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Funding for community-based research. Michael L. Hecht Distinguished Professor Communication Arts and Sciences Penn State University Presentation at Arizona State University March 25, 2011. Types of Grants. Internal Grants Contracts Foundations Federal Grants. Why NOT to Get Grants.
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Funding for community-basedresearch Michael L. HechtDistinguished ProfessorCommunication Arts and SciencesPenn State University Presentation at Arizona State University March 25, 2011
Types of Grants • Internal Grants • Contracts • Foundations • Federal Grants
Why NOT to Get Grants • Time commitment • Modify research focus • Jealousies & obstacles • Assistant Professors and grad students • Lack of department culture (see Parrott & Hecht, 2002, JACR) • DO NOT CHASE MONEY • Be careful what you ask for, you may get it • But, if you still want one …
What Grants Can Do • Allow you to do work you want to do – more, faster, better • University administrators love them – promotion, tenure, merit, jobs • Impact on and service to the community • Support students and colleagues • Prestige and resources of program, department, college, university • Financial benefits – direct/indirect costs (52.5% at ASU) • Research instead of teaching, other activities • Gain power and status • Allow you to do work you want to do!
Infrastructure for Grants • Training, mentoring, reviewing • Staff for grant writing (budgets, editing, graphics) • Grants Administration (budget, supplies, billing) • Methodologists • Graduate Assistants • Policies (promotion and tenure, annual reviews, team research) • Material support (seed funds, equipment) • Community connections
NIH Organization • Department of Health and Human Services • National Institutes of Health • 25 Awarding institutes/centers • Also known as ICs • Program Officers • Center for Scientific Review • Scientific Review Officers • Office of the Director
NIH Grant Application Cycle Investigator Institution NIH InitiatesResearch Peer Review Submits Application Council Review Allocates Funds Funding Decision ConductsResearch
NIH Grant Mechanisms • Pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training awards (F awards) • Career Awards (K awards) • R03 ($50k/2 years; pilot/feasibility data, 6 pages) • R15 ($150k/3 years; stimulate research, 12 pages) • R21 ($275k/2 years; exploratory or developmental, 6 pages)
More Grant Mechanisms • R34 ($450k/3 years, development of clinical trials, 6 pages) • R01 ($500k per year/5 years, large scale research projects, 12 pages)
BUT, New & Early Stage Investigators Have Edge • New Investigator has not previously received a NIH-supported research project other than small, developmental or research training awards • Early Stage Investigator (ESI) is within 10 years of completing his/her terminal research degree, or is within 10 years of completing medical residency
Grant Writing • A skill like any other… • But not the same skill as article publication - problem-based writing • Particularly true for community samples
Getting Ready to Write • Decide on the problem - important & novel but simple enough to explain in 6 or 12 pages • Communicate with NIH Program Official • Decide on right target (Institute, review group) • Assemble the team • Know what has been done • Know what has been funded (NIH Website) • Consider who is likely to review your grant (review the rosters) • Recognize that funding 1st time is rare (7%)!
Components of an NIH Grant Application Title Table of Contents Abstract/Summary Specific Aims: 1 page Research Strategy: Significance Innovation Approach Assurances Human Subjects Vertebrae Animals Literature Cited Environment (project specific) Consultants Contractual Arrangements Public Health Statement Budget & Justification Biosketches
Essentials of an NIH Grant Proposal • Good idea • Team’s ability to execute • Tight methodological design that is aware of public health methods • Grant CLEARLY communicates the above - can reviewers readily get the essence of the grant?
What is a ‘Good’ Idea? • What are we going to learn? • Significance and innovation • Theoretical/practical contribution • Why is it worth knowing? • Broad significance and impact on theory, methods, and/or practice • Timely • A step forward • Increasingly, a focus on public health “It hasn’t been done yet" is NOT a good reason to do it.
Key Sections • Summary Statement/Abstract • Specific Aims • Significance (and innovation) • Approach (methods)
Community Research Issues • Community-based participatory research -- very strict about how this is done. • Lab versus field • Focus groups, interviews, analyses • Collaborations – evidence, type, agreements
Grant Reviews • Center for Scientific Review (CSR) • Assigned to Scientific Review Group (SRG) • Non-federal scientists with relevant expertise • Led by a Scientific Review Officer (SRO) and Chair • Proposals read by at least 3 reviewers prior to meeting • Only top 50% of proposals are even discussed. • NIH Institute & Center (IC) • advisory council • director
Overall Impact: probability the project will exert a sustained, powerful influence on the field(s) 1. Significance: important problem or critical barrier; how will this improve scientific knowledge and practice 2. Investigators: skills appropriate to all tasks 3. Innovation: the work challenges and seeks to shift current research or practice paradigms; utilizing noveltheory, approaches or methods, instrumentation, or interventions; the work is novel Score Criteria
4. Approach: strategy, methodology, analyses are well-reasoned and appropriate; potential problems & alternative strategies thought through 5. Environment: the environment will contribute to the project’s success; institutional support, equipment, & other resources sufficient; unique features of the environment, subject population, collaborative arrangements Score Criteria (continued)
Review Criteria: Human Subjects Review Considerations: Budget and period of support Select agent research (infectious agents) Applications from foreign organizations Resource sharing plans Additional comments to applicant Additional Review Aspects
Criteria Scoring System HIGH • Exceptional: Exceptionally strong with essentially no weaknesses • Outstanding: Extremely strong with negligible weaknesses • Excellent: Very strong with only some minor weaknesses MEDIUM • Very Good: Strong but with numerous minor weaknesses • Good: Strong but with at least one moderate weakness • Satisfactory: Some strengths but also some moderate weaknesses Low • Fair: Some strengths but with at least one major weakness • Marginal: A few strengths and a few major weaknesses • Poor: Very few strengths and numerous major weaknesses
Criteria Scoring System (continued) • Minor Weakness: An easily addressable weakness that does not substantially lessen impact • Moderate Weakness: A weakness that lessens impact • Major Weakness: A weakness that severely limits impact
Receiving the Summary Statements: The Hardest Part! • Reviews critical, even harsh • Reviewers usually focus on weaknesses, while also recognizing strengths • Many investigators experience a mixture of rage and depression and easily lose “perspective” • Take a day or two (or more!) and then read again with a “cooler head”
Most Common Reasons for a Poor Score (in priority order) • Lack of impact – significance and/or innovation • Hypothesis ill-defined, superficial, lacking, unfocused, or unsupported by preliminary data • Methods unsuitable, not feasible, not rigorous or not likely to yield results • Design not logical, inappropriate instrumentation, poor timing or conditions • Data management and analysis vague, not rigorous • Inadequate expertise or knowledge of field for PI, or too little time to devote to the work • Poor resources or facilities; limited access to appropriate population
Receiving the Summary Statements: Bouncing Back! • Have experienced colleague read it • Don’t interpret criticism as hopeless • Talk to Institute Project Officials • Talk to your community partners • If “discussed” has a chance of funding in next round • The lower the initial score, the fewer problems and more likely to be successful after revision
Not fixable or more difficult problems • Work is not significant or innovative • Hypotheses not sound • For fatal flaws and weaknesses in method • Rethink your idea and start over
When to Revise • Basic idea was significant and innovative or these can be bolstered • Design problems can be clarified (more information) or fixed • Need preliminary data • Problem is poor writing
Resubmission: Resilience and Flexibility! • Persistence pays off in the grant process!! • Second submission must respond to the critiques though revision or clearly defend reasoning • Same reviewers may or may not review resubmission, but will see critique
Revise, Get Funded, and • DO THE WORK!
Links of Interest Enhancing Peer Review Criteria http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not-od-09-025.html Page Limits: http://enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov/page_limits.html Human Subjects: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/hs/index.htm SF424 guidelines for submission: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/index.htm Glossary http://grants.nih.gov/grants/glossary.htm#C23
Web Resources: Institutes National Institutes of Health - http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/ Grants and funding opportunities home page National Institute of General Medical Sciences - http://www.nigms.nih.gov/funding/tips.html Tips for new NIH grant applicants; First steps; Start work; Start writing; and After review National Institute of Child Health and Human Development - http://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/cpr/dbs/LeapingHurdles/index.htm Powerpoint slide presentation on “Leaping the Hurdles and Navigating the Maze: How to Get Funding from DBSB/NICHD.” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/grants/write/index.htm How to write a grant: Focus your application; Writing a strong application; Organizing, writing, and formatting; the NIH grant application: Section by section; Send NIH your application; What to do if you did not succeed; and links to other resources. National Cancer Institute - http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/extra/extdocs/gntapp.htm Quick guide for grant applications: Introduction; Planning your application; Abstract; Research plan; Budget and justification; Assurances; Resources and environment; and Overall considerations. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke - http://ninds.nih.gov/funding/grantwriting.htm Helpful information for preparing a federal research grant application: Common mistakes in NIH applications; Writing a grant application: A technical checklist; Links to more information on writing grants; and General information and tools from the NIH Office of Extramural Research website. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine - http://nccam.nih.gov/research/instructions/quickguide/index.htm Quick guide for the preparation of grant applications: Submission and review of your application; Planning your application; and Preparation of your application. The National Human Genome Research Institute - http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/Grant_info/Funding/apply.html Brief information on applying for a NIH grant.
General Resources Weekly NIH Updates http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-023.html New vs. Revised Applications http://enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov/policy_announcements.html NIH Grant Writing Tip Sheets http://grants.nih.gov/grants/grant_tips.htm Getting an RO1 http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/1190/getting_an_nih_r01
More general resources NSF Proposal Writing http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sfinger/advice/advice.html Other Proposal Writing Guides http://fdncenter.org/learn/shortcourse/prop1.html http://www.learnerassociates.net/proposal/ http://research.uiowa.edu/dsp/main/?get=gwtguides Reasons Proposals Fail http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/2310/nsf_grant_reviewer_tells_all/ (see end) http://www.clarku.edu/offices/research/pdfs/NSFProposalWritingTips.pdf http://www.ams.org/notices/200709/tx070901153p.pdf http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm (forms, grant search, etc.)
New Investigator Resources Early Stage Investigators http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-09-034.html New Investigators http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/1260/funding_for_fledglings http://www.nida.nih.gov/researchtraining/traininghome.html
Shorter Page Limit Guide *Page limits may vary for other funding mechanisms. Check Funding Opportunity Announcement: http://enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov/page_limits.html