Volume 13, number 4: October 4, 2006
FUNDING TIPS
Updating Your COS Faculty Expertise Profile
Carolina participates in the COS Faculty Expertise database as part of our subscription to the overall COS services. Every fall, the COS Faculty Expertise database sends out an automated notice to all Carolina researchers who have not recently updated their expertise profiles, urging them to indicate new appointments, research interests, and other changes. If you have received such a notice and have questions about updating your profile, please contact the GrantSource Library at 919-962-3463.
Why should you participate in the COS Faculty Expertise Database? This database serves as Carolina 's central repository of faculty expertise and research interests. As an individual researcher, your COS Expertise Workbench provides you access to the COS funding alert service to receive electronic notices about new funding opportunities. Also, some federal funding agencies, including National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, use COS expertise to identify peer reviewers. University administrators and North Carolina government officials use it to locate faculty members with specific expertise and research interests. The database can also help you identify potential collaborators and promote your research. Thank you for taking the time to update your profile.
Tips on Writing Outreach Grant Proposals
In a September 15 Chronicle of Higher Education article, “How to Write an Outreach Grant Proposal", Karen M. Markin provides some excellent proposal-writing tips for faculty seeking funding for community or outreach activities. She describes the differences between an outreach grant proposal and the typical research grant proposal, as well as some details about writing them. For example, your outreach proposal should:
- describe and document specific problems or needs your project will remedy;
- set realistic, broad goals and specific measurable objectives or steps that will help you reach those goals;
- give a detailed plan for the activities the outreach project will undertake;
- demonstrate that the project is doable and worth doing;
- set a realistic timetable;
- provide detailed information about the management plan and the project leadership; and
- include an evaluation plan that shows how you will determine the success of the project.
Click here to read the article.
NIH Study Section Referrals
As investigator, you can have a role in determining which study section reviews your National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant application and which Institute or Center (IC) will consider funding, according to NIH “insiders” advice published in the NIH Nexus Files. Your Research Plan (especially the Specific Aims and Background/Significance sections) will be reviewed during the referral process to determine study section assignment. Also, in your cover letter, you can make a request for assignment, identify other applications if your submission is part of a collaboration, and identify potential conflicts. To find out more about study sections, click here.
Word to the wise: do not use the cover letter to identify favored reviewers, convey scientific content, or as a substitute for the Introduction section. Consult your application guide/instructions for further guidance.
Funding for Arts Featured at the Foundation Center
The Foundation Center will celebrate October 2006 as “Funding for Arts Month.” Throughout October the center's website will highlight news, funding announcements, training opportunities, publications, and useful websites for grantseekers in the arts. Check the Foundation Center 's website often throughout the month or subscribe to the Arts Funding Watch electronic newsletter, which will be published weekly in October.
Triangle Community Foundation Expands Its Focus
The Triangle Community Foundation recently released its five-year strategic plan (pdf), which provides a comprehensive roadmap for the next five years. In the past the foundation has focused primarily on donors. However, the new business model will direct resources to the community at large, including nonprofits seeking funding for their activities, as well as to donors.
The foundation is also creating a new fund to address critical community needs. This “community grantmaking program” will be directed to collaborative efforts that address identified areas of critical need, including youth initiatives and civic engagement.
Reynolds Trust Announces Major Changes in Its Giving Priorities
Following an in-depth study of its giving strategy, the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust announced broad changes in its priorities, according to a report in the September 25 Philanthropy Journal. Instead of primarily responding to nonprofit-initiated requests as it has in the past, the trust will focus future funding on specific priority issues. It will then solicit project ideas to address those problems.
In its giving targeted to health care organizations, the trust will emphasize disease prevention and health promotion and wellness more than it has in the past. In addition, outcomes and collaboration among funding partners will become more important in the trust's decision-making process.
Grantsmanship Tips for Gerber Foundation Applicants
In a recent workshop sponsored by the School of Public Health , Gerber Foundation Program Manager Catherine Obits gave the following advice for would-be applicants to the foundation:
- Priority is given to projects that improve infant and young children nutrition, care, and development pre-birth to three years of age.
- The foundation tends to fund pilot studies, projects that will result in a change in practice, and projects of regional or national impact.
- The foundation is primarily interested in clinical and translational research, but they do fund some laboratory research that appears to be leading to a clinical or translational study.
- Research results are expected to benefit groups in the United States . The foundation will consider funding international projects only if there is a strong justification for the international scope.
- The foundation does not look at health disparities as an issue, but does like to see projects that include minorities.
- Initial proposals are reviewed by a sub-committee of trustees, with full proposals reviewed by the sub-committee and an outside expert reviewer.
If you want to talk to the Program Manager, please email tgf@ncresa.org in advance to schedule a conversation.