Grant Proposal Writing Dr. H Anwar Ahmad

COMPONENT OF GRANT APPLICATION o Descriptive title o Abstract/ Summary o Background/ Significance o Narrative Description o Completion schedule o Budget o Applicant credentials o Previous experience or preliminary description

KEYS TO SUCCESS o Idea o Commitment o Proposal- Writing Skills

STEPS TO DEVELOP COMPELLING, NOVEL IDEA 1.Identify the niche area (READ) 2.Collect and critically analyze background information related to the problem 3.Develop a preliminary idea 4.Assess the idea’s potential for success 5.Seek constructive criticism from knowledgeable colleagues 6.Refine the idea to maximize its potential for impact on your field

ASSESSMENT OF IDEA’S POTENTIAL FOR SUCCESS o Assess yourself o Assess the competition o Assess funding potential

Agencies Pak. US S&T PARC/ USDA HEC UK and Australia Aid NSF USAID

FIND THE AGENCY THAT FITS YOUR IDEA Funding your proposal should help the agency achieve its goals Know what an agency wants to fund Contact the program officer – Make arrangements through s and calls – Read in between lines

THREE LEVELS AT WHICH PURPOSE MUST BE MET o The Grant Mechanism o Each section of the proposal o Components within each section

REASONS FOR APPLICATION FAILURE Lack of good, original idea Lack of sufficient commitment Poor packaging and presentation of idea

GRANTSMANSHIP SKILLS ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESS Maximally convey your enthusiasm Write with maximal clarity & compelling logic Anticipate problems and provide alternative approaches Tell you reviewers what to expect for their investment Make your application “reviewer friendly” Avoid avoidable mistakes

GOOD PROPOSAL WRITING YOU HAVE TO SELL YOUR IDEA A SUCCESSFUL SALESPERSON – Make a good first impression – Is well prepared – Is credible – Delivers a clear message – Provides supporting documentation – Has appropriate endorsement – Has something special to offer – Is persistent

PREPARATION OF THE APPLICATION Overview section – The second most important section in the grant application

STRONG OVERVIEW SECTION Introductory Paragraph Opening sentence Current Knowledge Unknown or need Unknown/need as a problem What, why, who paragraph Long term goal Overall objectives Central hypothesis and how formulated Rationale Well prepared Specific Paragraph Specific Aims Payoff Paragraph Creative and original Expected outcome Positive impact generality

SPECIFIC AIMS Introductory Paragraph: – Open with real attention getter- clearly relate to agency’s mission. – Don’t give vague or generic statements – Jump to subject matter right away Summarize current knowledge in the field Delineate the scientific gap in the knowledgebase

SPECIFIC AIMS Conclude with why continued existent of the gap /need constitutes an important problem Problem: the next vertical step in the field is being blocked by existence of the gap/ need

LONG TERM GOAL Not the goal of the current application Be realistic

OVERALL OBJECTIVE Must be a appreciated as a step towards attainment of the long term goal Define the purpose of the proposed research Must be phrased in a way that the central hypothesis logically grows from it

CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS Real hypothesis Directional, that gives focus to the proposed research

CREATION OF A FOCUSING PROGRESSION 1.Long-Term Goal: Broadest 2.Overall Objective: Narrower 3.Central Hypothesis: Narrowe st

CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS Don’t write inadvertently your hypothesis to express bias, i.e., a predetermined conclusion

RATIONALE BASIS What will become possible Must be directly linked back to the problem

SPECIFIC AIMS o Two-to-four at the most o Brief, focused and limited in scope o Each must be an eye-catching “headline” o Conceptual, NOT descriptive o Must collectively test all parts of the hypothesis

SPECIFIC AIMS o Each must flow logically into the next o None should be absolutely dependent on an expected outcome of earlier aim

SPECIFIC AIMS o Purpose of the specific aims: to test the parts of the central hypothesis. o The central Hypothesis must be tightly linked to the specific aims.

SPECIFIC AIMS 1.Objectively identify psychologically manipulative ads 2.Objectively identify informative advertising

EXCEPTION TO THE RULE When a project is in its early stage of development, or when the focus is on qualitative assessments, it is quite possible that the goals/objectives may be of the descriptive It is okay to have completion of a subsequent goal or objective being dependent upon prior completion of an earlier goal/objective, provided that you can assure the reviewer that there is no doubt that the earlier goal/objective can be achieved.

PAYOFF PARAGRAPH Key section in developing advocacy among those who have not seen your proposal before its review at the review panel meeting Begin the paragraph with expected outcome Conclude with a deliberately general statement regarding positive impact

PREPARATION OF THE APPLICATION Narrative Description

NARRATIVE Each Specific Aim is a subsection:  Introduction  Justification & Feasibility Review of relevant literature Preliminary studies  Research Design  Expected outcome  Potential problems

NARRATIVE Research Design – Use separate paragraphs/sections to develop each set of studies – Avoid inclusions of mindless detail – Succinctly provide only meaningful detail – Refer to, don’t detail, anything described in your teams' peer-reviewed publication

NARRATIVE Expected outcome – A key, and often overlooked, subsection – Succinctly and realistically summarize most important results are expected to be – Integrate outcomes and show that they collectively attain the aim’s objective – Think of this as the return reviewers can expect

NARRATIVE Potential Problems & Alternative Approaches There is no such thing as problem free research Positively acknowledge potential problems Include only things that could, but probably won’t, go wrong Most important problem is potential invalidity of the aim’s working hypothesis Offer alternative approaches to problem---but Don’t overemphasize them

LITERATURE REVIEW Write this subsection after research design part of the aim has been written Provide an up-to-date, critical review that frames the gaps/ problems, not just who did what when Logically build toward what you expect this aim will contribute Include italicized sentences that tell reviewers why what you have just reviewed helps justify the need for what will be proposed Cite by author, year- not with numerals

PRELIMINARY DATA Data presented should be highly selected to support feasibility Data presented should be as simple as possible, but not “dumbed down” Design each figure or table to convey a single point or idea Avoid inclusion of extraneous or irrelevant data Vary the style of presentation to make the data maximally appealing

PRELIMINARY DATA: EDITORIAL Place supporting figures/tables as close to where they are referred to in the text as possible Include italicized sentences that tell reviewers how data presented support feasibility Be certain that print in photo-reduced figures/ tables is legible Put methodology into figure legends/ footnotes to table, not in the text.

PRELIMINARY DATA: EDITORIAL Be certain to distinguish between reporting of “data” versus reporting of “results” Use the past tense Lead your readers through the data Flow the logic should be concept>question>strategy/approach>data> (interpretation)

NARRATIVE- INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH What goes into this brief paragraph becomes obvious after the rest of the aim is written Introduce the aim with a brief paragraph that summarize its objectives

PREPARATION OF THE APPLICATION Justification of Need (Literature; Significance & Innovation; Creativity, Originality & Transformative Potential; Relation to Other Work In Progress)

JUSTIFICATION OF NEED Significance: 1. substantiate that there is a gap/ need, that it’s an important problem, and what you contribution is expected to be 2.Italicized statement of significance 3.List of benefits that could credibly be expected to accrue to application of the new knowledge

JUSTIFICATION OF NEED Innovation: 1.Cite literature that diplomatically frames the status quo 2.Italicized statement of innovation 3.Conclude with new relevant horizon

JUSTIFICATION OF NEED Creativity, Originality & Transformative Potential Should be addressed in the last, “payoff” paragraph of the overview and objectives section Make sure your claim is credible Be especially careful with your claim of transformative potential- don’t overreach

JUSTIFICATION OF NEED Relation to Other Work In Progress: By the PI: complementary; no conflict By others: not duplicative; stress novelty and ‘catalytic impact’

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Identify credible co-PIs, collaborators and consultants No clones of your own expertise Exclude former mentors from intellectual roles No senior investigators as ‘window dressing’ Need not limit search to your own institution If no effort is included on the application, a letter of commitments must accompany the proposal

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Thoroughly document credential of all key personnel Emphasize aspects of training and experience that are most relevant to the application Early stage/ beginning Investigators: emphasize extent and quality of training; experience to date Don’t ‘pad’ the Biographical Sketch All biographical sketch in the application should look a like

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Personal Statement Education/ training Personal statement; TLDC Position and Honors Selected peer-Reviewed publications – up to 15 Research support

FACILITIES AND OTHER RESOURCES Environment: Contribution to success Facilities include: – Laboratory – Animal – Clinical – Computer – Office – Other Major equipment's Other resources

PREPARATION OF THE APPLICATION Budget and Justification

BUDGET AND JUSTIFICATION Budget should never drive the research unless there is a cap Reviewers invariably cut something is a myth Lack of adequate justification is the usual reason for cuts Every request must be credible and fully justified

PREPARATION OF THE APPLICATION Title and Project Summary

CREATING A TITLE The title makes your application’s first impression, which must be positive It should be equivalent to a ‘headline’ Maximal positive impact will come from emphasizing the payoff of your research The title should be changed to reflect the payoff of each renewal The title should include any programmatic requirements

PROJECT SUMMARY The most important section during review It must be interpretable by layperson Don’t write in the first person Write it last Do not summarize past accomplishments or to review background material Should be a stand-alone section Becomes part of the public domain

PROJECT SUMMARY Use minimums for font and margins; auto hyphenate Open with gap or need to drive the proposal Highlighted sentences from Overview section and Significance Embellish with aims and key approaches/ methods Conclude with the statement of significance Edit to read well and to fit space allowed

PREPARATION OF THE APPLICATION Internal Review

INTERNAL REVIEW Get review from knowledgeable colleagues Chose the right colleagues to review your completed application Don’t restrict yourself only to colleagues in your field Give your colleagues time enough to help Do not ask for help when you are still making changes

COMMITMENT CREATE TIME  Time to look for funding opportunities  Time to write a competitive proposal  Time to get critical review from your colleagues

KEYS TO SUCCESS Your Identification of a Need! Your Proposal Solution! Your Commitment! Your Proposal Writing Skills !