0.6 How to obtain funding  (Page 3/3)

How to obtain funding: an assistant professor’s guide – robert m. raphael

Spirit of the fighting irish

“To everyone who has ever faced adversity, whether in business, professional or personal life. I admire the person who says: Every day someone does something great. Today that person will be me.” -- Lou Holtz

Writing great grants: a three step recipe

1) Choose a significant problem

• Bonus points if not much work has been done on the problem
• More bonus points if you have done the important work

2) Leave no question that you can accomplish your aims

• Established track record of publications
• Clear and convincing preliminary data

3) Write a clear, easy to read proposal

• “Calm down, understand the situation and communicate clearly” – We Were Soldiers

Big hurdles and pitfalls

Navigating the Scylla of building on your accomplishments and the Charybdis of creating new research problems and attacking new research areas, given your situation:

• Laboratory techniques not yet working
• Students not yet trained/busy with classes
• Teaching and other responsibilities

• Proposing to do too much

• Not making clear the points and connections that are obvious to you

Final do’s and dont’s

• Do not necessarily assume the person who reviews your grant will be an expert in your area or know why your research is novel

The response to a revised NIH grant is very important. 

• Never appear to be angry or emotional.  Just stick to the science.  If a reviewer got something wrong (which often happens), just lay out the facts. 
• This is hard because you have put so much effort into the grant it’s easy to take comments personally
• Criticisms are of the science, not of you!

Get grants done in advance and have colleagues read them ! 

• Resist the thrill of pulling it off on “third and long”

Acknowledgements

Raphael Lab

• Emily, Yong, Ryan, Jeff, Imran, Jenni, Louise

Thanks for Believing in Us!

• NSF CAREER
• Whitaker Foundation
• Texas Advanced Technology Program
• National Organization for Hearing Research
• NIH NRSA (Greeson, Organ)
• NSF-IGERT
• Keck Center for Computational and Structural Biology
• DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship

So you want someone else to pay for your research? - joan e. strassmann (eeb)

1. Ask important, big questions.
2. Have several projects at once.
3. Write clear, well-researched proposals.
4. Collaborate.
5. Identify all possible funding sources and learn their cultures.
6. Don’t let funding consume you. Keep publishing!

Ask important questions

• Do not redo your Ph.D. or postdoc work.
• Find a substantially new project if your proposal is rejected twice.
• Read deeply and broadly (at least 5 articles a day).
• Be creative.
• Do not be afraid to do something really different.
• Talk to lots of people about research.

Do several projects at once

• Keeps you excited.
• When one project faces problems, another could be blooming.
• Increases funding opportunities.
• Synergy in thinking about different things can suggest novel pathways.
• Increases your visibility.

Write clear, well-researched proposals

• The proposal must be impeccable, no typos, clear headers, clear flow from hypotheses to methods.
• Follow the format of the agency exactly.
• Include preliminary data and figures.
• Get sample funded proposals by asking people for them, preferably those not too close to your research.
• Have several people read your proposal.
• Leave enough time, at least 3 months.

Collaborate

• New ideas often come from collaboration.
• Techniques and approaches can be shared.
• This is the ONLY way to succeed without turning into a workaholic.
• Teamwork is fun!
• Find collaborators from a broader pool than is initially comfortable, and bridge the gaps with frequent meetings.
• Same-stage collaborators are often best.

Identify all possible funding sources and learn their cultures

• NSF and NIH are not the only sources of funding.
• Learn about those grants requiring nominations, and get them.
• Take advantage of your sponsored research office in learning about private funding.

Keep publishing

• The search for funding can be discouraging.
• Keep trying, but don’t forget to keep publishing anyway.
• Write up your research quickly.
• Write a minireview, review, perspective etc. at least every 2 years.