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Preparing and Submitting an External Grant Proposal: Tips for Navigating the Intersection of Science, Schools and SPA. Moderator: Joanne Sobeck, Ph.D., School of Social Work Panelists: James Barbret, OVPR/SPA Andrew Feig, Ph.D., Chemistry
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Preparing and Submitting an External Grant Proposal: Tips for Navigating the Intersection of Science, Schools and SPA Moderator: Joanne Sobeck, Ph.D., School of Social Work Panelists: James Barbret, OVPR/SPA Andrew Feig, Ph.D., Chemistry Jeffrey Loeb, M.D., Ph.D., Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics
Today’s Topics • Developing your idea for a grant proposal • Planning for a successful submission • Writing the proposal • Submitting the proposal • Critiquing the proposal, post-submission • Re-submitting • Overall comments and questions
Developing Your Ideas • Develop an hypothesis • Get preliminary data/review the literature • Significance/Innovation • Write specific aims • Use your mentor(s)
Best Tips • Be ambitious but not too ambitious • Be innovative but not too innovative • Consider “expansion of concept” ideas • Be flexible and open to suggestions for change
Hypothetical Proposal Eating yellow snow and school performance among children
Hypothesis • A chemical compound in the yellow snow creates cognitive problems
Specific Aims • Substantiate that children eating yellow snow have cognitive problems compared with children who do not eat the yellow snow • Match on age, gender and SES • Isolate and identify the substance(s) in the yellow snow • Develop remediation/intervention/education to prevent children from eating yellow snow
Planning • Identify the agency and funding mechanism that fits your idea • Periodically contact the Program Officers • Identify what preliminary data are needed • Identify deficiencies • Get collaborators/consultants for those deficiencies • Modify the aims if necessary • Use your mentor(s)
Best Tips • Make a commitment to find/make the time necessary to prepare and write a competitive proposal. • Don’t assume you know what the funder wants. Download, read carefully and take to heart the funder’s mission and guidelines. Make sure your idea fits into their RFA. • Be pro-active and make sure that your grant goes where it has the best chance of getting funded. Send an abstract with specific aims to see if this funder is appropriate. • Write a stunning one-page specific aims page (NIH) and don’t send it until you run it by your mentor(s).
Writing the Proposal • Read and take to heart the instructions • Write clearly for a general audience; make no assumptions • Don’t make the reviewers guess on the significance, innovation, and relevance to the funder---sell your idea! • Articulate the need in a maximally understandable way • Revise, revise, revise • Prepare your budget and revise more • Make a check list for all required components (compliance human, animal, biosafety, facilities and equipment, WSU environment, biosketches) • Be prepared to change your specific aims again • Use your mentor(s)
Best Tips • Use OVPR’s review mechanism if you have sufficient time • Align the budget with the aims. Grant administrators can provide accurate costs for salary figures, GRA tuition, participant recruitment, etc. • Begin to meet with your departmental administrator/grants coordinator to plan for grant submission and required documents (subcontract letters, consultant letters of support) • Continue to develop and refine the budget as you move the proposal forward
Proposal Submission • Inform your Sponsored Program Administration (SPA) officer that you are submitting a grant proposal. Provide your officer with the RFA, PA. • Work with Sponsored Program Administration (SPA) in the Office of the VP for Research to submit the proposal.
Post-Proposal Critique • Anticipate some of the criticism you might receive from the reviewers – (e.g., should I have provided more data? ) • Expect rejection but don’t let it slow you down -- keep working in anticipation that you’ll re-submit.
Re-Submitting • Read the reviews with an open mind and say ‘thank you for beating me up’ • Find out all you can about the review and discussion (read between the lines) • Call the program officer to fill you in on the discussion of your proposal • Consider delaying resubmission to truly respond to the reviewers • Use your mentor(s)
Additional Advice • Mentoring/orienting new faculty • What to do with the new NIH guidelines • Communication with foundations, NIH and NSF regarding how your idea fits their mission • Should you submit an R01 or R21 if you’re a new investigator?
Thank You! Questions? Joanne Sobeck Andrew FeigDirector for Research Associate ProfessorSchool of Social Work Department of Chemistryjoanne.sobeck@wayne.eduafeig@chem.wayne.edu Jeffrey Loeb James BarbretAssociate Director, Center for Associate Vice PresidentMolecular Med and Genetics Office of the VP Researchjloeb@med.wayne.edujames.d.barbret@wayne.edu