Volume 13, Number 11: May 2, 2007
FUNDING TIPS
Good Grantsmanship: Principles for Success
In their “Grant Writing for Success” workshop at the National Institutes of Health Regional Seminar in Research Triangle Park, NIH program officials Michael Sesma and Roger Sorensen stressed the importance of talking with the program officer(s) at the appropriate institute. Good communication with NIH officials is a key to your success throughout the application process, beginning early in your planning and application development and continuing throughout the award administration phase.
Sesma and Sorensen also offered the following important principles for success in grant proposal writing:
• understand the agency mission;
• understand peer review;
• secure collaborators for areas in which you lack experience and training;
• there are no competitors in science, there are only potential collaborators;
• grant writing is a learned skill; and
• you are in control of your life.
To view the entire presentation, click here (pdf).
Becoming a Grant Reviewer
Serving on a grant review panel is an excellent way to gain an inside perspective on an agency's funding process and priorities. You can also learn what types of projects capture attention, how reviewers "look" at proposals, and the dos and don'ts of quality grant proposal writing.
To find out about opportunities to participate in an agency's grant review process, contact the agency's program staff. Agencies often announce via their websites or newsletters when they need review panelists for upcoming competitions. Federal agency staff members also search expertise databases for scientists with specific expertise to serve on their panels. For example, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation use the COS Expertise Database to identify prospective reviewers with needed expertise.
The following are some of the agencies currently seeking grant reviewers:
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- Administration for Children and Families
- Department of Education
- Health Resources and Services Administration
- National Endowment for the Humanities
- Institute of Museum and Library Services
Click here for advice from AAAS ScienceCareers.org to learn about serving on peer review panels.
Career Development Information for Biomedical Researchers
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) offers numerous information resources to hematologists and other biomedical researchers interested in advancing their careers. These resources include:
- The ASH Trainee Career Center webpage, which de-mystifies the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant application process.
- “Making Sense of NIH Funding Opportunities,” a primer on various NIH-funded grant opportunities.
- “Preparation for Life after Fellowship,” with guidelines for fellows in preparation for life after training.
- “Career Development Timeline for Trainees,” a generalized framework for the career development of trainees at different stages.
- The Grants Clearinghouse, a comprehensive list of research grants for hematology trainees in various stages of training (both MDs and PhDs).
Click here to explore these useful features.
Doris Duke Foundation Creates New $100 Million Climate Change Initiative
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has announced a $100 million grant-making initiative to help build a clean-energy economy that can reduce the threat of global climate change to people and the environment. Focused on practical approaches to reducing carbon emissions, the foundation's five-year Climate Change Initiative will support the development of policies that speed the deployment of existing climate-friendly technologies and the creation of new technologies that can increase energy efficiency and produce clean energy at a large scale.
To accomplish this, the foundation has adopted a three-part strategy to award up to $100 million in grants over the next five years. The foundation will solicit specific grant proposals from organizations to pursue different aspects of its climate strategy. About two-thirds of the initiative's funds will finance efforts to encourage the rapid deployment of existing clean-energy technologies and spur the development of new technology breakthroughs. The foundation will also support analytical efforts to design optimal pricing policies for greenhouse gases. As the third component of its strategy, the foundation will support efforts to help society adapt to the changing climate.
READ MORE (pdf)
New COS Features
COS has increased the maximum number of saved searches allowed in your COS Workbench to 40 (up from 20). This saved search feature enables you to create up 40 different customized electronic funding alerts notifying you about new funding opportunities every week. In addition, the maximum number of tracked records has been increased to 200. These new features will help you track and manage your funding searches and communicate the results with your colleagues and other researchers.
Click here for instructions on setting up your COS saved searches and funding alerts, or contact the GrantSource Library at 962-3463 to schedule a consultation with one of the GrantSource Librarians.