Fundamentals of Writing Winning Proposals
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Transcript of Fundamentals of Writing Winning Proposals
Fundamentals of Writing Winning Proposals
Soha HassounTufts University
Young Faculty Workshop @ DAC, July 2009
Some slides/content are from a handout by David Morrison, www.grantcentral.com
Overview: The Funding Process• Identify an agency with a mission that matches your
interests, and find a relevant CFP
• Understand the mechanics of the submission process
• Your idea will be presented to the funding agency in the form of a written document, “The Proposal”
• A set of reviewers examines your proposal and makes a recommendation to the funding agency (competitive vs. non competitive for NSF; a score for NIH)
• The program officer makes final decision about funding and funding amounts
You must allot time to:
• Develop your ideas,• Write a competitive proposal, and• Get one or more rounds of critical review
from your colleagues before you submit
David Morrison, www.grantcentral.com
Ideas: How LARGE?
The Levitan Rule“How many PhD theses are expected?”
Budget-driven: How many student-years?– Budget is sometimes set by the program. Use that
as a starting point
Bottom line: Be credible
Innovation in Developing Ideas• Ideas cannot be incremental
• Ideas must be innovative–Does the project employ novel concepts,
methods, or approaches?–Does the project challenge existing paradigms
or develop new methodologies or techniques?
• Ideas must be expanded
Innovation in Developing Ideas
• Based on knowledge– Search the literature thoroughly– Understand what the competition is doing and how
your idea/approach is distinguished – Assess funded grant awards related to your idea– Assess what you can/cannot do
• Innovation is NOT the only evaluation criteria. Each agency has its own
Your Audience:The Mindset of the Reviewers
• Who are they? • What is their expertise ?• Can they evaluate your proposal fairly?• What are they looking for ?
The key to success in grant writing is to engender enthusiasm in the reviewer – who then becomes an advocate for your proposal. Therefore, always write your application for the reviewer, NOT yourself.
--David Morrison, www.grantcentral.com
What Reviewers Look For First
• What’s the title? Is it interesting?• Who is the applicant?• Which institution(s) is the applicant affiliated with?• What’s the basic idea? Is it within my area of
expertise?• Is the application “Reviewer-friendly”?
David Morrison, www.grantcentral.com
Reviewer-friendly == Maximally Readable• Readability should take precedence over margin & font
guidelines• No distractions: • Spelling & grammar errors• Inconsistent technical terms and formatting• Jargon, equations, tiny footnotes.
• Illustrations should be meaningful; worth 1000 words.• Key points and impact are obvious• Use key words: e.g. “This proposal is innovative because…”
• Use simple and clear organizationMore is not better!
Make it easy for the reviewers to evaluate your proposal
Simple & Clear Organization
Overview & Objectives (1 page)
Timeline, and other agency-specific required sections
The Narrative (Proposed Research)
Preliminary Work
Relevant Background
Significance (1/2 page)
Summary
Title
What Reviewers Look For Second: Necessary Conceptual Ingredients
1. Identify a problem and establish a “critical need”2. Focus on a particular aspect of the problem3. Describe how you will uniquely/innovatively
contribute to the solution4. Provide context and competitive analysis5. Explain how you will evaluate your results6. Provide compelling preliminary results7. Describe impact/ pay off8. Establish that you (and your team) are qualified to
provide the proposed solution
Simple & Clear Organization
Overview & Objectives (1 page)
Timeline, and other agency specific required sections
The Narrative (Proposed Research)
Preliminary Work
Relevant Background
Significance (1/2 page)
Summary
Title
Overview and Objectives (1 page)• The “bottleneck” page• The flow of logic must be compelling: Linear progression for a
strong Overview Section
Critical Need
Novelty/Innovation & Expected Outcomes
Specific Aims/Tasks/Goals
Objective
Write this section first
Overview and Objectives Details
Novelty/Innovation & Expected Outcomes
Specific Aims/Tasks/Goals
Long range goal.Objective of this proposal.
Justify WHY you are solving the critical need
Good place to establish
your qualification and mention Prelim Work; Not your bio!
Advocate for your proposal:
Distinguishing qualities.
Not in future tense. “We expect…”
Conceptual aims; use strong verbs
Facts (known and unknowns) that establish “Critical Need”.
Frame the problem
David Morrison, www.grantcentral.com
Get an early critique of this page
Example Aim
Identify key parental factors responsible for children’s poor transition from preschool to kindergarten. Based upon collected evidence related to the situation, we will evaluate the extent to which parents command of the English language is a predictive factor of their children’s successful transition to kindergarten.
David Morrison, www.grantcentral.com
Simple & Clear Organization
Overview & Objectives (1 page)
Timeline, and other agency specific required sections
The Narrative (Proposed Research)
Preliminary Work
Relevant Background
Significance (1/2 page)
Summary
Title
“Significance of The Proposed Work” Section (1/2 page)
• Follows the Overview & Objective section• Make it easy for all to identify importance of
your work• Flow:– Substantiate that there is a critical need– Italicized statement of significance, “This project is
therefore significant because ..”– Benefits and impact expected from the critical
need having successfully been addressed
“Relevant Background” Section
• Section provides a critical review of relevant background. Not comprehensive. Section title should be reflective of this: e.g. “Review of Background literature relevant to this
project”
• Flow– Make sure that each major point discussed allows a
conclusion to be reached – Logically build up the stage for the Prelim/Narrative
• Cite contributions of possible reviewers
“Preliminary Work” Section• What is Preliminary Work?
– Could be published prior work (yours or others)Summarize key findings in reference to the problems that you framed; do not cut & paste
– Could be your own preliminary data
• Preliminary work should provide compelling evidence:a) Importance of the problemb) Analysis that identifies key issues that need to be addressedc) Demonstrate your competence
• Set data in context. You should have set the stage in the Overview and background sections
• Too much detail will be harmful
“Narrative Section”Reviewers expect the flow here to match the aims listed in the Overview & Objectives section:
Parallel Aim Flow1. Specific Aim #1 Repeat verbatim
IntroductionWork planExpected outcomes/resultsPotential Problems/alternatives
…. Repeat for other aims
Simple & Clear Organization
Overview & Objectives (1 page)
Timeline, and other agency specific required sections
The Narrative (Proposed Research)
Preliminary Work
Relevant Background
Significance (1/2 page)
Summary
Title
Title Selection Tips
• List all key words that convey WHAT you want to do and WHY it is important
• Arrange the words into a compelling and informative title that fits the allowed space
“Summary” Section• Very important. Widely read. Sometimes basis for
reviewers to select their reviewing assignments
• Written in plain English
• Written last, but not last minute
• Include key components from Overview and Significance sections to develop advocacy
• Emphasize the relevance/significance to the funding agency (i.e. Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact for NSF)
Useful Hints • Do not sweep issues under the rug• Propose alternate plans• Draft your own collaboration letters• Comprehensively craft your “resources” section, including
listing of colleagues as intellectual resources
• Ask others for sample proposals• Go to a grant-writing workshop• Get a mentor• Team up with more experienced writers and learn form
others
• On contacting the Program Officer• On recommending reviewers
Final Words
• DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED!! The funding agencies cannot fund all “good
proposals” Learn from your mistakes
• Be pro-active in identifying funding and collaborating opportunities
Questions?