Charles Nicholas (nicholas@csee.umbc.edu) More on Proposals Charles Nicholas (nicholas@csee.umbc.edu) CMSC 601 Revised April 28, 2008

Sources Peter J. Feibelman, A Ph.D. Is Not Enough! A Guide to Survival in Science. Basic Books, 1993. Caroline Wardle, Obtaining Federal Funding, CRA-W Workshop Slides, 1993/1994/1999. 4/6/04

Proposal Lifecycle

Know Your Goal Convince a possible sponsor that they should help pay for your research If at first you don’t succeed, you’re normal! 4/6/04

White Papers Problem statement Your proposed solution Who will care about the solution? Your proposed solution Why is it different from anybody else’s? Your plan of attack What will you do if you get the money? Resources you will need to execute the plan Money Time Data? 4/6/04

Format A paragraph-length summary, to get them to read the white paper May be sent by email in advance WP itself maybe 3-5 pages A figure is helpful, but not too many A 1-2 paragraph biosketch A few references 4/6/04

General White Paper Advice Send the wp to your colleagues and current sponsors for advice Allow them to send it to their colleagues Remember that a white paper is a marketing tool, and that’s it If you’re invited to submit a full proposal, the wp did its job! 4/6/04

Sources of Funding

Government Agencies The usual suspects: NSF, NIH, DOD SBIRs and STTRs State agencies 4/6/04