 It ALWAYS Takes Longer Than You Think: Managing Grant Proposal Timelines Howard Goldstein and colleagues CBCS Research Forum October 20, 2015

Acknowledgment  Lisa Cunningham, NIDCD (2015). Crafting and vetting your first R01. Presented at ASHA Lessons for Success. Rockville, MD.

 Study section should never see a grant application that hasn’t already been reviewed

 You have to nail the Specific Aims page Why this research is critically important You have the expertise for this project Specifically, what you are going to do How the field will be advanced when this project is complete You have compelling preliminary data

 It takes a year to write an R01 Intensive reading and thinking Specific Aims Draft #2 Talks #2 & #3 10 Readers The first 6 months: Intensive reading and thinking Specific Aims Draft #4 Specific Aims Draft #3 Specific Aims Draft #1 Intensive reading and thinking Talk #1 Plan malleability Plan clarity and precision

 It takes a year to write an R01 Writing Full Draft #2 Back to Aims Months 7-12: Full Draft #3 Full Draft #1 SUBMIT Administrative Budget IACUC/IRB Collaborators Readers #1 90 days to go Readers #2 60 days to go

Do:  Read the RFP and instructions carefully. Get help from your friendly and knowledgeable research administrator  Identify questions that have high scientific relevance  Talk to colleagues about most fundamental questions in your field  Consider bringing a new approach to a field where it has not been applied  Consider your skills and passions and find a niche  Your lab should offer something unique to the field  Show a drawing of your overarching hypothesis or your theory of change  Share your summary statement with colleagues, especially experienced grant getters  If at first you do not succeed, try, try again.

Do not:  Propose domino aims or fishing expeditions  Propose strictly descriptive research  Be overly ambitious  Leave room for concern about your independence  Argue with reviewers or fail to adequately address their comments

 Fun or Daunting: The Timeline and Process of Grant Proposal Writing Alison Salloum, Ph.D. Associate Professor & Interim Director School of Social Work It ALWAYS Takes Longer Than You Think: Managing Grant Proposal Timelines CBCS Forum October 20, 2015

Working Documents  Monthly timeline Read, think, unstick, read, think, unstick and repeat  List of components  AIMS  Research Plan  New/additional components  Prioritize  Student assistance  Work with Administrators

Working Documents  Notes from Project Officer  LISTEN  Questions to resolve (consult!)  Design considerations

Working Documents  Co-Investigator meetings  Application (subsections, special requirements, links)  Readers/Reviewers  Organization, easy read, perfect

Are You Hitting all Green Lights?  Significance  Investigators  Innovation  Approach  Environment MCCostTailoring Physio/bio

 “If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn’t be called research” - Albert Einstein