Writing a Successful Grant Proposal: Advice for SLA Graduate Students (Fall 2012) Kevin Gotham, Associate Dean, SLA Kimberly Krupa, Director of Development Writing, Office of Development Gaurav Desai, Associate Professor, English Department Jennifer Ashley, Visiting Assistant Professor, Communication Department

Why do universities want you to write grants? High visibility for the university Overhead or indirect costs help balance the university budget and pay for administration Contributes to prestige and national ranking of the university

Why do you want to write grants? Pay dissertation research costs: travel, data, funds for equipment, time to write. Raises your research visibility Opens doors to consulting, collaborative research, new research agendas, etc. Increases opportunities for writing, national & international presentations, and shaping public policy Grants can help you get a job and make tenure

Proposal Development Strategies Develop a long-term research agenda with clear goals (create a plan, not just a proposal) – What do you intend to do and why is your research important? – What work has already been done and how are you going to do your research (data collection and analysis)? Conceive of the final product before writing the proposal(s) Research multiple funders to identify their priorities and see if they fund projects similar to yours

Proposal Development Strategies Familiarize yourself with funding sources and proposal guidelines. How? – 1. external funding opportunities - Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA) – 2. internal funding opportunities – Provost’s Office and SLA website (Summer Merit Fellowship) Check: – eligibility – average size of awards – maximum amount available – previous awards – proposal requirements and format – deadlines – evaluation criteria and process

SLA Summer Merit Fellowship Award Competitive grants that provide up to $5000 to support summer activities for completing terminal degrees SLA students may use funds for research expenses, equipment, and travel to support data collection, analysis, and performances The Award will not support tuition, workshops, or conferences, past credit card bills, food, rent A summer stipend for writing and completing the dissertation is limited to $2500 First and Second year Ph.D. students are ineligible Students who have received two Fellowship Awards in the past are ineligible

Proposal Development Strategies Speak with a program director, previous reviewers, successful colleagues If possible, request proposals from past awardees Outline the details of the project before writing: narrative, timetable, methods and data sources, budget, personnel, institutional commitment – Determine available resources – Realistically assess needs

Components of a Successful Proposal A successful proposal is one that is thoughtfully planned, well prepared, and concisely packaged Base the proposal on a good idea that fills a gap in the knowledge of your discipline – Survey the literature – Contact Investigators working on topic – Obtain preliminary data – Prepare a brief concept paper – Discuss with colleagues/mentors Use concise, direct, and straightforward language (no jargon)

Components of a Successful Proposal Write to the audience that will review your proposal Explain the urgency and timeliness of your work Provide evidence that you can successfully complete the project Read guidelines several times Follow directions completely Explain the value-added nature of the research – Why should anyone care about your work? – Answer the “so what” question Understand the importance of the abstract (first impression)

NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants (DDIG) Small grants ($12K) to provide support for costs related to dissertation: field work, data collection, payment to subjects, survey expenses, software, microfilm, reproduction of tapes and written materials, data transcribing Travel to specialized facilities and field research sites Partial living expenses for conducting research away from the student’s university Dissertation advisor is the grant PI Begin seeking IRB (human subjects) approval immediately Expect decision process to take approximately six months Work with SPA

Common shortcomings of proposals that are not funded Nothing new – it has already been done (absence of innovative idea or hypothesis) Incremental contribution – no evidence of a breakthrough (not exciting or cutting edge) Disconnect – proposed research does not follow from the idea “Trust me” – lacks sufficient detail about proposed approach Not feasible – proposed methods not likely to work Overly ambitious – impractically large project Unstated assumptions – proposed research presupposes the answer Unreasonable budget – budget items don’t follow from the research plan

Conclusions Grant writing is a learned skill Write, rewrite, and rewrite again Get critiques from mentors, previous members of review panels, and program directors Be aware of the scope: “too ambitious” versus “too narrow.” Make it easy for reviewers: simplify and streamline (make sure to get the overall idea across); pay attention to details; keep in mind that the reviewer may not be an expert in your specific field Convince the reviewers that your proposal is the one to support Revise your proposal and submit again