Immunology Science Editors Summer 2010

Grant Writing: Part I A step-wise approach for planning successful applications

Take small steps to minimize a daunting task Lightening doesn’t always strike when you need it. Follow this approach to aid in idea development and identification of funding sources. We also highlight some of the new NIH guidelines, procedures, and helpful links for grant applications.

Major Funding Agencies

NIH National Institutes of Health (www.nih.gov)

NIAID National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (www.niaid.nih.gov)

NCI National Cancer Institute (www.cancer.gov)

HHMI Howard Hughes Medical Institute (www.hhmi.org)

LLS Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (www.leukemia-lymphoma.org

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Step 1: Identify Funding Opportunities There are several sites that help you search for funding opportunities. To help you stay organized during this process, compile a central list of funding agencies, specific grants available, and application deadlines. In addition, note whether you might be able to submit the same application,with minor modifications, to several agencies.

Here are two sites to use when beginning your search:

www.grants.gov and www.grantsnet.org

You can also sign up for email alerts, listserv, or RSS feeds:

www.grants.gov/search/email.do

www.grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/listserv.htm

www.grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/newsfeed/fundingopps.xml

These sites help demystify government jargon and the codes used in grant descriptions:

www.grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/ac_search_results.htm

www.grants.nih.gov/grants/glossary.htm

For a more detailed list: http://funding.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/budget/found.htm

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Step 2: Generate and Refine Ideas 1. Define your general area of interest or “niche”. Remember, expanding or confirming work

done by others will not get you funded. Visualize a long-term (think career) goal in this area, but don’t panic- research goals will change over the course of your career. For now, focus on identifying the first steps needed to reach your immediate goal. Will the time required to complete this step fit within the funding period specified in your grant application?

2. Read, read, read! Determine what is already known in this area and critically evaluate previous findings. You need a solid foundation on which to build, not controversial or unconfirmed findings. Identify the other investigators in your field.

3. Brainstorm some more. Generate lists of questions. If no ideas are coming to you, put your list away for a few days, do a few experiments, read a few papers just because they interest you, then try again. Once you have your ideas solidified, evaluate them. Ask yourself: ‘Is this idea novel?’ ‘Will it impact the field in a significant way? Can I convince others of this?’ This step should take time. It is by far the most important step in grant writing.

4. Check out the competition. Did you know you can search previously funded grants all the way back to the 1970s? You should check them out not only to see if your idea is novel, but also to see what a successfully funded grant idea looks like. Here are the sites: www.projectreporter.nih.gov/reporter.cfm

www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/index.jsp

www.mrc.ac.uk/researchportfolio/index.htm

Brainstorming and generating hypotheses should

be, by far, the most time consuming stesp of the grant

writing process.

Immunology Science Editors Summer 2010

[TIP: Compile a list of authors and keywords, as well as a list of questions and potential topics, while doing your background reading. Sure, you’re likely to throw several ideas out as you read further, but this is a key time to brainstorm and determine if your ideas are novel, or if they have been examined and discarded by others in the field.]

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Step 3: Write a Summary and Seek Input Start out by writing a one-page summary of your idea/hypothesis. Be sure to include:

1. Central background knowledge upon which your work will be built. 2. The gap in knowledge that your work will fill. 3. Your central hypothesis- you may also wish to include Aims and Sub-aims here. 4. A description of the results you expect to get. 5. Justification explaining why your expected results are important and the way in

which they will advance the field (don’t forget to mention possible clinical advances).

Identify at least two people who are both knowledgeable in your field and trustworthy. Ask them to read your summary and provide feedback. Remember to have a tough skin and try to take all comments constructively. Don’t throw away an idea based on one other person’s comments, but do try to be objective and evaluate your own ideas fairly. You won’t do yourself any favors by writing an entire grant based on a poorly thought-out hypothesis. Modify your idea if necessary.

For NIH grants, determine who the Program Officer is for the program you are targeting and contact them by email. Be sure to state that you are contacting them to inquire about the relevance of your proposal to their program before submission. Contacting your Program Officer can save you time by helping you to identify the most appropriate funding agency before submission.

Remember there are 2 types of NIH grants: 1- ‘Solicited’ grants are those announced by the NIH and fill a need which has been identified by them. 2- Self-initiated applications are not in response to an NIH announcement.

Coming in our next newsletter: “Grant Writing Part II: Steps for Writing the Proposal”

Immunology Science Editors Summer 2010

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Immunology Science Editors Summer 2010

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