review

The Final Step to Avoid Grant Rejection

I have received funding for the majority of the grants that I have submitted. One of the main reasons for my success is the pre-review process which, I believe, is a must before proposal submission. This process involves asking three different types of colleagues to provide feedback on your grant. The pre-review steps are: A… read more

trump

What the Trump Budget Means for Grant Funding

President Trump’s federal budget plan will mean stiffer competition for research, education, and humanities funding. Although the proposed budget will likely undergo changes before it is finalized, the stage has been set for potentially severe cuts. Specifically, the deepest proposed cuts are: Environmental Protection Agency (31% reduction), State Department (29% reduction), and the Department of… read more

connecting

Grant Success: Stop Stating, Start Connecting

If you want to connect, take your audience with you from the start. Effective communication in a grant proposal requires knowing your goal and stating it clearly, but also remembering that you have to construct that goal around what your donor wants to hear. Within this context, I want to convey an interesting encounter I… read more

dod

Expand Your Research with DoD Funding

So you are thinking of applying for Department of Defense (DoD) funding, but do not know where to start, what they fund, and if your project fits their interests? This blog is about why you, as a researcher working in an academic setting, could be eligible to apply for DoD grants, and how to begin… read more

bulb

Grant Success: Start Small, Think Big

I often encounter people in my grant workshops who want to immediately start swimming with the sharks, even though they do not yet know how to swim. In amazement, I ask them how they came to the conclusion that they can so easily compete with seasoned grant writers. The answers vary. Some of the most… read more

doctor

Five Crucial Facets of Successful Research Funding

Do you want to get a grant? Chances are that you can, but only if you properly organize yourself. Whether you have a complex or simple proposal, the major facets you must master are: rigor, focus, preliminary data, communication, and persistence. Rigor Rigor encompasses a whole host of practices. In research, it’s the belief that… read more

language

Do You Speak the Private Donor`s Language?

Every time I travel abroad to a place where the language and culture are different, there are always situations where it is difficult to be understood. These experiences often remind me of the flawed way I approached my first grant. I thought the fact that I had an innovative idea would alone merit funding. I… read more

support

Five Writing Style Secrets to Get You Funded

One of the primary reasons for first-rate ideas not being funded is inferior writing style. Unfortunately, this issue is often found even in the proposals of senior researchers. Paying close attention to how the request is presented and the language that is used to make the case for funding can remedy this problem. There are… read more

shake

How to Write Successful Collaborative Applications

Writing a research grant application by yourself is daunting, and this feeling doesn’t go away, even when you collaborate with others to write the grant. Multidisciplinary collaborative research grant applications are becoming the norm for early and seasoned investigators. But navigating through these applications is different from writing an application as a single investigator. For… read more

teaching-and-research

Building a Culture of Research at “Teaching Institutions”

In my most recent grant writing workshop, one of the participants had been instructed to attend by the provost of his institution. Unfortunately, he did not want to be there, and was certain that all efforts for research funding would fail at his institution. When I asked him why he is so certain, he replied:… read more