Strategies and Resources for Funding in the Natural Sciences

1. 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, 8/21/13

2. Issues to Consider • Current funding climate • Strategies and resources • Internal proposals • External proposals • The proposal process • Some final thoughts

3. Current Funding Climate http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/presentations/aaasrd20130807.ppt

4. Current Funding Climate http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/presentations/aaasrd20130807.ppt

5. Current Funding Climate Source: http://report.nih.gov/success_rates

6. 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)

7. 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

8. Preliminary Results Papers Proposal Success Project Papers The Proposal Process Idea or Hypothesis Failure Acknowledgement: Mark Arnold, Department of Chemistry

9. Writing the Proposal • Follow instructions • Leave room to describe proposed research • Include a detailed experimental plan • Include preliminary results • Identify potential problems and suggest possible solutions • Include a timeline • Include reprints of your relevant publications (if allowed) • Don’t make it too expensive to fund • Don’t make it difficult to evaluate • Know evaluation criteria and process

10. Some Final Thoughts • Persistence is critical • Learn to limit your anger over rejection • Reviewers are usually trying to help • Address criticisms in any resubmission • 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

11. Some Final Thoughts • 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 • Don’t ignore the mission-oriented agencies such as DOE, DOD, NASA • Important to develop contacts at Government labs • Take advantage of the proximity of your colleagues • Have successful colleagues read your proposals

12. Some Final Thoughts • Advice is plentiful • Consider it but in the end you have to take the path that works for you