Searching for Grant Opportunities - the list of offices

Graduate School
Grant Writing Workshops
Fall 2010
Introductory Grant Writing
September 8, 201o
Lee Carpenter

Graduate Grant Writing Workshops
Introductory Workshop Wednesday, September 8 1:00 ‐ 3:00 pm
Quantitative Social Sciences Thursday, September 16 1:00 ‐ 3:00 pm
Arts and Humanities Thursday, September 23 2:30 ‐ 4:30 pm
Life Sciences
Thursday, September 30 2:00 ‐ 4:00 pm
Medical Sciences* Wednesday, October 6 1:30 ‐ 3:30 pm
Engineering Wednesday, October 14 3:00 ‐ 5:00 pm
Qualitative Social Sciences Thursday, October 21 1:30 ‐ 3:30 pm
Physical Sciences
Wednesday, October 27 1:30 ‐ 3:30 pm
http://www.gradsch.psu.edu/current/grantwriting.html

Overview
Today’s Instructor
Why Learn about Grants/Grant Writing?
Types of Grant Funding
Sources of Grant Funding
Obtaining Grant Funding
Searching for Funding Opportunities
Grant Terminology
Tips for Successful Grant Writing
Questions/Discussion

Other Penn State Grant Writing/Funding Opportunities
Social Science Research Institute/Children, Youth, and
Families Consortium Seminars
Workshop 2: Locating Funding Sources for Your Research
When: November 5, 2010
Time: 3:30‐5:00 p.m.
Where: Life Sciences 004
Speaker: Keith Aronson, SSRI/CYFC Associate Director
Workshop 3: Grant Writing and Review Process (NIH Focus)
When: December 3, 2010
Time: 12:00‐3:00 p.m.
Where: East 101, Henderson; via Adobe Connect Pro
Workshop 4: Grant Writing and Review Process (Foundation Focus)
When: February 11, 2011
Time: 9:00 a.m.‐11:00 a.m.
Where: TBA; via Adobe Connect Pro
Workshop 5: Grant Writing and Review Process (NSF Focus)
When: April 18, 2011
Time: 9:00 a.m.‐11:00 a.m.
Where: TBA; via Adobe Connect Pro
Speaker: Robert O'Connor, Director, Program in Decision, Risk and Management Sciences, NSF

Today’s Instructor:
Lee Carpenter
Project Associate and Contracts Coordinator, Prevention Research
Center, College of Health and Human Development
25+ Years of Grant Writing/Editing/Funding Assistance in Major,
Well‐funded Research Units at Penn State
Have Assisted with Major Grant Initiatives for National Science
Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and others
Have Taught Seminars on Searching for Funding, Developing Grant
Proposals, Etc., including Graduate Student Funding Focus
Working Primarily in Health and Social Sciences, Environment and
Energy, and Policy—Faculty, Research Associates, and Graduate
Students

Why Learn about Grants/
Grant Writing?

Why Learn about Grants/
Grant Writing?
Important to well‐rounded graduate
education/professional development
Support for innovative, cutting‐edge
research and/or programs
Building a record of funding
Often necessary for employment,
tenure/promotion
Increased competitiveness as job candidate
Increasingly prevalent in all career tracks

Why You May Need Grant Money
As Graduate Students
• Stipend/Summer salary
• Tuition
• Materials (incl. Equipment)
• Project‐related Travel
• Subject Payments
• Access to Equipment
• Undergraduate Research
Assistants
Government Grant Funds will
not* pay for…
• Books or other publications
• Professional society
memberships
• Lab refreshments
• Travel from home to lab
• Furniture for the lab
• Equipment that is not
research-project related
• Express mail (Fed Ex)
• Personal computers
•There are always exceptions – the
key is “project-related”

Why You May Need Grant Money
As Postdoctoral Fellows/Trainees
• All items listed previously, and…
Graduate and Undergraduate Research Assistants
As Junior Faculty
• All items listed previously, and…
Funds for Graduate Research Assistants and Postdocs
(especially stipends and tuition)
Project‐related Collaborator Travel and Communication
Course Releases
Project‐related Equipment
Collaborative Projects and Resource Sharing

Types of Grant Funding

Types of Grant Funding
Grant
• vs. Fellowship
• vs. Contract
• vs. Award
• vs. Gift
Types of Grants
• Research grant
• Travel grant
• Conference grant
• Curriculum development grant
• Collaborative grant
• Dissertation grant
• Postdoctoral research grant
• External vs. internal

Sources of Grant Funding

Sources of Grant Funding
State and Federal Government
Military
Corporations
Foundations
Organizations
Internal Funds (available at the University)

Obtaining Grant Funding:
Six Basic Steps

Step 1: Determine why you need grant money
Step 2: Generate a fundable idea
Step 3: Determine how much you need
Step 4: Find grant/funding opportunities that fit the
two issues above as well as fit your project idea/topic
Step 5: Apply for that grant/funding
• Develop a unique, innovative, fundable project idea
• Get as much advice and assistance as you can when
applying for a grant
• Expect to be turned down many times before
attaining success
Step 6: Get the grant, conduct the research, and decide
how to proceed next on your research trajectory

Searching for Funding
Opportunities

Finding External Funding
1: Search Funding Opportunity Databases and Consult College
Research Offices, Other Research Units, and colleagues at Penn
State; do a search of funded projects via NIH or NSF Award Search
2: Set up Funding Alerts
• Funding alerts are email notifications of new funding opportunities in specific
fields or from individual sponsors. Many alerts can be customized. E.g., NSF,
NIH, COS.
3: Search Funding Guides
• Other online resources, such as web sites, pathfinders, and publications, are
specialized by type of researcher or field of study. Look for additional information
specific to faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars or graduate students.
4: Use Print Resources
• Reference books on funding opportunities, grantmaking organizations, and
proposal writing as well as a collection of successful graduate fellowship
proposals are available.

Sources of Grant Funding,
Redux
State and Federal Government
Military
Corporations
Foundations
Organizations
Internal Funds (available at the University)

Federal Funding
Federal agencies ‐ the easiest to search for
opportunities
• More uniform in:
Grant submission process
Web information available
Regularity of procedures
Must submit to the right section of an agency
• NIH: e.g., NIDA F, Health Services, NIDA K,
Training and Career Awards
• NSF: e.g., Social, Behavioral & Economics

Examples
• National Institutes of Health
(http://www.nih.gov)
• National Science Foundation
(http://www.nsf.gov)
• U.S. Department of Agriculture
(http://www.usda.gov)
• U.S. Department of Education
(http://www.ed.gov)
• National Institute of Justice
(http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/)

Foundations
~ 70,000 Foundations
Need to find Foundations most relevant
to your work
Several types of Foundations:
• National
• Community
• Corporate
• Family
• Special purpose

Foundations
Less uniform than federal agencies in grant submission
procedures and processes
• More idiosyncratic
National (larger) foundations generally more open to
search processes than local (smaller)
Some foundations cannot apply to – they come to you
Local knowledge of a foundation and its priorities and
procedures critical ‐ but difficult to get
Word of mouth – talk to related key people

Foundation Resources
Foundation Directory
Foundation Grants Index
The Foundation 1000
Corporate Foundation Profiles
The Grants Register
Chronicle of Philanthropy

Searching for Funding Opportunities
Community of Science ‐ http://fundingopps.cos.com/cgibin/fo2/search
Grants.gov ‐ Find ‐
http://www.grants.gov/applicants/find_grant_opportunities.jsp
Grants Net ‐ AAAS ‐
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/funding?CFID=18956&CFTOKEN=
20417659
Graduate Grant and Fellowship Database ‐ maintained by the
University of Notre Dame ‐ www.grad.nd.edu/gfd/ and another at
Cornell ‐ www.gradschool.cornell.edu/?p=132
Foundation Finder (from the Foundation Center) ‐
http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/foundfinder/
Funding Alerts from specific sponsors (NIH, NSF, USDA, etc.) –
examples: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/;
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/;
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/funding.cfm

Boundary conditions of
agency/opportunity:
• Research scope of agency opportunity
Map to your working idea
• $ limit
• Deadline date, duration of research project
• Any local demands or expectations?
• Proposal format rules/procedures
• Criteria/probability for funding
Any current relevant RFAs or RFPs?
Read all announcements carefully

Grant Terminology

Grant Terminology
Sponsor
PI = Principal Investigator
Co-I or Co-PI = co-Investigator
Postdoctoral Fellow (senior personnel)
Research Associate (senior personnel)
Research Assistant (senior personnel)
Consultant
Subcontractor
Prime or lead institution
Percent effort

Grant Terminology
Budget Terminology
• Direct costs
Salary (AY [sabbatical and course release] and
summer)
Fringe benefits (the AY and Summer rates)
Other direct costs
• Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC)
• Indirect costs (aka Facilities and Administrative or
F&A costs) – rates vary by institution and type and
location of research
• Total costs = direct costs + indirect costs
• Unallowable costs
• Cost sharing –asking the institution to split costs
with the funding agency (aka: matching funds)

Tips for Successful
Grant Writing

Idea
Grant Award Grant Proposal
Agency

Revisions and resubmissions part of
long‐term journey; build them into
your agenda
• Especially important for P&T
process

Grants are rarely awarded first time (R01s about
12%)
Rarely awarded to first‐time investigators, BUT:
• NIH Early Stage Investigator policy—Major
initiative to enhance peer review process to
"fund the best science, by the best scientists,
with the least amount
of administrative burden."
• New Innovator Award

All grant applications are different, but you can
create some of your own boilerplate language to
use over and over again
• Describe your prior research experience
• Describe your short‐term research goals
• Describe your long‐term career goals
• Describe your current project and expected outcome
Details are important
Show some thought, planning
Get feedback from experienced writers and
reviewers

Typical Sections of a Grant Proposal
Cover Page (Face Page, cover letter, etc.)
Abstract (Summary, description)
Table of Contents
Research Plan (project description, narrative) – structure
varies by program/agency
Timeline or work plan
Listing of personnel and their effort on the project
Biosketches (vitae, resumes)
Prior research or project funding (current and pending
support, other support)
Budget and budget justification
Facilities and Resources
Appendices (attachments)

Tips for Successful Grant Writing
1. Understand how time, money, and project scope of work all work
together
2. Be flexible ‐ If you want grant money, you need to figure out how
to tweak your research ideas/approach to get it
3. Market your project to the appropriate agency/agencies
4. Know current priorities for funding agencies
5. Read the guidelines and find help to understand them
6. Don’t assume that you know everything, even after you have 20
years of continuous funding (rules change fast)
7. Spend your money wisely, guided by what you proposed
8. Go for grants rather than contracts (contracts have more
restrictions)
9. Revisions – respect reviewer comments and address them
10. Start small and build

Tips for Successful Grant Writing
11. Start early on grants/proposals – VERY EARLY
12. Make friends with a good research/ grants administrator
13. Develop collaborative relationships among colleagues
14. Develop a sequential plan for funding that includes independent
and collaborative research
15. Publish and otherwise become well‐known in your field
16. Expect (and do what is necessary) to obtain a strong record of
funding OVER TIME
17. Seek internal funding to get projects started or to start new lines of
research
18. Get to know program officers who manage the programs to which
you will apply
19. Get feedback whenever and wherever you can on your grant
proposals
20. Be persistent and don’t give up; persistence pays off

Next Steps

College Research Offices:
Information About Funding Agencies
College Support
Budget and Management Planning
Final Proposal Preparation & Associated Technical Assistance
Proposal Submission and Grants Management
College-based Research Centers:
Programmatic Research Development in Theme Areas
Interdisciplinary Partnerships & Resources
Information about Funding Opportunities within Theme Areas
Social Science Research Institute:
Cross-College Partner and Information Clearinghouse
Consortia (CYFC and SSRI) Support for Proposal Development
Research Services available to all PSU social & behavioral scientists
Office of Sponsored Programs

Penn State Office of Sponsored Programs
http://www.research.psu.edu/osp/index.html

Begin to plan, and then discuss
research funding needs
and opportunities with:
Your faculty advisor/mentor
Other faculty in your department/program
Other graduate students who have successfully
received external/internal grant funds
Other Penn State research assistance units, such
as your college research office
Research consortia/centers/institutes

Questions and Discussion
Thank you!!