposal

• Personnel/Bio Sketches
• Include for critical personnel of time and
  role
• Principal Investigator (PI)
• Co-Principal Investigator (CoPI)
• Co-Investigators
• Senior Personnel
• Collaborators
• Consultants
• Research Assistants with Special Skills

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Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Personnel/Bio Sketches (cont)
• Include
• Training, experience
• Grant support
• Publications
• Separate peer reviewed articles, reviews,
  chapters, and abstracts
• Place in chronological order with complete
  information (i.e. title, vol., and page numbers)
• Limit manuscripts in preparation to
  manuscripts
• you would be willing to send to the committee.

31
Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Budget
• Start with the application guidelines
• Determine the dollar amount available
• Pinpoint the earliest start date and end date
• Check for budget restrictions and cost sharing
  requirements

32
Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Budget (cont)
• Direct Costs Costs specifically identified and
  allocable to the project. Examples are salaries
  and benefits, travel, equipment and contract
  services.
• Indirect Costs (Facilities and Administrative
  Costs) Costs that cannot be directly allocable
  to the project but are real. Examples are heat,
  lights, trash, gardening, security, procurement,
  accounting, HR, administration, OSP, depreciation.

33
Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Budget (cont)
• Provide no surprises here! The budget tells the
  same story as the plan of operation.
• Cost Share/Matching must be documented in the
  same way the funder award is documented.
• Cost Share can be donated time, donated services
  or cash.

34
Common Sections Of A Proposal

• Budget Narrative
• Serves two main purposes
• Explains how the costs were estimated
• Explains the need for individual items.

35
Common Sections To A Proposal

• Appendices
• Dont include information critical to the
  understanding of the narrative.
• Narrative must stand alone. Appendices may not
  be read by the reviewers.
• Appendices to proposals are occasionally used for
  letters of endorsement or promises of
  participation, intent to form a subcontract or
  consultancy.

36
Common Sections To A Proposal

• Appendices Letters of Commitment
• The individual will explain the scope of work
  relevant to the project.
• Attests to understanding of award terms and
  conditions.
• Institutions should state if subject to a-133
  audits and if recent audits had findings.
• Consultants must not be on the suspended or
• debarrred lists.

37
Why Are Proposals Rejected?

• The proposal contained an unreasonable number of
  mechanical defects that reflected carelessness
  and the authors unwillingness to attend to
  detail. The risk that the same attitude might
  extend to execution of the proposed study was not
  acceptable to the reviewers.
• The problem is not of sufficient importance or is
  unlikely to produce any new or useful
  information.
• The research is based on a hypothesis that rests
  on insufficient evidence, is doubtful, or is
  unsound.

38
Why Are Proposals Rejected?

• The proposed tests, or methods, or scientific
  procedures are unsuited to the stated objective.
• The investigator does not have adequate
  experience or training for this research.
• The investigator appears to be unfamiliar with
  recent pertinent literature or methods.
• Readers are human and they may disagree.

39
Why Are Proposals Rejected?

• Avoid the reviewer feeding frenzy where they
  find one thing they dont like and then look for
  others.

40
Project Checklist

• Follow grant guidelines closely. Meet each
  requirement and dont leave out any steps.
• Ask several people to review your grant for
  common sense and clarity before you submit it.
• Make sure your grant application contains a clear
  and logical budget, with narrative description
  that explains the costs in each category.
• Supply documentation on how the costs were
  determined.
• Gather statistics to support your request.

41
Project Checklist

• Do a survey to demonstrate the need for the
  project.
• Be sure to include information on how you will
  evaluate the success of the project.
• Be sure to indicate how our project will meet
  state or national standards.
• Review the list of projects that have recently
  been funded by the agency you are applying for to
  determine if your project will meet the funding
  criteria.