Rigor

Rigor encompasses a whole host of practices. In research, it’s the belief that your field demands constant improvement by closing existing gaps in knowledge, which may exist because of inaccurate methods and measurements, or completely non-existing ones. In order to fill these voids, a commitment to addressing all aspects of the research and careful attention to detail will be required. Rigor also implies that your methodology is conducted systematically, and that your research design addresses your questions, hypotheses, variables, and data collection methods.

Focus

One of the most common mistakes is an overly ambitious proposal. For example, a proposal to research the general effects of obesity in the entire population would be unrealistic and, needless to say, impossible. In contrast, a proposal to examine health related improvements of severely obese men and women between the ages of 45 – 55, who begin a three times per week exercise regiment, would be a much more focused study. You should assure that your hypothesis is precise and that your specific aims can be accomplished in the amount of time allotted for the grant.

Preliminary Data

One of the surest ways to kill a promising proposal is with a lack of preliminary data. Once you have identified the problem you wish to address, you will need to have preliminary data to support your hypothesis and aims. The more preliminary data you have, the more you will be considered a serious investigator, who has taken the time to develop a hypothesis that is well rooted. Research grants of course vary, and some are geared for new investigators and therefore may not require extensive preliminary studies and data. Nevertheless, for any investigator, the more preliminary data you have to support your research, the better.

Communication

As a proposal writer, your audience (reviewers) will want to find candidates who are the most likely to succeed. Walk them through your plan and how it will be implemented (activities/methodology) and demonstrate that your outcomes will match their measures for success (evaluation criteria). Your goal should always be to write about the importance of your intervention in a way that moves the readers and makes them want to fund your project. The difference between a good story and a superficial one is that the latter provides too easy a solution. To avoid this, your interventions should be innovative, and should make a real and tangible difference in your field. Your story should convey the overall impact of resolving difficult problems.

Persistence

It is important to remember that the success rate for many research grants can be in the teens. Thus, some lucky people will get funded the first time, but chances are that it will not happen so easily. If your proposal is rejected the first time, you should take the comments from the reviewers seriously and address them appropriately and politely in your next submission. If the reviewers thought that your idea was strong, but that there were flaws in other areas, your chances for success in the second submission are excellent. At the end of the day, your persistence will pay off.

Believing in your idea, a specific hypothesis constructed via your preliminary data, and outlining an innovative and transformative approach will get you eighty percent of the way to being funded. You will also need to tell the story in a persuasive way that highlights the need for and importance of your idea in the field and for the people who will be served.

The post Five Crucial Facets of Successful Research Funding appeared first on Grant Training Center Blog.

The budget must give an accurate assessment of all cost items and cost amounts that are deemed necessary and reasonable. It should be complete and include all costs for any personnel, supplies, and activities that will be undertaken. If the project is funded, the budget will become the financial plan used by the funding agency to provide support. Once negotiated and approved, the budget will be etched in stone, and modifications will require the approval of the donor. It will also be a legal agreement between the institution and the donor and will be subject to audits to ensure compliance.

Where should one begin?

The solicitation – The first step in the process of submitting a proposal is to identify the appropriate solicitation. For federal grants, this could be a Research Funding Announcement (RFA), Request for Proposal (RFP), Proposal Announcement (PA), or Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). If you are applying to a foundation, they may have different solicitation announcements that you would need to follow. It is vital to read the announcement in its entirety before starting. The solicitation will give funding guidelines and will state any budgetary restrictions. A budget template is often provided as well. It is critical to determine whether there are any limitations on direct or indirect costs.

Grants Office – The second step will be to outline your budget categories and discuss those with the staff in your research office or a grants office. They can assist you with personnel details, equipment, and other budget categories. If, on the other hand, you have to come up with a budget on your own, you will need to consider the following direct and indirect costs.

Putting the Budget Together

Direct costs are the expenses that the donor will pay for a specific project. These costs will include activities and expenditures that will take place during the course of the grant, such as personnel salaries, employee benefits, travel, equipment, publications and training. It is important to adhere to the allowable costs for personnel salaries and fringe requests.

• Personnel Costs – This category will always be the first part of the budget and will include the percentage of time dedicated by each of the key and non-key personnel. The Principal Investigator (PI) or the Project Director (PD) may devote a certain percentage of time to the project. The cost will be determined from his or her current salary and benefits. The non-key personnel, such as students or others not directly involved in the content of the project, also are included in the budget in terms of the percentage of time spent on the grant.
• Other Costs – Equipment (with acquisition cost of more than $5,000 as per most government grant guidelines), travel, participant support, consultants, statisticians, training costs and animal purchases will be categories for those doing research projects. Materials, supplies, publications, and computer services might be additional costs.
• Activity Costs – For project grants, the main areas that drive the budget will be the solicitation requirements and the objectives and activities of the grant. Thus, every activity should be budgeted according to personnel and non-personnel costs. For example, how much time will be dedicated to evaluation both in terms of personnel and non-personnel costs?

Indirect Costs – These are the costs that an institution will charge the grantor for conducting the project.

Often referred to as the “costs of doing business”, overhead, and facilities and administration charges, these costs are negotiated with federal and state governments. It is essential to adhere to the solicitation’s allowable costs for this category. Donors may restrict the percentage of allowable indirect costs. Some may allow the total amount requested, others a certain percentage, and yet others none at all. The latter is especially the case with foundations.

It is important to remember that a budget will not include any costs incurred prior to receiving the grant and any that will follow the life of the grant. Additionally, there are frequently total allowable funding limits and cost share requirements, all of which must be first taken into consideration.

Ultimately, the budget will tell the fiscal story of your proposal and must match the narrative of the project. It must be detailed, accurate, necessary and reasonable. Your story should begin with the narrative and end with the budget, and both need to match up perfectly.

The post Justifying Your Proposal: The Budget appeared first on Grant Training Center Blog.

• An idea that is clearly defined and focused, is well researched, is needed, has a broad impact, and can be accomplished within the lifetime of the grant should be the main focus of your proposal.

• A Statement of Need/Significance that makes a strong argument for funding is an integral component proposal component. You will need to specify how this need for was identified. If you are writing a research grant, your preliminary data should justify your argument for further research. If you are writing a project grant, utilize your literature review and experience to make the case for why you should be funded.

• Examples of how your project will unfold and how your team will work together are of critical importance for the donor to understand the specific implications of your project. Also, describing real-life scenarios is an approach that gives emphasis and meaning to the project you are undertaking.

• A Plan of Operation that presents the specifics of your proposal in a logical manner is your business plan. The donor must understand what you intend to do throughout the lifetime of the proposal. You should include a clear goal, measurable objectives, activities that can easily be budgeted, and outcomes that clearly parallel and are related to the objectives.

• A narrative that is written in positive terms should be utilized throughout the proposal. Some writers believe that if they describe how bleak a situation is, someone will give them money to solve the problem. This is not true. Funders prefer backing proposals that describe worthwhile programs that will meet identified needs and match the criteria set forth by the granting agency.

• Clearly written prose that does not overuse jargon or acronyms is a key ingredient for success. The use of language that is unknown to the reader is a distraction that could easily work against you. After all, you may use terminology that is specific to you on a daily basis, but that may not be the case for the reviewer.

• A budget that matches each activity of the proposal will demonstrate that you paid close attention to detail. All bases must be covered. If you are going to purchase hardware, have you purchased software? If you plan to offer training, how long will it be, who will conduct it, how much will it cost?

• Strong dissemination components signal that you will give back to your community what you learned throughout the lifespan your grant. This section is often extensive in some proposals that require broader impacts to address education, while in others it might be a presentation at a conference or a publication.

• Directions that are followed precisely will ensure your stewardship. If a scoring rubric or evaluation checklist is given to you, read it and follow those directions. Also, ensure that the margins, font size, and formatting are exactly as requested in the Request for Proposal (RFP).

• Professional presentation requires excellent grammar, concise sentences, a mixture of graphics and narrative and well constructed arguments for funding. It will translate into the impression you make on the reviewers.

Extensive preparation should take place before you begin writing a proposal. You need to determine exactly what you want to do, describe why your project is important, make the match with the donor’s interests, and then decide what should be included in your grant. This will be the conceptualization of your grant, and will initially involve the design of your project, not the writing. By carefully designing your project first and writing second, you will set in place the key elements that will make for a winning proposal.

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1. What is the goal of your project?

This will be stated in your introductory paragraph. The goal will address the gap that your research will undertake to fill. You will also address the importance of your research via the “so what question”.

Example:

The development of the mammalian immune system is typically thought to occur in a linear fashion, from immaturity to maturity as a function of antigen exposure. Previous findings in birds and in mice, however, indicate that this view is oversimplified. Thus, in these species, the developing immune system appears to be “layered” in a manner that is independent of antigen exposure, beginning as a multilineage fetal system that is replaced by an anatomically and biologically distinct multilineage system after birth. If so, then developmentally ordered and unique hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPC) could give rise to distinct lymphocyte lineages at different stages of development.

2. What data or advances are you bringing to the table?

Your preliminary data will set the stage for your credibility, which helps convince reviewers that you are able to undertake this proposal. The more preliminary results of previous findings you have, the more convincing your case will be.

Example:

In ongoing experiments, we have found that such immune system “layering” occurs in humans. Our preliminary data show that: (1) the human fetus can mount a vigorous immune response to exogenous antigens;⁴ (2) the human fetal immune response to exogenous antigens can be actively suppressed by antigen-specific Tregs;^4,5 (3) fetal Tregs are derived from a fetal-specific lineage of T cells; (4) fetal and adult HSPCs give rise to distinct populations of T cells; and (5) fetal HSPC-derived T cells show an enhanced ability to generate

Tregs during thymic maturation and upon exposure to foreign antigens in vitro.⁶ These data suggest that the human immune system is comprised of two distinct waves: one generated from a “fetal” HSPC that exists in utero in the fetal liver and bone marrow, and another generated from a superseding “adult” HSPC that resides in the bone marrow at later time points. The former gives rise to an immune system that is prone to deliver a tolerogenic response to foregin antigens. The latter gives rise to an immune system that is more likely to generate an immunoreactive responses (e.g., one including cytotoxic T cells and neutralizing antibodies).

3. What is your central hypothesis?

Your hypothesis embodies the critical need for your research and is the central part of your proposal. It is the solution that solves the problem. Your hypothesis is the reason for your project and must be specific.

Example:

Given these findings, we hypothesize that physiologic layering of immune system ontogeny leads to a normal range in the ratio of fetal- to adult-type T cells at birth, with some neonates exhibiting a higher fraction of fetal T cells than others; and that those with a high ratio of fetal/adult T cells will generate predominant Th2 responses to routine childhood immunizations.

4. What are your specific aims?

Your aims will test the hypothesis and need to be detailed. They should result in something that you can measure. In other words, they are exactly what its name implies – specific. They should also be independent of each other, and should not be overly ambitious. The above hypothesis will be tested via the following specific aims, which are specific and independent of one another:

Example:

Specific Aim 1. To determine the normal range of fetal to adult T cells in the umbilical cord blood of the full term neonate.

Specific Aim 2. To determine whether those full-term neonates with a high ratio of fetal/adult T cells are more likely to generate a Th2-polarized immune response to routine childhood immunizations.

5. What will be the ultimate results of your study?

The Specific Aims page will end with the benefits that are expected from your study. It is the outcome section of your proposal and the major reason you received the funding to undertake your study.

Example:

We anticipate that this study will reveal normal variation in the ratio of fetal to adult T cells at birth and that such variability in this ratio will be directly related to – and possibly causal of – a Th2 skew that results in a poor response to childhood vaccines and a heightened predisposition to childhood infections and to atopic disorders. If so, these modalities aimed at changing this ratio more towards the adult lineage at birth may provide benefit to a substantial number of newborns.

Your goal, data, hypothesis and specific aims will be the central focal points for your entire proposal. These are the most difficult to write, and you will probably revise them many times before you settle on the final submission. Ultimately, this is the page that will determine the fate of your proposal because it demonstrates how all the pieces will fit together to develop a paradigm shift in the field.

Examples excerpted from:

McCune, Joseph. “Human immune system layering and the neonatal response to vaccines.” National Institute of Allergies and Diseases Sample Grant Application. 14 Jun 2010. Web. 2 Jul 2015.

Full text of the sample proposal by Joseph McCune of The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco, posted online by the National Institute of Allergies and Diseases is available at: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/researchfunding/grant/Documents/McCunefull.pdf

The post The Most Important Part of Your Application: The Specific Aims Page appeared first on Grant Training Center Blog.

Certain important qualities in a business plan make it far more likely to find financial backing. Here are some of those qualities which are equally important for grant proposals as well.

1. It fits the business need

You have to start with whether or not the plan is going to achieve its business purpose. Some plans will sell an idea and a team, others will sell a research plan, and yet others will sell a service that will be undertaken for constituents. A good business plan fits the business need. Equally, your grant proposal should parallel the institutional mission. It should achieve the objectives or the goal in systematic and measurable increments.

2. It’s realistic and can be implemented  

You do not get points for ideas that cannot be implemented. You may have a brilliantly written and excellently researched business plan for a grant. However, if it does not have a management plan or team to manage implementation, it will not get funded. This proposal will not fare well with the donor, and the lack of feasibility may be the fatal flaw that will get it rejected.

3. It’s specific – you can track results against the plan

Measurable objectives are driven by outcomes and can be tracked against your goal. They will keep you on track to achieve your tasks, deadlines, budgets, and evaluation. Good planning requires specifics about who, what, when, and how much. Your plan of operation will include activities, timelines, personnel, outcomes, evaluation, and budgets. In other words, it will be specific and all the pieces will fit together like a puzzle.

4. It clearly defines responsibilities for implementation

You have to be able to identify a single person who will be responsible for every significant task and function. A task that doesn’t have an owner isn’t likely to be implemented. In a good business plan or a grant proposal, you can distinguish a specific person responsible for implementation at every point.

5. It clearly identifies assumptions

Since a proposal and a business plan are both guessing the future, they must clearly show assumptions and discuss alternative plans. Not thinking about the unexpected may lead to failed plans along the way. You will need to identify assumptions and outline alternative paths, in case the original plan does not unfold as initially envisioned. This demonstrates that you have projected into the future and developed plans that will lead to your ultimate goal, which is the effective completion of the project.

6. It’s kept alive by a regular review and follow-up

The evaluation process must be ongoing and measure the effectiveness of the activities at various stages. It has to bring the planning process with it, meaning regular review and course correction. This demonstrates that accountability will take place during all stages of the proposed plan. A large percentage of your success depends on regular review.

A plan that is simple, easy to read, and reflects the above qualities can sell even the most complex research grant ideas. The common denominator for both grant requests and business plans is that they are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. At the end of your proposal, you should ask the following questions: Is the plan realistic? Is the budget reasonable? Are the milestone dates feasible? If the answers are yes, then you have created a proposal with a sound and cost effective business plan.

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Unless the directions in the Request for Proposal (RFP) specify otherwise, you will probably have three objectives that will answer the following questions:

• Who will benefit? Who will be the target population that will benefit most from the program? If, for example, your objective is to reduce obesity by 10% in a certain population, you will have to be precise about the level of obesity, the age of the population, and other exact factors that relate to your group.

• Who will participate? Explaining the criteria you’ll use to select participants and how you will handle those who must be turned away, will further define and clarify your population. If your selection is mandatory, then there is no need for an explanation, but if it is not, your choice will need to be justified.

• How many will participate? Describing how many will participate and benefit from your intervention adds an additional component to the objective. It is important to state the sample size of your target population and why you decided on that number.

• What is the time period of your intervention? How long it takes to achieve your objective will be determined by your approach, sample size, and number of activities

• What is the approach you will use? Evidence-based approaches are most desirable for they are validated by substantial evidence derived from rigorous research. For example, what evidence demonstrates the relationship between exercise and reducing fatigue as a side effect of cancer treatment?

Below are three illustrations of incomplete and complete objectives:

Example 1

Incomplete objective: Increase the mentoring of students who do not meet the standardized reading criteria.

Complete Objective: Increase the reading level of 500 students to meet the state level of standardized reading via three one-on-one, two hour per week mentoring programs, over a six month period. By the end of the grant, 500 children will be able to read at the standardized state level for their age group.

Example 2

Incomplete objective: Develop an environmental health data management plan.

Complete Objective: Develop an information management plan by July 31, 2016 that describes how to identify, store, analyze, and collect environmental health data.

Example 3

Incomplete learning objective: Reduce the obesity rate of all adults enrolled in the obese reduction program at Good Samaritan Hospital by 10%.

Complete learning objective: Reduce the obesity rate of disabled adults ages 18 years and older, who are enrolled in the obese reduction program at Good Samaritan Hospital by 10% by December 31, 2016.

Setting measurable objectives is the cornerstone of the strategic approach you need to take to execute your proposal. These objectives will be developed following research and situation analysis and will determine your activities, timeline, personnel, and budget. All too often, incomplete objectives lead to incomplete evaluations and outcomes. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound (SMART) objectives define the direction of your proposal.

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