Applying for ADVANCE Grants: It’s All About Expertise & Teamwork

Overview ADVANCE-PAID Request for Proposal (RFP) Assessing expertise and organizing a grant- writing team Matching campus needs/interests with RFP Understanding earlier ADVANCE/ADVANCE- PAID results Deciding on the grant focus and team- member responsibilities Attending to things NSF MUST see

ADVANCE-PAID RFP The devil is in the details

‘09 ADVANCE-PAID RFP RECENT CHANGES/SPECIAL ATTENTION GIVEN Research is an explicit component within PAID to support social science research related to the study of gender in academic STEM careers. Underrepresented minority group & those with disabilities, women with disabilities & women from underrepresented minority groups are particularly encouraged. Primarily undergraduate institutions, teaching intensive colleges, community colleges, minority-serving institutions, women's colleges, and institutions primarily serving persons with disabilities are particularly encouraged.

‘09 ADVANCE-PAID RFP Up to twenty (20) PAID awards of various award sizes and lengths: Adaptation and implementation of materials, tools, research, and practice demonstrated to be effective in increasing the participation and advancement of women in STEM academic careers. Dissemination and diffusion of materials, tools, research, and practices, to the appropriate audiences, demonstrated to be effective in increasing the participation and advancement of women in STEM academic careers. Go beyond simply making materials, tools, research, and practices available to others. Instead, teach and/or train individuals and groups how to adopt or adapt the information is expected.

EXPERTISE ON THE GRANT-WRITING TEAM It takes a team

Expertise on the Grant Team Need for an interdisciplinary team: Social science research => member(s) with expertise in issues of women &/or underrepresented minorities Serving STEM departments => member(s) with expertise/cachet within those departments Support from administration => member(s) who participates involved when the “wheels” are turned both on campus & in depts. Tricky budget administration & research goals => research assistant with grant-management & research assistant skills

MATCHING CAMPUS NEEDS/INTERESTS WITH RFP Grant activities must serve a need & have deep support

Identifying Campus Needs Perform data-gathering activities to understand campus circumstances Confer with chairs and deans, and with those who would be grant participants Cast a wide net early on, and narrow as grant- writing proceeds What sort of campus do you have? What makes sense here?

UNDERSTANDING EARLIER ADVANCE/ADVANCE-PAID RESULTS Do your homework & don’t reinvent the wheel

Understanding Earlier Work What has been done before that seems to fill a need on your campus? Use the NSF Web Portal (listed on important websites sheet) to review existing grants Engage in correspondence with PI’s of grants that interest you Become known as people interested in these issues, join professional organization subgroups

FINALIZING GRANT FOCUS & TEAM-MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES Iron things out before you get funding

Grant focus & refinement Grant-management experience matters: Know what your grant activities will be, who will attend them, and what you expect to happen because of them Develop program evaluation/research activities Develop dissemination & institutionalization activities Build a matrix of tasks (more detailed than activities) & decide at the outset who will do what Build a budget that covers the task analysis

THINGS NSF MUST SEE Knowing what review teams look for

Write like a reviewer reads Write the grant in response to the RFP Context and Data know your circumstances Commitment & Sustainability link to support letters Activities Description link to ADVANCE findings Project Management adequate, believable budget Project Evaluation PAID-research grants tougher, & linked to research literature NSF Goals Intellectual merit Broader impacts

YOUR QUESTIONS? escalate.wayne.edu