Locating Funding Opportunities

1. Robin L. Cyr Director of Training and Policy Partners Research Management Locating Funding Opportunities

2. Learning Objectives • How to plan and get started with your search • Identifying funding sources • Types of funding mechanisms that will be discussed in your guidelines • Know what you are applying for • Types of funding sources • Different types of guidelines you will come across • What you should watch out for • Learn why its important to find out what types of projects are being funded • How to research what the agencies are supporting • Conducting your search, NIH specifics and a review of some other tools that are available

3. Planning Your Search • First, determine how to classify yourself (Woman, Minority, New Investigator, US Citizen, Non-Citizen National, Postdoc, Junior Faculty, Faculty, MD, PhD, etc.) Use as many as apply to you! • Next, decide on the keywords that you will use in your search (single words and combinations that are both specific and broad disciplinary terms) • Ask yourself, “What is my goal?” - What type of support are you looking for? A Training grant, a fellowship, a research grant, a travel grant, a conference grant, etc.

4. Getting Started • Start early! • Plan ahead • Think about long term needs and future activities, not just next year • Tap into all available resources – institutions, colleagues, internet, etc. • Vary your search terms to increase your odds of getting a hit • Example – To find grant opportunities for breast cancer research, try “breast”, “cancer”, “lobules”, “estrogen”, etc. • Try different combinations of the keywords, such as “breast and cancer”, “ductal and carcinoma”, “estrogen and receptor”, “women and issues”, etc.

5. More on Getting Started… • Look for funding sources that will be a good fit for your work • Identify the goals and needs of the funding sources you are going to apply to so that you can gear your application appropriately • Use vernacular; if the guideline says adolescent use adolescent as opposed to teenager. Tailor to your funding source, use their lingo. • Talk to the program officer and if you are not clear about the requirements stated in the application guidelines, ask your pre-award Grants Administrator (GA) in Research Management (RM) http://phsresearchintranet.partners.org/PHS_ResearchMgmt/RM_Contacts.asp#grants • Widen your search and be creative • Look through awarded grants in your field to identify funding sources • Talk to other researchers to see who supports their work

6. Ways to Identify Funding Sources • Networking: Ask colleagues, mentors, speakers, and others about their funding experiences and knowledge of sponsors and opportunities • Scholarly Literature: Check acknowledgements in relevant professional literature to identify funders interested in your field or area of interest • Print & Electronic Databases: Search printed reference materials and electronic databases for opportunities relevant to your areas of interest

7. Types of Funding Mechanisms • Grants: Funding for research, projects, creative activities, or travel • Least restrictive, and usually no repayment is required • Fellowships: Support for studies and related activities at the graduate or post-graduate level • Usually, no monetary repayment is required but there can be service repayment • Awards: Competitions, prizes, honoraria in recognition of personal accomplishments, research results, or artistic activities • Loans: Money for study or research that must be repaid, in some cases, with interest • Traineeships: Internships, research training, and other work experience programs

8. More Funding Mechanisms… • Contracts: A more restrictive award instrument establishing a binding legal procurement relationship between the sponsor and a recipient, typically obligating the latter to furnish a product or service defined in detail by the sponsor and binding the sponsor to pay for it • Cooperative Agreements: A support mechanism used when there will be substantial scientific or programmatic involvement by the sponsor • Substantial involvement means that, after award, scientific or program staff will assist, guide, coordinate, or participate in project activities

9. Sources of Funding • Government: Federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (via the 27 Institutes and Centers within the NIH - e.g. the National Cancer Institute - and the Department of Defense (DoD)) fund numerous cancer research efforts • Other government agencies at the state and local level also provide funding • Foundations: Private foundations are another source of funding, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation • Corporations: Both national and local companies sponsor research and provide funding for educational projects. • Corporations sometimes also create corporate foundations, such as the Exxon Education Foundation, to handle their funding activities

10. More Sources of Funding… • Professional/Scholarly Organizations: These organizations often provide small awards for members and/or students and young scholars in relevant fields • Private Philanthropy: Two forms of private donations are unrestricted gifts and program endowments • Unrestricted gifts provide the greatest flexibility • Program endowments stabilize salaries and other needs of researchers • Establishing strong personal relationships can influence your ability to access charitable giving from individual donors

11. Types of Guidelines • Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) - A publicly available guideline announcing a Federal agency’s intention to award discretionary grants or cooperative agreements, usually as a result of competition for funds. • Funding opportunity announcements may be known as Program Announcements, Requests for Applications, Notices of Funding Availability, Solicitations, or other names depending on the agency and type of program • FOA is Grants.gov’s terminology for what that NIH refers to as a Program Announcement (PA), Request for Application (RFA), Program Announcement with Special Receipt, Referral and/or Review consideration (PAR) and Program Announcement with a Set aside (PAS)

12. More Types of Guidelines… • Parent Announcement - NIH and other HHS Agencies have developed omnibus Parent Announcements for use by applicants who wish to submit what were formerly termed “unsolicited” or investigator initiated applications. Responding to such an omnibus or umbrella Parent Announcement ensures that the correct application package is used and enables NIH to receive the application from Grants.gov. Parent announcements are NIH-wide, but some NIH institutes may limit their participation, so check the announcement's statement of interest. This is a general use guideline. • Program Announcements (PA) – A formal statement about a new or expanded interest or an area of continued interest. Most PAs have standing submission dates and provide general guidance. Remains active for three years from date of release unless the announcement indicates a specific expiration date or the NIH Institute/Center (I/C) inactivates sooner. • Requests for Applications (RFA) –Identifies a more narrowly defined area (e.g. to study West Nile Virus) for which one or more NIH institutes have set aside funds for awarding grants. Usually has a single receipt (received on or before) date specified in the RFA announcement. Applications are typically reviewed by a Scientific Review Group convened by the issuing awarding component. It will include detailed and specific information regarding how to apply.

13. Types of Guidelines (continued) • Broad Agency Announcements (BAA) - Competitive solicitation procedure used to obtain proposals for basic and applied research from a federal agency. A BAA will also specify the general terms and conditions under which an award may be made. Submission may include an exception letter if the proposed terms and conditions are problematic. • Request for Quotations (RFQ) - Is also a competitive solicitation procedure. A request for quotation (RFQ) is a type of application guideline that an organization submits to one or more potential suppliers eliciting quotations for a specific service or product. Typically, an RFQ seeks an itemized list of prices for something that is well-defined and quantifiable, such as lab tests. • Request for Proposals (RFP) - Is a formal statement that invites grant or cooperative agreement applications in a well-defined scientific area to accomplish specific program objectives. The RFP indicates the estimated amount of funds set aside for the competition, the estimated number of awards to be made, and the application receipt date(s). May include terms and conditions under which a resulting award may be made – exception letter may be needed. • If the instructions in the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) differ from those in the application guide, which should I follow?Follow the instructions in the FOA; they always take precedence.

14. Conducting Your Search - NIH Specific • Program Announcements (PAs) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/search_results.htm?year=active&scope=pa • Requests for Applications (RFAs) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/search_results.htm?year=active&scope=rfa • Request for Proposals Directory (RFPs) http://ocm.od.nih.gov/contracts/rfps/mainpage.htm • Parent Announcements (For Unsolicited or Investigator-Initiated Applications) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/parent_announcements.htm • Career Award Wizard (This Career Award Wizard is designed to help you identify an Individual NIH Career Award that might be right for you) http://grants.nih.gov/training/kwizard/index.htm

15. NIH Specific (continued) • NIH Guide Announcements (PAs, RFAs and Notices) are published daily. At the end of each work week (usually on Friday afternoon), NIH transmits an e-mail to the NIH Guide LISTSERV including links to announcements published during the week. The NIH Guide is also used by the NIH contracting offices and other HHS agencies to announce their funding opportunities. • To subscribe to the NIH Guide LISTSERV, send an e-mail to listserv@list.nih.gov with the following text in the body of the message (not the "Subject" line): Subscribe NIHTOC-L (your name) (Example: Subscribe NIHTOC-L  Bill Jones)(Your e-mail address will be automatically obtained from the e-mail message and add you to the LISTSERV.)

16. NIH Specific (continued) • The National Institutes of Health is the lead federal agency in supporting biomedical research. This link will direct you to a portal for National Institute of Health funding opportunities, NIH-wide initiatives, the RePORTER search engine link (to look at NIH-funded projects) and resources for those preparing proposals.http://grants.nih.gov/grants/ • NIH Application Forms and Instructions http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm • Helpful tool when writing your grant – Insider’s Guide to Peer Review for Applicants from the NIH Center for Scientific Review http://cms.csr.nih.gov/nr/rdonlyres/60b2d32e-ae00-4358-8c51-2e11cc46eac8/15100/insiderguideapplicantsfinal.pdf

17. Tools for Identifying Funding Sources • Sponsors offer many search engines to advertise funding opportunities: • GrantsNet is a comprehensive listing of (with links to) science/medical grant listing sites compiled by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science). The user signs in (free) and can then pick an area of specialty for funding opportunities from over 700 federal and private sources. Also contains helpful short essays on grant writing, the federal grant review process, an email alert system, etc. http://www.grantsnet.org • Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has information about grants available from Health Resources and Services Administration's Bureau of Primary Health Care, the Bureau of Health Professions, Bureau of Maternal and Child Health, and the HIV/AIDS Bureau. http://www.hrsa.gov/grants/ • The American Heart Association's financial contribution to cardiovascular research is very impressive for a publicly funded health organization. The Association has carved an important niche in supporting the development of beginning investigators and offering innovative funding mechanisms to stimulate research in promising science areas. http://www.americanheart.org/research/

18. More Tools for Identifying Funding Sources… • Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, formerly the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) focuses primarily on opportunities for investigator-initiated research grants; however, brief information is also included on contracts. http://www.ahcpr.gov/fund/index.html • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The CDC awards nearly 85 percent of its budget through grants and contracts to help accomplish its mission to promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability. The CDC utilizes grants to assist other health-related and research organizations that contribute to CDC’s mission of health promotion through health information dissemination, preparedness, prevention, research, and surveillance. http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/grantmain.htm • The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) directs national health programs which improve the health of the Nation by assuring quality health care to underserved, vulnerable and special-need populations and by promoting appropriate health professions workforce capacity and practice, particularly in primary care and public health. http://www.cms.gov/ResearchGenInfo/

19. And More Tools… • National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) directories are available to identify the array of research resource facilities, biomaterials, and models available to biomedical investigators across the country. Funding subsections of this Web site include; Clinical Research supports institutional Research Resources for clinical investigation of human health problems to increase our knowledge of the etiology, progression, prevention, control, and cure of human disease. The Comparative Medicine (CM) area of the NIH National Center for Research Resources helps meet the needs of biomedical researchers for high quality, disease-free animals and specialized animal research facilities. Biomedical Technology supports research, development and access to sophisticated technologies at resource centers nationwide. This area also funds grants for acquisition of state-of-the art shared instrumentation. http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/research_funding/ • Abbott Laboratories provides the primary financial support of the Abbott Laboratories Fund. The Fund is primarily designed to provide support through cash grants to United States-based recipients who operate in the areas of health and welfare, education, culture, art, and civic and public policy. http://www.foundationcenter.org/

20. There’s Still More… • ResearchResearch provides a comprehensive list of funding opportunities available in all disciplines. Information regarding new opportunities is automatically sent to subscribers as it becomes available for their respective field. http://www.researchresearch.com/ • The Foundation Center is a national nonprofit service organization. The Center maintains one of the most comprehensive database on U.S. grantmakers and their grants; issues a wide variety of print, electronic, and online information resources; conducts and publishes research on trends in foundation growth, giving, and practice; and offers an array of free and affordable educational programs. http://fdncenter.org/ • The Foundation Directory is a subscription service that includes a funder-specific e-mail alert system. http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/ • The American Cancer Society is one of the largest non-government funding sources for cancer research in the United States. Since their Research Program began in 1946, the ACS has devoted more than $2 billion to cancer research. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/RES/RES_5.asp?sitearea=RES

21. And More… • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has an extensive list of those making grants in the end-of-life related areas. http://www.rwjf.org/grants/ • The Dana Foundation - The Health grants program supports brain research focused on preventing, diagnosing, or treating human neurological diseases and disorders. http://www.dana.org/grants/ • March of Dimes - Qualified scientists with faculty appointments or the equivalent, at universities, hospitals and research institutions, can submit applications for research grants directed at the prevention of birth defects. http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/691.asp • American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF) is one of America's leading supporters of scientific and medical investigations into Alzheimer's Disease, Glaucoma, Macular Degeneration, Heart Disease, and Stroke. (http://www.ahaf.org)

22. Yes, Still More… • Heinz Family Philanthropies have a particular interest in health care, women and health, and the environment. They establish private-and public-sector linkages to drive philanthropic innovation. http://www.heinzfamily.org/aboutus/philanthropies.html • The David and Lucile Packard Foundation aims to support projects that deal with reproductive health, science education, conservation and children’s programs. http://www.packard.org/home.aspx • proposalCENTRAL is an e-grantmaking website shared by many government, non-profit, and private grant-making organizations. You can search for funding opportunities, access guidelines (including letter of intent deadlines), contact information and in some cases FAQ’s. Caution - Multiple deadlines can apply (electronic and paper). https://proposalcentral.altum.com/

23. More… • American Association of University Women (AAUW) has a long and distinguished history of advancing educational and professional opportunities for women in the United States and around the globe. One of the world's largest sources of funding for graduate women, AAUW is providing more than $3 million in funding for more than 200 fellowships and grants to outstanding women and nonprofit organizations in the 2009-10 academic year. Due to the longstanding, generous contributions of AAUW members, a broader community of women continues to gain access to educational and economic opportunities, breaking through barriers so that all women have a fair chance. http://www.aauw.org/learn/fellows_directory/index.cfm • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation funds grants in six major program areas. http://www.sloan.org/program/1 • Chronicle of Philanthropy is a publication focused on philanthropic groups and foundations and provides a list of grants and awards that are available. http://philanthropy.com/section/Home/172/

24. And Finally, a Few More… • Society for Women’s Health Research Coalition has compiled a list of grants available in women's health research and sex-based biology. The list contains a brief description of each grant, as well as links to each primary information source. http://www.womenshealthresearch.org/site/PageServer?pagename=rf_other • The Grantsmanship Center –some of the services are fee based, some are free. For example, go to this site http://www.tgci.com/funding.shtml, then click on your state and get a listing of the top giving foundations in your state along with the amount of funding extended. You can then google them by name to pursue funding opportunities posted on their websites. • GrantSelect is a fee-based service that researches and compiles information on grant programs from sponsors located both in the United States as well as worldwide. The database lists over 12,000 grant programs from over 5,100 sponsors. http://www.grantselect.com/resources/index.html

25. Tools – Grants.gov • Grants.gov (All discretionary grants offered by all 26 federal grant making agencies can be found on Grants.gov). You do not have to register with Grants.gov to find grant opportunities. However, once you are ready to apply for a grant, you will need to register. This process typically takes 3-5 business days but could take up to 4 weeks if you experience any difficulties.http://www.grants.gov/applicants/find_grant_opportunities.jsp • Grants.gov offers several alert services. Subscribe and receive notifications of new grant opportunity postings and updates on Grants.gov. You do not need to be a registered user of Grants.gov to sign-up for this service. http://www07.grants.gov/applicants/email_subscription.jsp

26. Tools – Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance • The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) is a source for federal programs, projects, services, and activities. It contains financial and non-financial assistance programs administered by departments and establishments of the federal government. • As the basic reference source of federal programs, the primary purpose of the CFDA is to assist users in identifying programs that meet specific objectives of the potential applicant, and to obtain general information on federal assistance programs. • This information is available to all for free and they also have a very helpful section on writing grant applications. • You can search by keyword, by agency or by program number as well as fine tune your search requests using the advanced search feature. https://www.cfda.gov/?s=program&mode=list&tab=list

27. Tools – COS (http://www.cos.com/) • COS Funding Opportunities: Comprehensive funding resource search tool with more than 25,000 records worth over $33 billion. • COS Expertise: Identify experts and collaborators from the 500,000 profiles of researchers throughout the world. Find out who's doing what -- current research activity, funding received, publications, patents and more. • COS Profile: Promote your research and expertise among researchers and scholars from universities, corporations and nonprofits in more than 170 countries. Easy-to-use tools to keep your CV updated and accessible. • Individual membership is free! University, research institutions and corporation memberships do require a fee and at this time, Partners is not a member. However, you can always join as an individual.

28. Tools - Sponsored Programs Information Network (SPIN) • Sponsored Programs Information Network (SPIN), is an internet-accessible database service offered by InfoEd. From this site you can search on several variables for funding sources. http://www.infoed.org/new_spin/spinmain.asp Tips for using SPIN: • Use the advanced search • Recommended fields to fill in: keywords, applicant types, award types, citizenship, geographic restrictions and locations tenable • When selecting keywords, click search and do not use the “Enter” key as the database does not recognize Enter as a valid command for this function • Remember to select broad keywords like “cancer” as well as more specific terms like “breast cancer” • When selecting applicant types, select ALL terms that apply

29. Sponsored Programs Information Network (SPIN) (continued) • More tips for using SPIN: • When completing the Citizenship section, for best results, always include Any/No Restrictions as one of your selections for opportunities with no citizenship restrictions • Geographic Restrictions section – select all values that describe your region. For example – for Massachusetts, select US North, US Northeast, New England, and Massachusetts. Always include No Restrictions to get all opportunities that have no specified restrictions with regard to the geographic location of the applicant • To save a copy of your search to review later, use the back arrow in your browser to return to the Advanced Search page and click Save Search • To later view your search, click Load Search from the Advanced Search screen and enter your user name and password • When moving around in SPIN, do NOT use your browser’s back button; instead, use the Return button or click on Advanced Search to take you back • Don’t use punctuation marks and don’t use the articles a, an or the

30. Eligibility Points • Watch out for guidelines that carry requirements for other funding in order to be considered eligible to apply for funding • American Heart Association and American Cancer Society sometimes require that applicants have a current grant from their local chapter • Some sponsors will require that applicants have been awarded a peer reviewed grant • Pay attention to not only the applicant eligibility requirements but the institutional requirements as well • You may see a requirement that states the applicant institution be a degree granting institution. When asked for clarification they typically include academic medical centers due to their affiliation to a university. Ask your Research Management pre-award Grants Administrator to inquire and document the exception for the institutional record

31. Eligibility Points (continued) • Remember that all federal applications require that anyone who will be paid a portion of their salary from the grant be eligible to receive federal funding. • This means they are not debarred or suspended. One of the easiest ways to get debarred or suspended is to default on your federal student loan. Make sure you keep your loan current and that everyone on your grant does as well! • The list of individuals who have been debarred or suspended is publically available on the Excluded Party List System site found at http://www.epls.gov. OMB Circular A-110 is a term and condition of all federal awards and this is an eligibility provision of the Circular. Bottom line – Read the entire guideline start to finish. Make sure you, your institution and any proposed subcontractors you are going to include are eligible. If you have any doubts or questions regarding the guideline, always ask and make sure you have the responses documented for your file.

32. Conclusions • Don’t underestimate the effort that will be required to match you as the applicant (skills and stage of your career), your proposed project, available funding opportunity and prospective sponsor. • If you come across a guideline that is accepting limited submissions, make sure you contact your RM pre-award GA to find out about the internal selection process before you start working on your application. • Don’t rush! Start the process early and be well prepared. Make sure you have plenty of time to locate prospective sponsors, thoroughly review the guideline, write your grant and showcase yourself and your ideas as best as possible. Be remembered for excellence not because you put in a sloppy application! • Check with your department administrator to see if they have subscribed to any of the fee based funding opportunity search engines. If not, consider networking with colleagues to join and split the fee.

33. Questions? Thank You and Good Luck! Robin L. CyrDirector of Training and Policy (617) 954-9682rcyr@partners.org