Interacting with Funding Agencies Whitaker Foundation August 15, 1998 Janie Fouke Case Western Reserve University

Support for your research l Find where you fit within the government or foundation l Understand their needs, mission l Focus on programs that have money l Understand how funding is administered

Agencies Funding Biomedical Research l Mission Agencies l Agencies with Broader Goals l Private Foundations l Special Opportunities (DARPA, VA, etc.)

Samples of Mission Agencies l Department of Defense  Air Force Office of Scientific Research  Army  Office of Naval Research  Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency l NASA l Department of Energy l Environmental Protection Agency l Food and Drug Administration l Veteran’s Administration

Agencies with Broad Goals l National Institutes of Health l National Science Foundation l Department of Education l Department of Commerce  National Institutes of Standards and Technology

Foundations l Whitaker Foundation l Burroughs Wellcome Fund l Robert Wood Johnson l Professional Societies

Critical information l Strategic Plan of Organization l Budget of Organization l Technical Goals of Organization l Program Goals

Strategic Plan of Organization (How they notify you) l Broad Area Announcements l Request for Proposals l “Dear Colleague” Letters l Annual Report l Institutional Programs

Strategic Plan of Organization (Your Actions) l Assess Your Research Goals l Find Lists of Recent Awardees l Review Abstracts of Recently Funded Projects l Meet the Program Officer

Finding the Program Officer l The most difficult part l Home Institution Assistance l Libraries, Internet, WWW l Home Page of Target Institutions l Organizational Directory of Target Institutions l Visits: Ask the right questions

Program Officer l Does (s)he accept proposals? l Is there a line item in the budget? l Does (s)he have programmatic responsibility?

Talking with the Program Officer l Define the context of the field l Demonstrate technical competence l Limitations of the State-of-the Art? l Can you solve part of this problem? l What NOT to say: What can I do for you?

Agency Budgets l Built from the Ground Up l Supplemental Issues from Legislators l Line Items

Budget Development l Office of Budget and Management iterates with Agency l House and Senate each have:  Budget Committee (planning)  Authorization Committee (oversight)  Appropriation Committee l Both bills must pass l Reconciliation Committee l Presidential Approval (or not!)

Budget Development l Agency Budget l Internal Adjustments l Program Budget

Changing Times l Tactical issues are now very relevant as some of the Agencies with very large budgets expand their role in society. l “Dual-use” technologies and applications are in vogue.

Samples of Tactical Issues l Protecting the environment l Advanced communication technologies l Improved and/or more effective health care

“Dual Use” l Technologies developed for one purpose (eg, defense, space exploration) also have application in another sphere. l Sonar to ultrasound l Telerobotics to remote surgery l Degradation of warfare chemicals to degradation of insecticides

Conclusions l Be knowledgable: Agencies differ in mission and procedures l Be helpful: Program Directors can learn a lot from you l Be nimble: Things are constantly changing l Be quick: Opportunities disappear rapidly