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Strategies and Resources for Funding in the Natural Sciences. Gary W. Small Department of Chemistry & Optical Science and Technology Center (gary-small@uiowa.edu). CLAS New Faculty Orientation, 8/20/14. Issues to Consider. Current funding climate Strategies and resources
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Strategies and Resources for Funding in the Natural Sciences Gary W. Small Department of Chemistry & Optical Science and Technology Center (gary-small@uiowa.edu) CLAS New Faculty Orientation, 8/20/14
Issues to Consider • Current funding climate • Strategies and resources • Internal proposals • External proposals • Developing a strategic plan
Current Funding Climate http://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/20140612 – COGR.pptx
Current Funding Climate http://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/20140501 – Forum.pptx
Current Funding Climate Source: http://report.nih.gov/success_rates
Strategies and Resources(Internal Proposals) • Submit as soon as proposal is viable • http://dsp.research.uiowa.edu/ui-internal-funding • http://research.uiowa.edu/ovpr/university-funding-sources • Provides funding for preliminary results • Provides informative feedback • Provides mechanism to crystallize ideas • Clear explanation of significance • Clear description of experimental design • Challenge of explaining to an audience of non-specialists (avoiding jargon)
Strategies and Resources(External Proposals) • Submit as soon as proposal is viable • Until funding is established, don’t let a deadline pass without submitting • Learn what has been funded recently • http://projectreporter.nih.gov/reporter.cfm • http://nsf.gov/awardsearch/index.jsp • Note special Requests for Applications (RFA’s) • http://www07.grants.gov/applicants/find_grant_opportunities.jsp • Look for special opportunities for young investigators • http://www.spo.berkeley.edu/Fund/newfaculty.html • http://grants.nih.gov/grants/new_investigators/index.htm
Developing a Strategic Plan • Preliminary results and manuscripts • Work on building your visibility • Meet program officers at agencies • Conference participation • Meet your competitors • Discover your supporters and detractors • Invite key players in your field to Iowa for a seminar • Develop your research niche • At tenure time, need to have an identifiable research program • Don’t ignore the mission-oriented agencies such as DOE, DOD, NASA • Important to develop contacts at Government labs
Developing a Strategic Plan • Consider a mix of collaborative and individual work • Collaborative projects can be an important component of a research program • Allows bigger problems to be tackled • Important to be able to demonstrate your own contribution