Building a Foundation for Grant Funded Research

1. Building a Foundation for Grant Funded Research SSP Core Facility December 10, 2007

2. SSP Core Background • Survey, Statistics, and Psychometrics Core Facility • Supported by funds from the Nebraska Research Initiative • The mission of the SSP Core is to promote social and behavioral science research at the University of Nebraska by providing a coordinated, comprehensive "one-stop-shopping" facility to provide high quality support and methodological development in survey research, statistics, and psychometrics.

3. SSP Services: Seed Funding Proposal The SSP Can assist with: • Overall research design • Developing ideas for effective uses of seed funding • Designing a pilot study • Feedback on writing the proposal

4. SSP Services: Collecting Pilot Data The SSP Can assist with: • Sampling • Data collection through the Bureau of Sociological Research (BOSR) • Data collection guidance if PI is collecting data

5. SSP Services: External Grant Proposal The SSP Can assist with: • Analyzing pilot data • Interpreting pilot data and adjusting research design accordingly • Incorporating pilot data into grant proposal • Writing external grant proposal

6. Seed funding: What is it? • The basic notion of seed funding is that it represents funds allocated to start a research program that will become self sufficient over time • Thus, there is a clear expectation that this funding will lead to externally funded grant proposals

7. The Role of Seed Funding in Obtaining Grant Support • Early career and new investigators are at a competitive disadvantage in the grant review process. • Until you have demonstrated that you can actually carry out a research project, it is often difficult to get funded, even with the new investigator funding supports.

8. Core Grant Elements • Specific Aims • Background and Significance • Preliminary Studies • Related publications • Pilot studies • Research Methods and Design • The details of data collection and analysis

9. Seed Grants Help Build the Case for a Grant • Establish the need, the relevance of the proposed research • e.g., homeless youth in the midwest • Demonstrate the feasibility of the methodological approach • e.g., infertility and mental health • Support that the investigator can carry out the proposed data collection

10. Where Do You Get Seed Grant Funding • UNL has a generous seed funding mechanism for new investigators • Layman Grants • Research Council Seed Grants • Research Council Grants-In-Aid • Preference in each of these funding mechanisms is given to non-tenured junior faculty

11. Layman Grants: Selection Criteria • Scientific or scholarly merit • Potential for generating external funding • Priority to projects that are consistent with current national funding priorities • Importance of Layman funding to the applicant’s success

12. Layman Grants • Requirement to submit an external funding proposal within two years • Applications due January 22, 2008 • Funding starts July 1, 2008 • Maximum $10,000 award • Some limitations on how funds are allocated (e.g., not for faculty salary)

13. Research Council Faculty Seed Grants • Annual Research Council review, early October submission deadline • Similar guidelines to Layman, including priority for junior faculty • Maximum $10,000 • Expectation to submit a grant proposal within one year of completion

14. Research Council Grants-In-Aid • Annual award, early October submission • Up to $6,000 individual, $10,000 for a joint proposal • More broadly funding scholarship, unlike Layman and seed grant program, no expectation for subsequent grant submission

15. How Can SSP Help? • Consult with you on your project • Overall research design • How aims tie to analytic strategies • Sampling • Data collection • Analytic models • Power analyses • Budget and timeline

16. SSP Core Contact Info Mindy Anderson-Knott 107 Benton Hall 472-7218 mandersonknott2@unl.edu http://ssp.unl.edu/