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Grants & funding.
The National Institutes of Health is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. In fiscal year 2022, NIH invested most of its $45 billion appropriations in research seeking to enhance life, and to reduce illness and disability. NIH-funded research has led to breakthroughs and new treatments helping people live longer, healthier lives, and building the research foundation that drives discovery.
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NIH’s central resource for grants and funding information.
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NIH offers funding for many types of grants, contracts, and even programs that help repay loans for researchers.
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Grant applications and associated documents (e.g., reference letters) are due by 5:00 PM local time of application organization on the specified due date.
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Instructions for submitting a grant application to NIH and other Public Health Service agencies.
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An orientation to NIH funding, grant programs, how the grants process works, and how to apply.
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By accepting a grant award, recipients agree to comply with the requirements in the NIH Grants Policy Statement unless the notice of award states otherwise.
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News, updates, and blog posts on NIH extramural grant policies, processes, events, and resources.
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The NIH Loan Repayment Programs repay up to $50,000 annually of a researcher’s qualified educational debt in return for a commitment to engage in NIH mission-relevant research.
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Funding at NSF
The U.S. National Science Foundation offers hundreds of funding opportunities — including grants, cooperative agreements and fellowships — that support research and education across science and engineering.
Learn how to apply for NSF funding by visiting the links below.
Finding the right funding opportunity
Learn about NSF's funding priorities and how to find a funding opportunity that's right for you.
Preparing your proposal
Learn about the pieces that make up a proposal and how to prepare a proposal for NSF.
Submitting your proposal
Learn how to submit a proposal to NSF using one of our online systems.
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Learn about NSF's merit review process, which ensures the proposals NSF receives are reviewed in a fair, competitive, transparent and in-depth manner.
NSF 101 answers common questions asked by those interested in applying for NSF funding.
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Nsf and the romanian executive agency for higher education, research, development and innovation funding (uefiscdi) lead agency opportunity in the mathematical and physical sciences, ethical and responsible research (er2), biomedical research initiative for next-gen biotechnologies - synbio control (bring synbio), discovery research prek-12 program resource center on transformative education research and translation (drk-12 rc).
Reference management. Clean and simple.
How to write a grant proposal: a step-by-step guide
What is a grant proposal?
Why should you write a grant proposal, format of a grant proposal, how to write a grant proposal, step 1: decide what funding opportunity to apply for, and research the grant application process, step 2: plan and research your project, preliminary research for your grant proposal, questions to ask yourself as you plan your grant proposal, developing your grant proposal, step 3: write the first draft of your grant proposal, step 4: get feedback, and revise your grant proposal accordingly, step 5: prepare to submit your grant proposal, what happens after submitting the grant proposal, final thoughts, other useful sources for writing grant proposals, frequently asked questions about writing grant proposals, related articles.
You have a vision for a future research project, and want to share that idea with the world.
To achieve your vision, you need funding from a sponsoring organization, and consequently, you need to write a grant proposal.
Although visualizing your future research through grant writing is exciting, it can also feel daunting. How do you start writing a grant proposal? How do you increase your chances of success in winning a grant?
But, writing a proposal is not as hard as you think. That’s because the grant-writing process can be broken down into actionable steps.
This guide provides a step-by-step approach to grant-writing that includes researching the application process, planning your research project, and writing the proposal. It is written from extensive research into grant-writing, and our experiences of writing proposals as graduate students, postdocs, and faculty in the sciences.
A grant proposal is a document or collection of documents that outlines the strategy for a future research project and is submitted to a sponsoring organization with the specific goal of getting funding to support the research. For example, grants for large projects with multiple researchers may be used to purchase lab equipment, provide stipends for graduate and undergraduate researchers, fund conference travel, and support the salaries of research personnel.
As a graduate student, you might apply for a PhD scholarship, or postdoctoral fellowship, and may need to write a proposal as part of your application. As a faculty member of a university, you may need to provide evidence of having submitted grant applications to obtain a permanent position or promotion.
Reasons for writing a grant proposal include:
- To obtain financial support for graduate or postdoctoral studies;
- To travel to a field site, or to travel to meet with collaborators;
- To conduct preliminary research for a larger project;
- To obtain a visiting position at another institution;
- To support undergraduate student research as a faculty member;
- To obtain funding for a large collaborative project, which may be needed to retain employment at a university.
The experience of writing a proposal can be helpful, even if you fail to obtain funding. Benefits include:
- Improvement of your research and writing skills
- Enhancement of academic employment prospects, as fellowships and grants awarded and applied for can be listed on your academic CV
- Raising your profile as an independent academic researcher because writing proposals can help you become known to leaders in your field.
All sponsoring agencies have specific requirements for the format of a grant proposal. For example, for a PhD scholarship or postdoctoral fellowship, you may be required to include a description of your project, an academic CV, and letters of support from mentors or collaborators.
For a large research project with many collaborators, the collection of documents that need to be submitted may be extensive. Examples of documents that might be required include a cover letter, a project summary, a detailed description of the proposed research, a budget, a document justifying the budget, and the CVs of all research personnel.
Before writing your proposal, be sure to note the list of required documents.
Writing a grant proposal can be broken down into three major activities: researching the project (reading background materials, note-taking, preliminary work, etc.), writing the proposal (creating an outline, writing the first draft, revisions, formatting), and administrative tasks for the project (emails, phone calls, meetings, writing CVs and other supporting documents, etc.).
Below, we provide a step-by-step guide to writing a grant proposal:
- Decide what funding opportunity to apply for, and research the grant application process
- Plan and research your project
- Write the first draft of your grant proposal
- Get feedback, and revise your grant proposal accordingly
- Prepare to submit your grant proposal
- Start early. Begin by searching for funding opportunities and determining requirements. Some sponsoring organizations prioritize fundamental research, whereas others support applied research. Be sure your project fits the mission statement of the granting organization. Look at recently funded proposals and/or sample proposals on the agency website, if available. The Research or Grants Office at your institution may be able to help with finding grant opportunities.
- Make a spreadsheet of grant opportunities, with a link to the call for proposals page, the mission and aims of the agency, and the deadline for submission. Use the information that you have compiled in your spreadsheet to decide what to apply for.
- Once you have made your decision, carefully read the instructions in the call for proposals. Make a list of all the documents you need to apply, and note the formatting requirements and page limits. Know exactly what the funding agency requires of submitted proposals.
- Reach out to support staff at your university (for example, at your Research or Grants Office), potential mentors, or collaborators. For example, internal deadlines for submitting external grants are often earlier than the submission date. Make sure to learn about your institution’s internal processes, and obtain contact information for the relevant support staff.
- Applying for a grant or fellowship involves administrative work. Start preparing your CV and begin collecting supporting documents from collaborators, such as letters of support. If the application to the sponsoring agency is electronic, schedule time to set up an account, log into the system, download necessary forms and paperwork, etc. Don’t leave all of the administrative tasks until the end.
- Map out the important deadlines on your calendar. These might include video calls with collaborators, a date for the first draft to be complete, internal submission deadlines, and the funding agency deadline.
- Schedule time on your calendar for research, writing, and administrative tasks associated with the project. It’s wise to group similar tasks and block out time for them (a process known as ” time batching ”). Break down bigger tasks into smaller ones.
Now that you know what you are applying for, you can think about matching your proposed research to the aims of the agency. The work you propose needs to be innovative, specific, realizable, timely, and worthy of the sponsoring organization’s attention.
- Develop an awareness of the important problems and open questions in your field. Attend conferences and seminar talks and follow all of your field’s major journals.
- Read widely and deeply. Journal review articles are a helpful place to start. Reading papers from related but different subfields can generate ideas. Taking detailed notes as you read will help you recall the important findings and connect disparate concepts.
- Writing a grant proposal is a creative and imaginative endeavor. Write down all of your ideas. Freewriting is a practice where you write down all that comes to mind without filtering your ideas for feasibility or stopping to edit mistakes. By continuously writing your thoughts without judgment, the practice can help overcome procrastination and writer’s block. It can also unleash your creativity, and generate new ideas and associations. Mind mapping is another technique for brainstorming and generating connections between ideas.
- Establish a regular writing practice. Schedule time just for writing, and turn off all distractions during your focused work time. You can use your writing process to refine your thoughts and ideas.
- Use a reference manager to build a library of sources for your project. You can use a reference management tool to collect papers , store and organize references , and highlight and annotate PDFs . Establish a system for organizing your ideas by tagging papers with labels and using folders to store similar references.
To facilitate intelligent thinking and shape the overall direction of your project, try answering the following questions:
- What are the questions that the project will address? Am I excited and curious about their answers?
- Why are these questions important?
- What are the goals of the project? Are they SMART (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Timely)?
- What is novel about my project? What is the gap in current knowledge?
- What methods will I use, and how feasible is my approach?
- Can the work be done over the proposed period, and with the budget I am requesting?
- Do I have relevant experience? For example, have I completed similar work funded by previous grants or written papers on my proposed topic?
- What pilot research or prior work can I use, or do I need to complete preliminary research before writing the proposal?
- Will the outcomes of my work be consequential? Will the granting agency be interested in the results?
- What solutions to open problems in my field will this project offer? Are there broader implications of my work?
- Who will the project involve? Do I need mentors, collaborators, or students to contribute to the proposed work? If so, what roles will they have?
- Who will read the proposal? For example, experts in the field will require details of methods, statistical analyses, etc., whereas non-experts may be more concerned with the big picture.
- What do I want the reviewers to feel, and take away from reading my proposal?
- What weaknesses does my proposed research have? What objections might reviewers raise, and how can I address them?
- Can I visualize a timeline for my project?
Create an actionable plan for your research project using the answers to these questions.
- Now is the time to collect preliminary data, conduct experiments, or do a preliminary study to motivate your research, and demonstrate that your proposed project is realistic.
- Use your plan to write a detailed outline of the proposal. An outline helps you to write a proposal that has a logical format and ensures your thought process is rational. It also provides a structure to support your writing.
- Follow the granting agency’s guidelines for titles, sections, and subsections to inform your outline.
At this stage, you should have identified the aims of your project, what questions your work will answer, and how they are relevant to the sponsoring agency’s call for proposals. Be able to explain the originality, importance, and achievability of your proposed work.
Now that you have done your research, you are ready to begin writing your proposal and start filling in the details of your outline. Build on the writing routine you have already started. Here are some tips:
- Follow the guidelines of the funding organization.
- Keep the proposal reviewers in mind as you write. Your audience may be a combination of specialists in your field and non-specialists. Make sure to address the novelty of your work, its significance, and its feasibility.
- Write clearly, concisely, and avoid repetition. Use topic sentences for each paragraph to emphasize key ideas. Concluding sentences of each paragraph should develop, clarify, or summarize the support for the declaration in the topic sentence. To make your writing engaging, vary sentence length.
- Avoid jargon, where possible. Follow sentences that have complex technical information with a summary in plain language.
- Don’t review all information on the topic, but include enough background information to convince reviewers that you are knowledgeable about it. Include preliminary data to convince reviewers you can do the work. Cite all relevant work.
- Make sure not to be overly ambitious. Don’t propose to do so much that reviewers doubt your ability to complete the project. Rather, a project with clear, narrowly-defined goals may prove favorable to reviewers.
- Accurately represent the scope of your project; don’t exaggerate its impacts. Avoid bias. Be forthright about the limitations of your research.
- Ensure to address potential objections and concerns that reviewers may have with the proposed work. Show that you have carefully thought about the project by explaining your rationale.
- Use diagrams and figures effectively. Make sure they are not too small or contain too much information or details.
After writing your first draft, read it carefully to gain an overview of the logic of your argument. Answer the following questions:
- Is your proposal concise, explicit, and specific?
- Have you included all necessary assumptions, data points, and evidence in your proposal?
- Do you need to make structural changes like moving or deleting paragraphs or including additional tables or figures to strengthen your rationale?
- Have you answered most of the questions posed in Step 2 above in your proposal?
- Follow the length requirements in the proposal guidelines. Don't feel compelled to include everything you know!
- Use formatting techniques to make your proposal easy on the eye. Follow rules for font, layout, margins, citation styles , etc. Avoid walls of text. Use bolding and italicizing to emphasize points.
- Comply with all style, organization, and reference list guidelines to make it easy to reviewers to quickly understand your argument. If you don’t, it’s at best a chore for the reviewers to read because it doesn’t make the most convincing case for you and your work. At worst, your proposal may be rejected by the sponsoring agency without review.
- Using a reference management tool like Paperpile will make citation creation and formatting in your grant proposal quick, easy and accurate.
Now take time away from your proposal, for at least a week or more. Ask trusted mentors or collaborators to read it, and give them adequate time to give critical feedback.
- At this stage, you can return to any remaining administrative work while you wait for feedback on the proposal, such as finalizing your budget or updating your CV.
- Revise the proposal based on the feedback you receive.
- Don’t be discouraged by critiques of your proposal or take them personally. Receiving and incorporating feedback with humility is essential to grow as a grant writer.
Now you are almost ready to submit. This is exciting! At this stage, you need to block out time to complete all final checks.
- Allow time for proofreading and final editing. Spelling and grammar mistakes can raise questions regarding the rigor of your research and leave a poor impression of your proposal on reviewers. Ensure that a unified narrative is threaded throughout all documents in the application.
- Finalize your documents by following a checklist. Make sure all documents are in place in the application, and all formatting and organizational requirements are met.
- Follow all internal and external procedures. Have login information for granting agency and institution portals to hand. Double-check any internal procedures required by your institution (applications for large grants often have a deadline for sign-off by your institution’s Research or Grants Office that is earlier than the funding agency deadline).
- To avoid technical issues with electronic portals, submit your proposal as early as you can.
- Breathe a sigh of relief when all the work is done, and take time to celebrate submitting the proposal! This is already a big achievement.
Now you wait! If the news is positive, congratulations!
But if your proposal is rejected, take heart in the fact that the process of writing it has been useful for your professional growth, and for developing your ideas.
Bear in mind that because grants are often highly competitive, acceptance rates for proposals are usually low. It is very typical to not be successful on the first try and to have to apply for the same grant multiple times.
Here are some tips to increase your chances of success on your next attempt:
- Remember that grant writing is often not a linear process. It is typical to have to use the reviews to revise and resubmit your proposal.
- Carefully read the reviews and incorporate the feedback into the next iteration of your proposal. Use the feedback to improve and refine your ideas.
- Don’t ignore the comments received from reviewers—be sure to address their objections in your next proposal. You may decide to include a section with a response to the reviewers, to show the sponsoring agency that you have carefully considered their comments.
- If you did not receive reviewer feedback, you can usually request it.
You learn about your field and grow intellectually from writing a proposal. The process of researching, writing, and revising a proposal refines your ideas and may create new directions for future projects. Professional opportunities exist for researchers who are willing to persevere with submitting grant applications.
➡️ Secrets to writing a winning grant
➡️ How to gain a competitive edge in grant writing
➡️ Ten simple rules for writing a postdoctoral fellowship
A grant proposal should include all the documents listed as required by the sponsoring organization. Check what documents the granting agency needs before you start writing the proposal.
Granting agencies have strict formatting requirements, with strict page limits and/or word counts. Check the maximum length required by the granting agency. It is okay for the proposal to be shorter than the maximum length.
Expect to spend many hours, even weeks, researching and writing a grant proposal. Consequently, it is important to start early! Block time in your calendar for research, writing, and administration tasks. Allow extra time at the end of the grant-writing process to edit, proofread, and meet presentation guidelines.
The most important part of a grant proposal is the description of the project. Make sure that the research you propose in your project narrative is new, important, and viable, and that it meets the goals of the sponsoring organization.
A grant proposal typically consists of a set of documents. Funding agencies have specific requirements for the formatting and organization of each document. Make sure to follow their guidelines exactly.
- Insights & Analysis
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Grant Research Tools
Have you found it challenging to navigate the many grant research tool options? Unless your nonprofit has a multi-person development shop with dedicated staff members doing research and writing proposals, grant research will always pose a challenge. How can you make sure you’re finding all the grants you’re eligible for, and exclude the grants you have little chance of winning?
There are several different grant research tools with different strengths and weaknesses and dramatically different costs. To help nonprofits navigate the confusing world of grant research databases, we explored some of the available tools.
In the chart below, we compare a few of them to help readers hone in on which one might be the best match for their organization. We don’t assess the quality of support, "extra" features (such as calendars or grant tracking), or educational resources offered by each organization. However, this chart does take a look at the databases themselves, and in some cases notes our opinion of their strengths and weaknesses. We try to keep the lists of features and pricing up to date; feel free to share any updated information with our staff .
This resource also does not address how to write grant proposals, read foundation 990s, or qualify, cultivate, approach, or steward funder prospects; if you need that kind of education, you could tap into educational programs offered by state associations of nonprofits , the Foundation Center , or GrantStation , among others. Make sure you check out the resources on our Fundraising page as well.
There are other reasons to make sure you connect with your state association of nonprofits before you tackle the chart. In addition to offering educational programs, many state associations provide links to state-specific grant databases and member discounts on grant research tools. Some send regular grant alerts to their members. The benefits to your organization – in capacity-building, in connecting with others in your sector, and in amplifying your voice to advocate for the sector in your state – are tremendous.
One other way to locate prospective funders is to check the member list of your regional association of grantmakers . Membership lists published by these organizations often include links to foundation websites – or, you can search on the internet for specific funders and/or their IRS Form 990s.
This chart is a work in progress. We welcome your feedback about the chart. (Note that the National Council of Nonprofits does not provide assistance with grant research itself.) Click here to download the chart .
Additional Resources
- Article from Idealware via TechSoup (slightly dated but very good)
- Article from Nonprofit Quarterly's "Nonprofit Whisperer " on building a culture of philanthropy
- Foundation Directory Online (FDO)
- Funding Information Network locations
- GrantAdvisor , an anonymous review site of foundations
- GrantStation
- Instrumentl
- Regional Associations of Grantmakers
- Submit feedback, suggestions, or questions about the chart
Disclaimer: Information on this website is provided for informational purposes only and is neither intended to be nor should be construed as legal, accounting, tax, investment, or financial advice. Please consult a professional (attorney, accountant, tax advisor) for the latest and most accurate information. The National Council of Nonprofits makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained herein.
Planning and Writing a Grant Proposal: The Basics
Grant Proposal Writing is Exciting, Imaginative Work
Download this Handout PDF
Overview Additional Resources about Grants and Grant Writing Considering the Audience, Purpose, and Expectations of a Grant Proposal Common Elements of Grant Proposals General Tips Successful Sample Proposals
So, you want to write a grant proposal? This is exciting! This means that you have valuable research to do or a particular nonprofit to build or a community resource you’re passionate about developing. You have a distinct vision for how something could be improved or advanced, and you’re ready to ask for funding or other support to help this vision become a reality.
As you reach toward this unrealized vision by developing a grant proposal, you should think about successful grant writing as an act of imagination. Professor Kate Vieira, a Curriculum and Instruction professor at UW-Madison with considerable grant writing experience, describes grant proposal writing as a creative process akin to fiction writing—these are works of imagination. Professor Vieira recommends approaching the task of writing a grant proposal with an attitude of wonder and excitement as you strive to turn your ideas into something real. You have a great idea, and you think that you’re the best person to achieve a specific goal. Now you just need to convince others to get excited about this vision as well.
On this page, we offer some ways of thinking about grant proposals and advice about the process of planning and writing a proposal. We consider grant proposals; overall purposes, audiences, and expectations in order to make this information applicable across a range of contexts. However, this general approach has important limits . First, you will need to get more tailored advice about grant writing within your specific discipline or sphere. Second, you’ll need to follow very carefully the exact instructions about proposals from the granting agencies to which you are applying.
Talk with professors, mentors, previous grant recipients, the funding agency/group you are applying to, and trusted advisers in your field to learn more about what successful grant proposals look like in your situation and to get feedback on your plan and on your drafting process.
Before you start writing your grant proposal, you’ll want to make sure that you:
- develop a specific, meaningful, actionable plan for what you want to do and why you want to do it;
- consider how your plan will achieve positive results;
- locate a granting organization or source that funds projects like the one you have in mind;
- research that organization to make sure that its mission aligns with your plan;
- review the organization’s proposal guidelines; and
- examine sample proposals from your department, peers, and/or the organization.
When you’ve done all of this, you’re ready to start drafting your proposal!
Additional Resources about Grants and Grant Writing
For students, faculty, or staff at UW–Madison, a great place to learn more about grants, grant proposal writing, and granting institutions is the Grants Information Collection at UW–Madison’s Memorial Library. Check out their website and our review of some of their materials as well as links to other useful grant resources here.
Considering the Audience, Purpose, and Expectations of a Grant Proposal
A grant proposal is a very clear, direct document written to a particular organization or funding agency with the purpose of persuading the reviewers to provide you with support because: (1) you have an important and fully considered plan to advance a valuable cause, and (2) you are responsible and capable of realizing that plan.
As you begin planning and drafting your grant proposal, ask yourself:
- Who is your audience? Think about the people from the agency offering this grant who will read this proposal. What are the agency’s mission and goals? What are its values? How is what you want to do aligned with what this agency is all about? How much do these readers know about what you are interested in? Let your answers to these questions inform how you present your plan, what vocabulary you use, how much background you provide, and how you frame your goals. In considering your audience, you should think about the kind of information these readers will find to be the most persuasive. Is it numbers? If so, make sure that you provide and explain your data. Is it testimonials? Recommendations from other collaborators? Historical precedent? Think closely about how you construct your argument in relationship to your readers.
- What are the particular expectations for this grant? Pay attention to everything the granting organization requires of you. Your proposal should adhere exactly to these requirements. If you receive any advice that contradicts the expectations of your particular situation ( including from this website ), ignore it! Study representative samples of successful proposals in your field or proposals that have received the particular grant you are applying for.
- How do you establish your credibility? Make sure that you present yourself as capable, knowledgeable, and forward thinking. Establish your credibility through the thoroughness of your plan, the intentional way that you present its importance and value, and the knowledge you have of what has already been learned or studied. Appropriately reference any past accomplishments that verify your ability to succeed and your commitment to this project. Outline any partnerships you have built with complementary organizations and individuals.
- How can you clearly and logically present your plan? Make sure that your organization is logical. Divide your proposal into predictable sections and label them with clear headings. Follow exactly the headings and content requirements established by the granting agency’s call for proposals.Grant proposals are direct and to–the–point. This isn’t a good place for you to embroider your prose with flowery metaphors or weave in subtle literary allusions. Your language should be uncluttered and concise. Match the concepts and language your readers use and are familiar with. Your readers shouldn’t have to work hard to understand what you are communicating. For information about writing clear sentences, see this section of our writer’s handbook. However, use a vivid image, compelling anecdote, or memorable phrase if it conveys the urgency or importance of what you are proposing to do.
Common Elements of Grant Proposals
| Element | Details | (a.k.a. "abstract" or "executive summary") | Here you present the most important elements of your proposal in as few sentences as possible. For longer proposals, you might be able to use a full page for this overview, but for other proposals, you might have to condense it to just one paragraph. Either way, make sure that you answer: • What is the purpose or goal of your project, the need you’re addressing, or the problem you’re solving? • What are the expected outcomes of your project, and how will you achieve them? • How will you assess or verify the success of your project? • Why is your project important? • Briefly, who are you? Some granting institutions may also want you to clarify in this summary the kind and amount of funding or other support you are asking for. Let the mission and purpose of the granting agency inform your abstract. You might even want to incorporate key terms and concepts from the organization’s mission statement into your summary. While the summary or abstract may be the first element of your finished proposal, it’s often best to write it last. Wait to tackle this abbreviated version of your project until after you’ve written all the other parts. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | (a.k.a. “statement of need,” “problem statement,” “statement of problem,” “needs assessment,” or “literature review”) | Your project is important because it is responding to a gap in resources, knowledge, or opportunity that really needs to be filled. In order to establish the value of your project, you need to clarify the need or problem that your project responds to. Early in your proposal, make sure that you establish the context of this problem (i.e., the background). If this problem affects a particular population, describe that group of people. Include data if appropriate. Particularly for academic grants, this examination may take the form of a short literature review clarifying that you’ve read extensively on this topic and understand your project’s scholarly context and significance. But even for academic grants it's important to clarify why this project will make a wider, positive impact and not just how it will answer a specific academic question. | ||
| 3 | (a.k.a. “project narrative”; “project goals, objectives, and methodology”; or “strategies and tactics”) | Now that you’ve established a need for your project, you have to describe your project. Make sure you answer these questions: • What are the goals of your project or your research questions? • What are the goals of your project? • What will your project’s outcomes be? [As with many other kinds of outcomes, grant proposal outcomes should be SMART—specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.] • How are you going to achieve those outcomes? What methods will you use? • How will you measure or recognize your project’s achievements? • How can you be sure that your project will productively respond to the need or problem you have identified? • What will the timeline for your project be? Several of these questions focus on the impact your project will have. Delineating the impact is important because funders want to see that you’ve clearly established the realistic benefits of your work along with how you plan to verify and assess your achievements. | ||
| 4 | (a.k.a. “resources”) | Since you are asking for funding or other support, you need to clarify just what you’re asking for and why you are asking for particular amounts. Budgets are often formatted in tables and figures. Each amount should be clearly labeled, and you might need to directly follow your budget with a justification statement explaining why each cost, material, and equipment is valid, reasonable, and important for your project. | ||
| 5 | Sometimes grant proposals are preceded by a cover letter. These often serve to personally introduce you as the grant– seeking individual/organization, establish your ethos and professionalism, briefly describe your proposed project, and convey enthusiasm for the project and appreciation for the readers' consideration of your request. When you are representing a nonprofit organization, sometimes you need to devote a full section to describing the nature, mission, and function of your organization. Often this comes near the section where you examine a problem. You may need to provide a range of supporting materials at the end of your proposal—usually in the form of appendices. These might consist of additional records, endorsements, tax status information, personnel bios for your organization’s employees, letters of support from allied organizations or groups partnering with you in your project, etc. All of this documentation should be clearly related to your proposal and may be requested by the granting institution. |
| Jet Travel | ||||
| RDU-Kigali (roundtrip) | 1 | $6,100 | $6,100 | |
| Maintenance Allowance | ||||
| Rwanda | 12 months | $1,899 | $22,788 | $22,788 |
| Project Allowance | ||||
| Research Assistant/Translator | 12 months | $400 | $4800 | |
| Transportation within country | ||||
| –Phase 1 | 4 months | $300 | $1,200 | |
| –Phase 2 | 8 months | $1,500 | $12,000 | |
| 12 months | $60 | $720 | ||
| Audio cassette tapes | 200 | $2 | $400 | |
| Photographic and slide film | 20 | $5 | $100 | |
| Laptop Computer | 1 | $2,895 | ||
| NUD*IST 4.0 Software | $373 | |||
| Etc. | ||||
| Total Project Allowance | $35,238 | |||
| Administrative Fee | $100 | |||
| Total | $65,690 | |||
| Sought from other sources | ($15,000) | |||
| Total Grant Request | $50,690 |
Jet travel $6,100 This estimate is based on the commercial high season rate for jet economy travel on Sabena Belgian Airlines. No U.S. carriers fly to Kigali, Rwanda. Sabena has student fare tickets available which will be significantly less expensive (approximately $2,000).
Maintenance allowance $22,788 Based on the Fulbright-Hays Maintenance Allowances published in the grant application guide.
Research assistant/translator $4,800 The research assistant/translator will be a native (and primary) speaker of Kinya-rwanda with at least a four-year university degree. They will accompany the primary investigator during life history interviews to provide assistance in comprehension. In addition, they will provide commentary, explanations, and observations to facilitate the primary investigator’s participant observation. During the first phase of the project in Kigali, the research assistant will work forty hours a week and occasional overtime as needed. During phases two and three in rural Rwanda, the assistant will stay with the investigator overnight in the field when necessary. The salary of $400 per month is based on the average pay rate for individuals with similar qualifications working for international NGO’s in Rwanda.
Transportation within country, phase one $1,200 The primary investigator and research assistant will need regular transportation within Kigali by bus and taxi. The average taxi fare in Kigali is $6-8 and bus fare is $.15. This figure is based on an average of $10 per day in transportation costs during the first project phase.
Transportation within country, phases two and three $12,000 Project personnel will also require regular transportation between rural field sites. If it is not possible to remain overnight, daily trips will be necessary. The average rental rate for a 4×4 vehicle in Rwanda is $130 per day. This estimate is based on an average of $50 per day in transportation costs for the second and third project phases. These costs could be reduced if an arrangement could be made with either a government ministry or international aid agency for transportation assistance.
Email $720 The rate for email service from RwandaTel (the only service provider in Rwanda) is $60 per month. Email access is vital for receiving news reports on Rwanda and the region as well as for staying in contact with dissertation committee members and advisors in the United States.
Audiocassette tapes $400 Audiocassette tapes will be necessary for recording life history interviews, musical performances, community events, story telling, and other pertinent data.
Photographic & slide film $100 Photographic and slide film will be necessary to document visual data such as landscape, environment, marriages, funerals, community events, etc.
Laptop computer $2,895 A laptop computer will be necessary for recording observations, thoughts, and analysis during research project. Price listed is a special offer to UNC students through the Carolina Computing Initiative.
NUD*IST 4.0 software $373.00 NUD*IST, “Nonnumerical, Unstructured Data, Indexing, Searching, and Theorizing,” is necessary for cataloging, indexing, and managing field notes both during and following the field research phase. The program will assist in cataloging themes that emerge during the life history interviews.
Administrative fee $100 Fee set by Fulbright-Hays for the sponsoring institution.
Example #2: Project Timeline in Table Format
| Exploratory Research | Completed |
| Proposal Development | Completed |
| Ph.D. qualifying exams | Completed |
| Research Proposal Defense | Completed |
| Fieldwork in Rwanda | Oct. 1999-Dec. 2000 |
| Data Analysis and Transcription | Jan. 2001-March 2001 |
| Writing of Draft Chapters | March 2001 – Sept. 2001 |
| Revision | Oct. 2001-Feb. 2002 |
| Dissertation Defense | April 2002 |
| Final Approval and Completion | May 2002 |
Example #3: Project Timeline in Chart Format
Some closing advice
Some of us may feel ashamed or embarrassed about asking for money or promoting ourselves. Often, these feelings have more to do with our own insecurities than with problems in the tone or style of our writing. If you’re having trouble because of these types of hang-ups, the most important thing to keep in mind is that it never hurts to ask. If you never ask for the money, they’ll never give you the money. Besides, the worst thing they can do is say no.
UNC resources for proposal writing
Research at Carolina http://research.unc.edu
The Odum Institute for Research in the Social Sciences https://odum.unc.edu/
UNC Medical School Office of Research https://www.med.unc.edu/oor
UNC School of Public Health Office of Research http://www.sph.unc.edu/research/
Works consulted
We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.
Holloway, Brian R. 2003. Proposal Writing Across the Disciplines. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Levine, S. Joseph. “Guide for Writing a Funding Proposal.” http://www.learnerassociates.net/proposal/ .
Locke, Lawrence F., Waneen Wyrick Spirduso, and Stephen J. Silverman. 2014. Proposals That Work . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Przeworski, Adam, and Frank Salomon. 2012. “Some Candid Suggestions on the Art of Writing Proposals.” Social Science Research Council. https://s3.amazonaws.com/ssrc-cdn2/art-of-writing-proposals-dsd-e-56b50ef814f12.pdf .
Reif-Lehrer, Liane. 1989. Writing a Successful Grant Application . Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Wiggins, Beverly. 2002. “Funding and Proposal Writing for Social Science Faculty and Graduate Student Research.” Chapel Hill: Howard W. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science. 2 Feb. 2004. http://www2.irss.unc.edu/irss/shortcourses/wigginshandouts/granthandout.pdf.
You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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The Basics of Grant and Prospect Research
Kyle h. andrei.
It doesn’t matter how many foundations, individual donors, local and regional governments, and other funders believe in your organization and can donate financial support to it if those donors can’t find you and put you on their radar. Researching grants and prospects is the first step in the process, and navigating the upper levels of major-gift fundraising often requires a different approach than individual gift campaigns.
Grant research involves a certain amount of strategy and thoughtfulness, which no software can provide for you. But a number of tools on the market can facilitate your efforts to identify and research funders and make tracking your results more manageable.
For example, online search databases are essential to help you find new potential grants quickly by listing local and national foundations sorted by interest area, saving you time that would otherwise be spent poring over catalogs and directories. Some Web-based services can also help you locate the people in your area who are likely to make major contributions to your organization.
Foundation Grant Research
At its most basic, grant prospect research essentially consists of two major practices: researching various foundations’ grant cycles and giving histories, and managing your organization’s applications for each foundation. The former is an exercise in Web research—identifying a list of foundations that might give to your organization and locating them online to identify the types of organizations they’ve funded in the past, and with what size grants—and the latter is a matter of tracking and managing data.
Grant Research Tools
When looking up giving histories and grant cycles, websites like the Foundation Center’s Foundation Directory Online database or GrantStation are invaluable. They allow you to search very detailed records of foundations by a variety of criteria, including past grants, focus areas, and giving interests. For example, an animal rescue shelter might identify a list of foundations dedicated to animal welfare or with a history of funding other shelters and animal rescue groups. You can access the Foundation Center database online with a monthly subscription ; the basic package starts around $20 a month, and full access costs around $180 monthly. GrantStation has a yearly subscription for $699, but may also be available at substantial discount through your state association. GrantStation is also available through TechSoup’s product catalog for qualified nonprofits and libraries. Alternatively, many regional or local philanthropy centers offer access as a benefit of membership, or free on location in their “grant research libraries.”
In addition, regional associations of grantmakers can be valuable sources of information (visit the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers for a full list). Most grantmaker associations, also known as philanthropy centers, will house a publicly available list of foundations specific to a geographic area. Some are print-only, but a number offer online databases as well. You can also find associations of grantmakers centered on a mission area, such as Grantmakers in Film and Electronic Media , or by other criteria, like the Association of Small Foundations . Searching member lists for these associations may help identify potential grant prospects.
Federal grants are another key source of funding for many organizations. While you won’t find these grants in private and corporate foundation databases, you can search for U.S. federal grant opportunities at Grants.gov . State and local grant listings can most often be found on your municipality’s website. A basic Web search is also a great way to find out what grants nonprofits similar to your own have received, and that your organization may qualify for. Many nonprofits list foundation funders on their websites or in annual reports.
Once you’ve identified a list of foundations, you’ll need to determine their giving histories and grant capacities. Tax records are an important source of information on past grantees, overall budget, granting capacity, and the value of past grants. You’ll likely find a lot of this information through the Foundation Center database, but you may also need to search in other places to find everything you’re looking for. GuideStar lets you search a database that contains more than 5 million IRS Forms 990—the form the government uses to track financial information about organizations. A number of helpful sites can show you how to find the relevant data in a 990 form, including the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York and this archived article at BusinessJournalism.org.
Tools for Managing the Grants Cycle
As you begin to gather information about prospective funders, you’ll need a place to store it. Smaller organizations with limited budgets and nonprofits just starting their grant research may find spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel or Google Drive to be terrific low-budget options for managing foundation prospect lists. If you choose to go this route, create columns to track such information as foundation names, website links, giving interests, and potential giving capacities, as well as dates of RFPs (requests for proposals) and their due dates. If your organization’s internal deadline for proposals is different from the foundation’s deadline, be sure to record both dates.
Most donor management databases, like any of those listed in Idealware’s Consumers Guide to Donor Management Systems , let you manage your list of foundations just like any other giving prospects, and can track the RFP and proposal dates, the status of your proposals, and your proposal workflows.
In addition, it can be useful to supplement your deadline- and submission-date records with calendaring or task-management software that can function as a to-do list to ensure you don’t miss any deadlines.
Individual Prospect Research
Major gift prospects—typically wealthy individuals in either your geographic area or the community associated with your issue who have the capacity and interest in donating to your organization—can be as valuable to your organization as foundations.
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Before you can start your research, you’ll need to create a list of current and potential donors.
- Start with your list of current donors. Who has been a good donor in the past? You may find through your research that these people have greater giving capacity than you expected.
- Ask your board members and other supporters to recommend people for the list.
- Identify a few key people in your community who aren’t currently on your list but are known to donate to other organizations.
While technology can help you better understand the giving potential of these donors, it can’t help you create this list.
Once you have your prospect list, you’ll need to create a profile for your potential donors that includes their contact and giving information, as well as their financial capacity. Much of this information can be found for free in public records like tax documents, property values, board affiliations, and publicly held stock portfolios. Depending on the size of your prospect list and your staff time capacity, it can be feasible to manually search for these records. Many documents, such as property value records from the assessor’s office, may require you to request this information in person; this is usually free, though there may be a small fee for photocopies. (Some high-level donors may own property in multiple states or municipalities, posing more of a record-gathering challenge.)
Wealth-Screening Services
Rather than searching manually, you could use a wealth-screening database to save staff time, which to many nonprofits is more valuable than the cost of one of these Web-based services—especially for a longer list of donors. Four of the most widely-used wealth-screening databases are Donor Search , WealthEngine , LexisNexis Development Professionals , and Blackbaud’s Target Analytics .
All four allow you to upload a list of potential donors in order to approximate their individual giving potential. This is similar to the process you would use to research individual prospects yourself. These services just pull information from the databases and public records to which you have access. The difference is the staff time you save by being able to run a list of thousands of names at once instead of manually searching one by one, as well as a honed ability to know where to look for detailed information.
While all of these tools tend to be expensive (prices are available only through a quote from the vendors), WealthEngine and LexisNexis cost more than DonorSearch or Target Analytics. Since they usually run on a subscription basis, you can either run large lists all at once, or smaller donor lists as needed. Many of these services will also filter your prospect list to identify the most likely donors, such as your top one percent or top one hundred prospects. Because the information used to create these donor profiles comes from public records, these services tend to use the same sources with minor variations among them. When choosing a tool, it can be helpful to arrange a trial list from the ones you’re considering by using a few names you already have up-to-date profiles on to judge the accuracy of the tools.
Now That You Have Your List…
As with foundation research, you’ll need a place to record and manage your individual prospects. This should be done using a donor management database, which will let you track each prospect and their giving histories, asset pools, giving interests, and the likelihood that they will give again. Many donor databases can also manage pledges and scheduled or recurring gifts, allowing you to keep track of large gifts spread out over a period of months or years—which can be an important source of reliable funding.
Once you’ve compiled a list of feasible prospects and put them through wealth screening, it’s time to start appending the records already in your database. If you’ve used a wealth-screening tool, you’ll find that some of them—WealthEngine or Blackbaud’s Target Analytics, for example—will integrate with your existing donor database or CRM, while others will require you to import the list manually. You also should check over the profiles you get back from these tools—to make sure, for instance, that the John Smith they’ve highlighted as your most likely prospect is the John Smith you think it is—before you import the list wholesale into your system.
It’s important to remember that these prospects are a starting point for cultivating new, high-value donors, not a piggy bank. If you don’t already have a relationship with your top potential donors, find a way to introduce your organization and take the time to build a relationship before soliciting thousands of dollars from them. You also may find from your research that your current long-term donors have greater capacity than you expected. Because you already have a relationship with them, you can consider asking them to increase their contributions.
As you can see, the technology exists to help you find available grants and track their grant cycle, but there still isn’t software to replace the human element—say, to write your proposals for you. And it’s the same with your individual prospects. Wealth-screening services can quickly track down information for your list that would take hours and hours of staff time, but they can’t sit down with each prospect and build a relationship. It’s still essential to have a seasoned fundraiser with the knowledge and capabilities to write good proposals and/or wine and dine potential donors. It’s a good idea to use the high-tech databases and wealth-screening services to help you find the door, but it’s still your job to get your foot in it.
This article was first published by TechSoup, who provided financial support for its creation. The author would like to thank the following nonprofit technology professionals for providing recommendations, advice, and other help: Robert Weiner ; Erin Baltes, Thomas College ; Carolyn Appleton , Independent Nonprofit Fundraising Executive; Laura Jansen, Pierce Family Foundation .
Copyright © 2014 TechSoup Global. This work is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License .
About the author
Kyle H. Andrei is a research associate for Idealware, a nonprofit that provides thoroughly researched, impartial, and accessible resources about software to help other nonprofits make smart decisions. Visit www.idealware.org to find dozens of free articles, reports, and trainings about technology topics of interest to nonprofits.
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- About Grants
- Grants Basics
Types of Grant Programs
A comprehensive list of extramural grant and cooperative agreement activity codes is available, or you can search for specific codes below:
| Search by specific codes | Search inputs |
|---|---|
The following groupings represent the main types of grant funding we provide:
| Series links | Series links continued |
|---|---|
| (R series) (K series) (T series) (F series) | (P series) (various series) |
- Research Grants (R series)
- Career Development Awards (K series)
- Research Training and Fellowships (T series & F series)
Program Project/Center Grants (P series)
- Resource Grants (various series)
Trans-NIH Programs
- Inactive Programs (Archive)
Research Grants
The following represent frequently used research grant programs. A comprehensive list of all activity codes is also available.
| Activity Code | Information |
|---|---|
| NIH Research Project Grant Program (R01) (Clinical Trial Required), (Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required), and (Clinical Trial Not Allowed). |
| NIH Small Grant Program (R03): . |
| NIH Support for Conferences and Scientific Meetings (R13 and U13) . |
| NIH Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) ). |
| NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award (R21) (Clinical Trial Required), (Clinical Trial Not Allowed), and (Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required). |
| NIH Clinical Trial Planning Grant (R34) Program |
| Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) the participating non-profit research institution as long as he/she has a formal appointment with or commitment to the applicant SBC. . (Clinical Trial Not Allowed) and (Clinical Trial Required). |
| Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) . (Clinical Trial Not Allowed) and (Clinical Trial Required). |
| NIH High Priority, Short-Term Project Award (R56) |
U01 | Research Project Cooperative Agreement |
| (Independent Clinical Trial Required), (Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed), and ( Independent Basic Experimental Studies with Humans Required). |
Program project/center grants are large, multi-project efforts that generally include a diverse array of research activities. The following represents the most frequently used programs. ICs may vary in the way they use these programs. A comprehensive list of all activity codes is also available.
| Activity Code | Information |
|---|---|
P01 | Research Program Project Grant |
P20 | Exploratory Grants |
P30 | Center Core Grants |
P50 | Specialized Center |
Resource Grants
The following represent some of the more frequently used types of grant programs that provide research-related support or access to resources. A comprehensive list of all activity codes is also available.
| Activity Code | Information |
|---|---|
R24 | Resource-Related Research Projects |
R25 | Education Projects |
| X01 | Resource Access Program |
NIH supports a variety of broad-reaching programs that are trans-NIH in nature.
| Activity Code | Information |
|---|---|
| NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research |
| Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research |
| Administrative Supplements to Existing NIH Grants and Cooperative Agreements (Parent Admin Supp) |
| New and Early Stage Investigators (ESI) Policies |
| The Common Fund has been used to support a series of short term, exceptionally high impact, trans-NIH programs known collectively as the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. As the Common Fund grows, and research opportunities and needs emerge in the scientific community, the portfolio of programs supported by the Common Fund will likely evolve to encompass a diverse set of trans-NIH programs, although the NIH Roadmap is likely to remain a central component. |
| NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Research Opportunity Network (OppNet) |
| Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) Program with listing of NIH Recipients since 1996. NIH nominates investigator for this award. |
| Stem Cell Information |
| Trans-NIH Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats (CounterACT) program | |
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- Indian J Orthop
- v.41(1); Jan-Mar 2007
How to write a grant proposal
Michael zlowodzki.
Division of Orthopedic Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Anders Jönsson
* Association Internationale Pour l' Ostéosynthèse Dynamique, Nice, France
Philip J Kregor
** Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
Mohit Bhandari
Academic success and promotion in medicine largely depends on the quality and quantity of received grants. Grant money brings prestige and notoriety to the writer and his institution. However, writing a grant proposal can be a challenging task especially for the inexperienced researcher. As research budgets are being reduced by many funding agencies and more researches are competing for it, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to write a grant proposal of high quality.
The purpose of this article is to give the reader guidance on how to organize a research proposal in order maximize chances to obtain the desired funding. Key aspects will be highlighted and practical tips emphasized. This article will primarily focus on writing a grant for a clinical study.
G ETTING S TARTED
Good research starts with a good idea! Once you have identified a good idea, you need to clearly define the problem that needs to be addressed and formulate a research question. Subsequently you need to ask yourself if that question is already answered [ Table 1 ]. A thorough literature review is therefore mandatory. If you have a truly good idea, you might find out that you are not the first one having it. You do not want to spend a lot of time and energy into a project only to find out later that there have been already 17 trials and a meta-analysis performed and your research question is answered.
| What is the problem to be addressed? → Define the question |
| Is the question unanswered? → Literature research |
| Formulate hypothesis |
| Choose appropriate study design |
| Identify team and collaborators |
| Determine environmental and financial needs |
| Write study protocol |
It is not only important to know how much was already published on that topic, but also what the quality of the current evidence is. Rarely in medicine does a question have a definitive answer. If you are trying to compare two interventions for a certain disease, after performing a thorough literature search, you have to ask yourself the following questions: 1) Are there already multiple case series published on that topic? If yes, then it might not be worth it to add another case series to the literature. However, that might be your chance for the first comparative study (cohort study or randomized controlled trial). 2) Are there already multiple comparative studies? If yes, are they cohort studies or randomized trials (RCT)? If there is no RCT maybe you should do one. 3) Are there already multiple RCTs published? If yes, what are the results and what is their sample size? Maybe they were underpowered? If yes you might consider doing a meta-analysis of the existing RCTs and subsequently a larger trial.
After you decided to perceive with your study proposal, you need to determine how many study subjects you need, how much money you need and who your collaborators will be. In order to be successful in obtaining a grant you will need convincing data, which might require several preliminary studies and you will need to prove to the granting agency that you are capable of performing the study the way you propose it. The purpose of the research plan is to describe what will be done, why it is important and how the study will be conducted.
E LEMENTS OF A S TUDY P ROTOCOL
The key elements of the study protocol are the executive summary, specific aims, background and significance, preliminary results and research design and methods [ Table 2 ]. The research design and the methodology used in the process of planning and conducting the project should be described in detail. Prior work relevant to the proposed project should be included. Also if a pilot study was conducted, the results should be included.
Elements of a study protocol
| Specific aims Background and significance Preliminary results Research design and methods |
Abstract (Executive summary)
The abstract is an important part of a study protocol because it is the first page that a reviewer reads. Reviewers of granting agencies may make their opinion based on the abstract alone. It may be difficult to overcome a bad first impression and conversely there may be a lot to gain with a good first impression. The purpose of the abstract is to describe succinctly every key element of the proposed project. It is good to be complete but concise.
Specific aims
The purpose of the specific study aims is to clearly describe what research question the investigators are trying to answer by conducting the study. What is the problem to be addressed? The investigators need to describe why the study is needed now. In detail, the hypothesis of the study and the primary and secondary goals should be stated. Typically, the study question should be formulated to include the following: 1) the population to be studied, 2) the intervention, 3) any comparison group to be studied (if relevant) and 4) the study outcomes. The study outcomes should be reported as the primary (main) outcome and any secondary outcomes.
Background and significance
The purpose of the background and significance section is to lay out the rationale for the proposed research project and to summarize currently available data in the literature that is relevant to the project. If no systematic review or meta-analysis was done on the topic, you should do one. Describe the magnitude of the problem to be addressed. What is the patient population you are targeting? What is the incidence of the problem? Is the problem likely to increase in the future (e.g. geriatric fractures)? You need to describe the historic management of the problem and whether or not there is any consensus on the current management of the problem. Are there any uncertainties about the treatment that need to be resolved? If you hypothesize that intervention A is better than intervention B you need to designate your primary outcome parameter and have some baseline data for a sample size calculation. Depending on the project, you might want to survey surgeons for their treatment preferences. Also consider surveying patients to find out about what outcome they consider to be important. There might be some disagreements between the surgeons and patients perspectives. 1 The purpose of the background and significance chapter is to justify the study you are proposing. Describe how the result of your study will benefit society. You need to convince the granting agencies that it is worth their money.
Study design
In order to answer the question you need to choose an appropriate study design. The main clinical study designs are interventional studies, observational studies and diagnostic studies - some overlaps may exist [ Table 3 ]. Which study design is most likely to answer the research question, which one is most feasible and which one gives the highest quality results? The choice of the study design has a significant implication on the magnitude of the required funding. Ethical considerations also need to be taken into account e.g. in some cases a certain study design might not be ethical. A clear description of the eligibility criteria (inclusion / exclusion) is essential. Also describe how outcomes will be measured during follow-up and what the follow-up schedule will be like (frequency and duration).
Types of clinical study designs
Sample size calculation
The sample size calculation is a crucial part of the study protocol. The required sample size has major implications on your required funding and the size of the team. Before you can calculate the sample size you need to designate the primary outcome. It is advantageous to choose an objective, reliable and highly validated outcome in order to limit bias. Ultimately, you should choose the clinically most important outcome that is feasible.
The sample size calculation is different depending on the type of the outcome; if you choose a categorical dichotomous outcome parameter (e.g. nonunion rate, infection rate) the sample size requirements are much higher than if you choose a continuous outcome like a score (e.g., SF-36, DASH, SMFA, pain score). 2 , 3 In order to perform a sample size calculation for dichotomous outcomes, you must have an event rate (e.g., nonunion rate) for your gold standard treatment (e.g., treatment A) and you must hypothesize by how much treatment B is going to decrease or increase that event rate. For continuous outcomes you need to have a mean value for the gold standard treatment and hypothesize a difference for the alternative treatment. Using an alpha error rate of 0.05 (=accepting the probability of a false-positive result) and a beta error rate of 0.20 (=accepting the probability of a false-negative result), which corresponds to a power of 80% is a commonly accepted standard.
You can obtain baseline numbers either from a pilot study or reports in the literature. Ideally the “hypothesized” differences should be in the magnitude of what you consider clinically significant. You can calculate the sample size by hand 4 or use one multiple tools to help with the sample size calculations 5 [ Table 4 ]. Be aware that the sample size calculation is based on assumptions; calculate the best-case and the worst-case scenario.
Useful Books, Software and Websites
| Otto O. Yang: Guide to Effective Grant Writing: How to Write a Successful NIH Grant Application, Springer, New York, 2005 |
| Harvey Motulsky, Intuitive Biostatistics, Oxford University Press, New York, 1995 |
| GraphPad InStat and StatMate (Statistical software) |
| (Free statistical software) |
| (Free power and sample size calculations) |
| (NIH checklist) |
| (Levels of Evidence) |
The justification of the estimated sample size should be presented as a separate section in a grant proposal. Investigators can present estimates of sample size varying across different mean differences between groups. Alternative approaches are to present the study power across varying sample sizes and mean differences or the estimated mean differences of the outcome parameter across varying study power. 4
Protecting against bias
Study results can be negatively affected by multiple types of bias, mainly selection bias and measurement bias. Investigators need to describe proposed methods for protecting against bias. The most powerful techniques for protecting against bias are 1) randomization, 2) concealment of randomization, 3) blinding and 4) the choice of an objective outcome measure.
If you are comparing the effect of multiple interventions on a specific outcome, the best method of protecting against selection bias is random treatment allocation. Randomization balances known and unknown prognostic factors between groups. Additionally, you can use techniques like blocking and stratification in order to avoid random imbalances in small randomized trials. If you do not allocate treatment options randomly, you should account for imbalances in prognostic factors between groups, by matching the patients to the different treatment groups based on the known prognostic factors upon enrollment in your study or if that is not possible, account for it in the data analysis. However, the only way to balance unknown prognostic factors is randomization.
Blinding is another important technique for protecting against bias. Investigators should blind whoever they can: the patient, the physician (not possible in surgical trials), the outcome assessor and the data analyst. Lastly it is helpful to choose an objective outcome measure like a validated functional outcome scale. If the outcome parameter is subjective (e.g., union/nonunion), you should consider to have an adjudication committee to assess the outcome.
C ONCLUSION
Grants are critical for success in academic medicine. The key to a good grant is a good idea and the ability to “sell” your idea to the reviewers of the granting agency. In order to “sell” your idea, good background research, the appropriate study design and a well thought out methodology are imperative. It is also important to recognize that research is a team effort. Convincing the grant reviewer of your expertise is crucial; choosing experienced team members therefore improves the chances to obtain the desired grant. A successful pilot study and preliminary studies that serve as a justification for your study proposal can prove feasibility to the grant reviewers and be therefore a persuasive factor. You should propose an appropriate budget and a realistic timeline; otherwise failure is almost certain. Lastly, you should tailor their grant application towards the granting agency's goals and use the requested format for their application as that might differ from agency to agency. Targeting multiple government and industry-funded agencies increases the chance of getting funded.
Disclaimer: Michael Zlowodzki was funded by a clinical research fellowship grant of the Association Internationale pour l' Ostéosynthèse Dynamique (AIOD)
Source of Support: Nil
R EFERENCES
Research Forward 2025
Please read the full instructions and the Frequently Asked Questions below before completing an application.
Read a story about Research Forward.
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) has announced a new round of the Research Forward initiative to stimulate and support highly innovative and groundbreaking research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The initiative is supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and will provide funding for 1–2 years, depending on the needs and scope of the project.
Research Forward seeks to support collaborative, multidisciplinary, multi-investigator research projects that are high-risk, high-impact and transformative. It seeks to fund projects that are led by PIs with an established track record of securing and successfully managing external research awards, and that have the potential to open up pathbreaking new research avenues or fundamentally transform a field of study.
Research Forward seeks projects that are foundational and likely to be competitive for a high level of external funding commensurate with a bold research agenda. Collaborative research proposals are welcome from within any of the four divisions (Arts & Humanities, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences), or from cross-divisional collaborations. Successful Research Forward proposals will include an integrated and compelling plan for establishing and maintaining an equitable and inclusive research effort.
Research Forward awards will support development of research concepts that are not yet competitive for external funding. It does not fund support for external proposals submitted before or during the Research Forward competition process nor does it supplement existing grants.
The on-line application form is available at: https://vcr-uwmadison.smapply.io/ .
You may log-in using your UW–Madison NetID and password. Select the “Research Forward 5” program title. Click “Apply” to start a new application.
Abstracts and cover sheets are due on Nov. 15, 2024, and full proposals are due Jan. 24, 2025 at 4:30 p.m.
FULL PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS: All applicants must provide: 1. A cover sheet that includes:
a. PI information (name, email address, departmental/center affiliation)
b. A list of anticipated co-Principal Investigators and co-Investigators (if the list exceeds the space provided, list the key members of the team and the total number of participants. You can provide a full list in the narrative, if your abstract is approved.)
c. A project title.
d. A list of four UW–Madison faculty with subject expertise relevant to the proposal. Please avoid listing faculty with potential conflicts of interest. For example, do not list dissertation advisors, former students, anyone in the same department as the PI (and co-PIs), or anyone with whom the PI (and co-PIs) have collaborated in the last five years.
e. A 400-word research abstract that addresses each of the following topics (in accessible language):
f. The estimated amount of funding requested (up to a maximum of $500,000). Equipment requests are limited to a maximum of $10,000 for each year.
Once you have completed all the items in the coversheet, you should scroll to the end of the first section and select “mark as complete”.
Your cover sheet and abstract (item no. 1 above) is due Nov. 15, 2024 at 4:30 p.m.
The divisional associate vice chancellors will review all the abstracts and notify the PIs by December 20, 2024 whether you have been selected to submit a full proposal or not .
If you have been selected to submit a full proposal, you may proceed with the remaining sections (items 2-7 below). Complete proposals are due by Jan. 24, 2025 at 4:30 p.m.
The full proposal must include:
2. A lay paragraph (150 words). Please summarize your project in language suitable for someone outside of your academic discipline. This will help the VCR convey the nature of your project to the WARF Board.
3. In a single PDF file: a narrative , not to exceed five pages, that describes:
Note: the following items 3a – d below are not counted in the 5 page limit: a. Up to one page of figures or tables to accompany the narrative
b. A list of additional project team members that do not fit in the cover sheet
c. References (citations from the research literature); and
d. Any letters of support or commitment to the project from outside collaborators, significant contributors or community partners (e.g., project participants who are not reflected in the budget justification).
4. In a single PDF file: An overview of plans for the structure and leadership of your proposed Research Forward activity. This overview must address approaches designed and/or selected to support your goals for an inclusive research environment at all levels, including project leadership. (300 words max.)
5. A detailed Budget Request ( Research Forward 5 Budget Template_final ), indicating the personnel to be supported and other categories of funding that will be needed. Although collaborations with faculty outside of UW–Madison may be beneficial, funds from this initiative cannot be used to support researchers at other institutions. The budget may include faculty salary for summer support only; this initiative will not provide in-semester support. For faculty with 9-month appointments, you may not exceed the NIH salary cap. For example, the current NIH salary cap is $221,900 over 12 months (1 month = $18,492, plus fringe benefits). Thus, if your annual salary exceeds the cap you are limited in your request to $18,492 (plus fringe benefits) per month. Faculty with 12-month appointments are not eligible for faculty salary support. Also, equipment requests are limited to under $10,000 for each year. Research Forward does not fund conference travel, only travel for research purposes is allowed. Use the budget template. Once you have completed the budget template, save the entire workbook as a PDF (and fit each worksheet as a single page in the PDF) and upload both the .xls workbook and the .pdf workbook to the on-line submission system.
6. Be sure to indicate your total Research Forward funding request in the space provided (last line of the budget form, tab 3). Please also provide a brief (no more than one page) budget justification that explains the rationale for each item in your budget. Proposals will not be reviewed without an itemized budget justification.
7. In a single PDF file: CVs or Biosketches, of no more than 5 pages , for the Principal Investigator, co-Principal Investigators, co-Investigators, and Collaborators. Include all current and pending intramural and extramural research support for each investigator.
Submitting the full proposal: After completing the items above, you will be able to select “review and submit” before making your final submission. Please make sure to review the entire document before you select to “submit” it. You will also have the option to download the entire document.
For questions regarding eligibility or submitting an abstract or full proposal, please contact the appropriate divisional Associate Vice Chancellor for Research (see https://research.wisc.edu/about/leadership/ ).
For technical questions or for general information, please send an email to [email protected] .
REQUIRED PROGRESS REPORT AND FINAL REPORT: A progress report and a final report will be required. The reports will provide a summary of the progress that was accomplished on the project. Second-year funding is contingent on having spent down 75% of Year 1 funds and on the receipt of a satisfactory progress report. The final report should include citations to any published papers or conference presentations that derive from the research undertaken and equipment purchased. The final report must also address the goal of major external research support: list all proposals related to the Research Forward effort that have been submitted, funded or planned since the start of Research Forward funding.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS):
WHAT IS THE RESEARCH FORWARD INITIATIVE? The goal of the Research Forward initiative is to stimulate and support highly innovative and groundbreaking research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This initiative seeks to fund research projects that have the potential to fundamentally transform a field of study and require significant development prior to the submission of applications for external funding. It further seeks to support collaborative, multidisciplinary, multi-investigator research projects that are high-risk, high-impact and transformative. Collaborative research proposals are welcome from within any of the four divisions (Arts & Humanities, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences), as are cross-divisional collaborations.
HOW IS RESEARCH FORWARD DIFFERENT FROM THE FALL RESEARCH COMPETITION? The goal of Research Forward Initiative is to fund high-impact and transformative research projects, especially those that require significant development prior to the submission of applications for external funding. The Research Forward program does not provide funding as backup support for externally submitted proposals or to supplement existing grants; rather, the proposed project should be of sufficient scope (e.g. large center proposals or multi-investigator proposals) to require a substantial investment of resources in order to make it competitive for external funds. Research Forward projects will typically involve a multidisciplinary team of investigators.
In contrast, the Fall Research Competition prioritizes the funding of junior faculty and providing insurance support to senior faculty for external grant submissions. The Fall Research Competition generally funds focused research projects, especially those close to or at the point of submission for extramural support.
WHAT ARE THE STEPS IN SUBMITTING A RESEARCH FORWARD APPLICATION? Eligibility:
Some Key Tips:
• The lead PI must initiate the application.
- • The PI can invite additional collaborators (writers/editors) to fill out the application form. However,
the PI who initiates the application must also be the person that ultimately submits the application.
An abstract for the proposal should be submitted through the online Research Forward portal. The abstract should demonstrate that the proposed project aligns with the goals of the initiative. The divisional Associate Vice Chancellor for Research will contact the applicant (Principal Investigator) if they are selected or not for submission of a full-length proposal. See the application instructions for the materials that need to be included in the full-length proposal.
CAN I BE INVOLVED ON MORE THAN ONE PROPOSAL? You can be a PI or a co-PI on only one proposal. However, you may serve as a co-investigator on additional proposals.
WHAT IS THE AWARD RANGE? The maximum award will be $500,000. Equipment requests are limited to under $10,000 for each year.
IS THERE A MATCHING FUNDS REQUIREMENT? No. Matching funds are not required.
HOW MANY YEARS OF FUNDING MAY BE REQUESTED? Funding will be provided for 1–2 years, depending on the needs and scope of the project.
CAN FACULTY SALARY SUPPORT BE REQUESTED? For faculty on 9-month appointments, only summer salary support may be requested. You may not exceed the NIH salary cap. For example, the current NIH salary cap is $221,900 (1 month = $18,492, plus fringe benefits). Thus, if your annual salary exceeds the cap you are limited in your request to $18,492 (plus fringe benefits) per month. Faculty with 12-month appointments are not eligible for faculty salary support.
CAN A PORTION OF A RESEARCH FORWARD PROJECT BE HANDLED THROUGH A SUBAWARD TO ANOTHER INSTITUTION? No. WARF funds cannot be used to fund subawards, pilot projects, mini-grants, or other projects at other institutions or partner agencies. However, purchase of services or equipment from other institutions and industry is allowable.
ARE THERE ANY CONDITIONS TO THE AWARD? A progress report and final report will be required. Periodic updates after the funding ends will be required.
In accepting the award, the Principal Investigator agrees to seek external funding to continue the project within one year of the end of the VCR funding period.
WHEN ARE RESEARCH FORWARD PROPOSALS REVIEWED? Submission deadlines are Nov. 15, 2024, for abstracts (required) and Jan. 24, 2025 for full proposals. Award recipients will be notified in May 2025.
WHAT IS THE REVIEW PROCESS FOR RESEARCH FORWARD PROPOSALS? Full proposals will be initially evaluated by two reviewers with relevant subject expertise. The proposals and solicited expert reviewer reports will then be evaluated by a faculty committee. The review committee will be appointed by the Vice Chancellor for Research in consultation with the divisional Associate Vice Chancellors for Research. Final award decisions will be made by the Vice Chancellor for Research.
Criteria for evaluation include:
AT WHAT STAGE OF MY RESEARCH CAREER SHOULD I ENTER THE RESEARCH FORWARD COMPETITION? Proposals from faculty and researchers with permanent PI status at all career stages are invited. However, it is strongly suggested that assistant professors early in their probationary period do not submit proposals as a PI. Early-stage assistant professors can be included as collaborators. Assistant professors who submit a proposal as a PI are encouraged to include senior UW–Madison faculty and/or researchers as co-PIs and have a significant external funding history.
DO YOU HAVE ANY GUIDANCE FOR WRITING THE PLAN FOR BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT? Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW–Madison. The launch of a new research endeavor provides an opportunity to broaden participation and strengthen inclusion in the UW-Madison research enterprise through the intentional adoption of best practices at the earliest stages of the new initiative. Please include a summary describing plans for the structure and leadership of your proposed Research Forward activity, including the integration of approaches designed and/or selected to support a diverse and inclusive research environment at all levels, including project leadership.
We do not have a template or a specific write up for addressing a plan since projects and disciplines vary considerably. PIs can look at online resources created by professional societies and nonprofits in related disciplines about ways to support and promote inclusion.
Tips from NSF about writing broader impact statements can also be helpful ( https://beta.nsf.gov/science-matters/nsf-101-five-tips-your-broader-impacts-statement )
At UW–Madison, here is a link for resources that support equity and inclusivity: https://diversity.wisc.edu/inclusion-resources/
Additional resources from College of Letters & Science can be found here (bottom of the page): https://ls.wisc.edu/about/diversity-and-inclusion .
A how-to guide for promoting diversity and inclusion in biomedical engineering: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10439-019-02223-2
The U.S. Department of Energy is now requiring PI’s submitting proposals to include equity and inclusion plans: https://www.energy.gov/science/articles/everyone-has-role-play-making-science-more-equitable-and-inclusive
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT ROLES OF THE RESEARCH FORWARD PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS? (co) Principal Investigator(s) – the individual(s) who will be responsible for the scientific or technical direction of the project. If more than one, the first one listed will have primary responsibility for the project and the submission of reports. A Co-PI may share some responsibility with the PI for project oversight, budget management and reporting as part of a multi-investigator team or may direct a particular portion of the project and retain limited administrative oversight over the award.
Co-investigator – a faculty member, scientist (or other research related titles) other than the Principal Investigator(s) who will participate in the project but without the oversight responsibility of a principal investigator.
Educational resources and simple solutions for your research journey
Funding for Research: Importance, Types of Funding, and How to Apply
Embarking on a PhD or research journey is akin to embarking on a quest for knowledge, a quest that often hinges on a crucial ally – funding for research. However, in a highly competitive environment, funding is hard to secure as more researchers enter the field every year. According to the UNESCO Science report, global research expenditure increased by 19.2% between 2014 and 2018, with a 3x faster increase in the researcher pool than the global population during the same period. [1] In this article, we unravel the intricacies of funding for research, exploring its paramount importance, the types of research funding available, and how to navigate the funding maze in research.
Table of Contents
Importance of Funding for Research
Not only does research play a significant role in influencing decisions and policies across various sectors, it is essential in expanding our understanding of the world and finding solutions to global issues. And at the heart of groundbreaking discoveries lies funding, the catalyst that fuels innovation. But how does funding work? Funding for research isn’t merely about financial sustenance; it’s about unlocking the doors to securing resources, enabling researchers to traverse the path from ideation to innovation that makes tangible contributions to human knowledge. It enables researchers to push boundaries, facilitating access to cutting-edge technologies, specialized equipment, and expert collaborations. Unfortunately, it is common to see potentially valuable research initiatives languishing due to a lack of adequate resources and insufficient funding. This is why identifying the best types of funding and applying for research grants becomes important for researchers.
Understanding the Types of Research Funding
Let’s take a look at the different types of research funding that is usually available to researchers and how they can benefit from them.
Scholarships and fellowships
Most reputed academic institutions and universities have certain standard mechanisms for research funding through grants, scholarships, and fellowships. Generally, these sources of funding are meant for students and researchers who are affiliated with the institution and can be availed by faculty members too. Apart from space in the university library, they can cover a spectrum of resources, including tuition, travel, and stipends. It’s important to note that some scholarships and fellowships may have specific eligibility criteria, such as academic achievements or research focus, so applicants should carefully review these requirements. So be sure to gather as much information as possible, including what is on offer, details of stipends, and the duration of the scholarships and fellowships that you apply for.
Seed funding
Imagine you have a brilliant idea and all you need is a small amount of funding or capital to get it off the ground. This is where seed funding comes in to provide initial funding (generally small) to researchers to support the early stages of research. These research grants are usually given to cover short periods ranging from a few months to a year. The work is closely evaluated by the funding agency to get a sense of how good or innovative the research idea is. The evaluation process for seed funding often focuses on the potential impact and feasibility of the research idea. Researchers should be prepared to provide a compelling case for how their work aligns with the funding agency’s goals and contributes to the advancement of knowledge. A good example of a seed-funder is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation backed Grand Challenges in Global Health Exploration Grants.
Project funding
This is a type of funding that most academic institutions and universities are geared towards providing. Project funding is given to a team behind a research idea or project for a period ranging from 3 to 5 years. The competitive nature of project funding necessitates a clear and comprehensive research proposal that outlines the objectives, methods, and expected outcomes. To be successful in securing project funding it is essential to emphasize the significance of the research question and the expertise of the team working on stimulating new ideas or projects.
Centre funding
Here, the size of the funds is usually greater compared to project funding, which is granted after a comprehensive assessment of the work program and the team’s capabilities. The objective of center funding is to provide resources for an entire program that can comprise several different research projects. The duration of the funding ranges from 3 to 6 years or even longer depending on various factors. Researchers seeking center funding should showcase a cohesive and impactful research program that aligns with the funder’s strategic priorities.
Prizes and awards
This is usually characterized as recognition and financial support for past contributions in research or a field of study. This type of research funding is to encourage and incentivize project teams and researchers to carry out further innovative work. These types of research funding are very competitive and often require a strong track record of research achievements. They can entail either money or a cash prize or award in the form of a contract with a funding agency.
How to Apply for Research Funding
Strategic Timing: When it comes to securing funding for research, timing is everything. Plan your funding applications strategically, aligning them with critical milestones in your research. Consider the academic calendar, project timelines, and funding cycles to optimize your chances of securing funding for research.
Thorough Preparation: Before diving into the application process, conduct thorough groundwork. Familiarize yourself with the funding organization’s mission, priorities, expectations, and application, requirements. Clarify your research idea and design and then tailor your proposal to align seamlessly with their goals.
Crafting a Compelling Proposal: Your proposal for a research grant is your voice in the funding arena. Clearly articulate the significance of your research, your methodology, the possible outcomes, and the anticipated impact along with timelines. Your proposal will be scrutinized by a seasoned committee so craft it with precision, clarity, and a compelling narrative to ensure it can be easily understood even by non-academics.
Additional Tips to Secure Research Funding
Building Collaborations: Cultivate partnerships within and beyond your institute as collaboration adds weight to your funding application. A multidisciplinary approach not only strengthens your proposal but also enhances the potential impact of your research.
Staying Informed: The world of research funding is dynamic. Stay informed about emerging funding opportunities, policy changes, and shifts in research priorities. Regularly check funding databases, attend workshops, and engage with your academic community to maximize your chance of success.
Embracing Diversity in Funding Sources: Diversify your research funding portfolio as relying solely on one source of funding for research can be precarious. Explore various avenues, balancing government grants, private foundations, and industry collaborations to create a resilient funding strategy.
Being Resilient in the Face of Rejections: Rejections are an inherent part of the funding journey. View them not as setbacks but as opportunities to refine and strengthen your proposals. Seek feedback, learn from the process, and persist in your pursuit.
If you are a serious researcher wondering how to get funding for research then do check out GrantDesk a solution by Researcher.Life . It provides expert support aimed at revolutionizing the funding process and increasing your chances of securing research grants.
References:
- Schneegans, T. Straza and J. Lewis (eds). UNESCO (2021) UNESCO Science Report: the Race Against Time for Smarter Development.
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SC State professor receives $715,803 grant for prostate cancer research
by Abigail Quinn
ORANGEBURG, S.C. (WCIV) — A South Carolina State professor has been awarded over $700,000 for their prostate cancer research.
The National Cancer Institute has awarded Dr. Courtney Thomas a $715,803 grant for her prostate cancer research focused on a protein found in epithelial cells.
Thomas, an associate professor of biochemistry in SC State’s Department of Biological and Physical Sciences, is delving into the role calreticulin (CRT) may play in prostate cancer.
“Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in American males," Thomas said in the project’s abstract. "Although death rates have declined, it is still the most diagnosed cancer in males. Having a better understanding of prostate cancer will help decrease these rates.”
READ MORE | Make-A-Wish teams up with PMC for year-long fundraising campaign
According to the school, the grant represents a potential first time ever that an SC State researcher has received an independent National Institutes of Health (NIH) award.
"We are very excited about this grant from NIH to Dr. Courtney Thomas the 1st of its kind to SC State,” said Dr. Stanley Ihekweazu, dean of SC State’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Transportation. “The grant will provide an opportunity for Dr. Thomas to explore research in the area of prostate cancer and also build her career into a successful independent scientist."
SC State President Alexander Conyers has set a goal for the university to achieve Research II (R2) status in Carnegie classifications, which would position the university to compete for more federal and corporate funding for research-driven initiatives.
According to the university, this grant is a step in that direction.
Funding for Research — Why, Types of Funding, When, and How?
Learn why you need funding for research, what types are available, where to look for them, and how to apply.
It is feasible to publish papers without the use of outside funding; if you are running observational research or experimental research with a small sample size, you probably can conduct it without the use of outside funding and result in meaningful papers such as case reports, case series, observational studies, or small experimental studies.
If you are undertaking multi-centric research, randomized controlled trials, field experiments, or observational research with large sample numbers, it may be hard to complete the study within the department or institution’s resources, necessitating external funding.
A significant research endeavor needs a workforce and materials, as well as funding to meet these needs. Continue reading to learn why you should apply for funding for research , what types are available, where you can get it, and most crucially, how to apply.
What is funding for research and how does it work?
A grant gained for undertaking scientific research, usually through a competitive process, is defined as research funds. Applying for grants and obtaining research funds is an important element of performing research.
The first thing you should know is that the majority of research financing comes from two primary sources: businesses (a pharmaceutical business, for instance) and the government (e.g., from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and so on).
Based on the most recent American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) information, businesses contributed more than 3 times as much as the government to R&D – Research & Development, in 2019 ($463,745 million vs. $138,880 million).
Charitable foundations (e.g., the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, etc.) subsidize a lesser portion of scientific research, particularly in the development of treatments for diseases such as cancer, malaria, and AIDS. In 2019, charitable foundations were responsible for $26,662 million of funding for research .
So, how exactly does funding work?
Funds assist qualifying researchers with money, equipment, or both to conduct approved research or trials. The grantee is in charge of carrying out activities, reporting progress, and preparing results for publishing. The granting organization supervises the use of funds it disburses, although it usually has little participation in the activity itself.
What are the four types of research funding?
When it comes to funding varieties, there are two categories to consider: commercial and non-commercial funding. Non-commercial fundings are those that seek only acknowledgement, such as charities, government departments, academies, institutes (e.g., National Institute of Health), and commercial fundings are those that will benefit from the research, such as pharmaceutical companies that want to demonstrate the benefits of a certain drug or understand market gaps.
There are four major types of grant financing within these two categories, as outlined below:
- Competitive funding: Competitive funding, often known as discretionary funding, is a method of selecting proposals based on the judgment of a reviewer or team of reviewers. Funding is granted based on the merits of the application, and grantees are not chosen at random.
- Continuation funding: Continuation funding grant schemes allow current grant winners to continue their funds for the next year. Some programs are exclusively open to current grantees, while others accept applications from both current grantees and new candidates.
- Formula funding: Formula grants, as opposed to competitive funding, are distributed to pre-determined grantees. Non-competitive grants are often distributed to qualified entities based on population and/or other census factors, and any candidates who fulfill the application process’s minimal standards are eligible to receive funds.
- Pass-through funding: Federal funds are distributed to states for distribution to local governments through pass-through grants. Under this funding scheme, states may distribute federal funds to eligible local governments through formula allocations or open competitions.
How to get funding for research ?
Managing the grant application procedure is surely intimidating for individuals joining the scientific community, especially when there are so many government agencies, businesses and charities, each with its own financing schemes and deadlines. Finding appropriate funds to apply for may be a challenge as a whole.
The most essential characteristic is a strong interest in the subject, a thorough comprehension of the subject, and the capacity to recognize knowledge gaps.
The second characteristic is to decide if your research can be completed with internal resources or requires external funding. The following step is to discover funding opportunities that can provide funds for your subject, prepare a research grant proposal, and submit it on time.
Although each funding opportunity will have its own (typically extremely precise) standards, there are some aspects of a research grant proposal that are generally conventional, and they frequently appear in the sequence listed below:
- Introduction to your research (problem statement, research objective or goals, and importance of research)
- Literature review
- Narrative of your project (methods, techniques, goals, outputs or outcomes, evaluation, and dissemination)
- Personnel (explain the staffing requirements in detail and ensure that it’s appropriate)
- Required budget and its justification
Check out how to format a research paper step by step to satisfy these requirements. There are some helpful tips for your title page, abstract, introduction, literature review, and project narrative that can help you produce your research grant proposal properly.
Where to search for funding
We’ve compiled a list of the greatest websites for finding financing alternatives.
Grants.gov allows researchers to search for grant possibilities from the most prominent R&D federal funding organizations in the United States. Free-to-use.
You’ve probably heard of the National Institute of Health if you work in biomedical research. You may search their website for any of their grants. They give funds to early scientific scientists and new investigators. Free-to-use.
CRDF Global
CRDF Global is an autonomous, non-profit organization focusing on scientific cooperation and initiatives targeted at addressing global concerns such as global health, nuclear, biological, and chemical security, and water, food, and energy. Grants are available to scientists and innovators in over 40 countries. Free-to-use.
ResearchResearch
For those looking for research funding programs, ResearchResearch offers an international alternative. However, a paid subscription is required for access.
Throughout the year, the National Science Foundation gives a range of grants. The NSF funds around 24% of all government funded fundamental research. Free-to-use.
Influence on research
Although it may not appear so, financing may influence which research subjects are handled and what research outcomes are generated. The ideal is for funding to be primarily financial and impartial, but this is rarely the case when it includes businesses; fundings frequently include biases.
For example, as previously exemplified, a pharmaceutical company-funded research may sponsor a study that benefits the drug industry. And that would hardly apply to a government grant or a charitable fund.
Is this to say you should shun commercial funding? No, these companies provide vital support for scientific research; nonetheless, studies financed by businesses or special interest organizations must be handled with caution to avoid any type of conflict of interest. Read this article to learn more about how a conflict of interest might affect your research and career, and how to avoid it: Conflict of Interest in Research: What Is It and How It Can Impact.
Attract readers attention with effective graphical abstracts
Learn the importance of including infographics in your research if you want to deliver more relevant data, broaden your research’s audience, and stand out from the crowd. Research articles containing Graphical Abstracts have 15x times higher citations than those that haven’t as per CACTUS analysis for articles published in the American Academy of Neurology.
Check out our website and have access to the world’s largest gallery of scientifically accurate Illustrations using the Mind The Graph tool.
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About Jessica Abbadia
Jessica Abbadia is a lawyer that has been working in Digital Marketing since 2020, improving organic performance for apps and websites in various regions through ASO and SEO. Currently developing scientific and intellectual knowledge for the community's benefit. Jessica is an animal rights activist who enjoys reading and drinking strong coffee.
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$200,000 nifa grant to help women and minorities in stem.
JONESBORO – A grant that will provide targeted intervention for women and minorities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at Arkansas State University has been awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Dr. Nina Crutchfield, assistant professor of agricultural education, said the $200,000 grant ”Arkansas CommUniversity Statewide Partnerships and Agri-STEM Pathways for Underrepresented Students,” was written by grant partners at the University of Arkansas. “This grant will create Agri-STEM experiences, outreach, mentorship and leadership, and curriculum to increase the number of underrepresented students pursuing agricultural degrees and entering the agriculture workforce in the state,” said Crutchfield. She said the grant is a multidisciplinary, collaborative partnership between universities across the state. “Arkansas CommUniversity will holistically support and expand the knowledge and experience of sixth through 12th grade students with agricultural sciences in education and extension functions throughout the state,” Crutchfield continued. “We will specifically focus on developing successful recruitment and retention programs aimed at students from underrepresented minority backgrounds.“ The students who will participate in the work the grant will fund are from the Arkansas Lighthouse Charter Schools (ALCS), located in Pine Bluff and Jacksonville. Both schools are located in small communities where more than 76% of the students are minorities.
Crutchfield said she will host an institute for ALCS students that will include immersive experiences in all the agricultural career pathways available at A-State. These include equine and livestock management, veterinary sciences, biotechnology, plant and soil sciences, meat sciences, agricultural economics, agricultural education, and GIS and water management. “We will also establish a Minorities in Agriculture Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) chapter on campus. I will work on the initial stages of establishment this fall, in hopes of having it in place by the spring semester,” said Crutchfield. She said the addition of the chapter at A-State will fit nicely with the other NIFA grant announced earlier this year when she hosts undergraduate students on campus during the summers of 2025 and 2026 for agricultural education courses.
Education partners that are part of this grant include University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture; University of Arkansas-Fayetteville Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences; University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff School of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Human Sciences; Arkansas Tech University Department of Agriculture and Tourism; MANRRS; ALCS; Crystal Bridges; and Arkansas State University College of Agriculture. Funding for the grant, which will be used over the span of three years, begins this fall.
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Research Grant Definition
What Skills Are Needed to Write Grants?
A research grant pays for scientific research. Finding and receiving grant opportunities can be a challenging process because funders don’t part with this money easily. They’re not giving it to grantees because they want to be generous or kind. They’re looking for an idea or concept that matches and furthers their own goals, and it’s up to you to convince them that your research project does just that.
But grant money is out there, and you can receive some of it if you fine-tune your approach.
Why Would You Need a Research Grant?
Scientific research can include a good many costly steps because you’ll most likely be testing several theories or research questions. You’ll have to perform controlled trials and studies based on multiple samples. Your first step should be to make a thorough, honest assessment of the theories you intend to test and the methodologies you want to use to accomplish that.
Where Can You Find Funding Opportunities?
The next step in securing research funding is to identify funders, research institutions and research grant programs that share your mission and will be willing to part with their dollars to help you achieve it. There are numerous local and national funding parties out there, and their research priorities are generally not blanket concepts. They’re intricate and based on finer details.
The American Psychological Association suggests beginning your search with your school’s research office. This will help ensure that you get the most current information about what’s available, and you might find that your institution offers some smaller, in-house grants. The APA provides a database for psychological-based grants, and the federal government offers a searchable database as well at Grants.gov .
Don’t overlook nonprofits and foundations as a possible source of grant money. The Open Education Database recommends looking into the Foundation Center, the Council on Foundations and the Bush Foundation Fellowship Program. Links are available on the OED’s website. The database identifies literally 100 potential sources for funding, depending on your area of interest and your research goals.
Tips for Research Grant Applications
Applying for a research grant after you’ve narrowed your focus down to a particular funder will take some considerable work. Several schools have workshops to help you get your research grant proposal just right, and some funders and professional organizations provide grant writing workshops as well.
Do your research first, and do it extensively. Know exactly what that funder is looking for and any and all prerequisites it has as to how to ask for money and support in your proposal. Follow any application guidelines provided and follow them to the letter. They can include things like the number of pages you can submit down to something as seemingly trivial as font size. And of course, make sure you meet the application deadline.
The Indian Dermatology Online Journal suggests taking some time to research what has already been accomplished in your field of research. There’s no sense in wasting everyone’s time replicating a study that’s already been successfully or unsuccessfully completed.
Move on to collecting data and designing every intricate step in your study. Mention any partnerships or collaboration you’ll receive from your school or institution of higher education. You may have to submit your proposal to your school’s ethics committee before giving it to the funder. All told, the proposal process will most likely take several months, according to the APA. Something may be wrong if you complete yours more quickly.
How Much Research Funding Will You Receive?
It’s critical to create your own budget as part of your proposal. It’s up to you to tell the funder how much money you’ll reasonably need. Include the costs of purchasing equipment and hiring trained personnel as well as any necessary travel, publication expenses and miscellaneous management expenses. Think research space, office space and utilities, although not all funders will provide money for these types of expenses.
Keep in mind that most funders have limits as to how much money they’ll grant recipients, and your proposal can be declined for no other reason than that you’ve exceeded this amount. But you don’t want to propose a skin-tight budget, either, only to fall short financially during the term of your research.
When and How Is a Grant Award Paid?
Research grant funding may be paid to your school or institution, not directly to you, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention . In addition, it might not be a lump sum. Grants tend to be paid to awardees in installments over a period of predetermined years, and installments can be withheld if your research isn’t proceeding on schedule or if it isn't showing sufficient progress.
The Indian Dermatology Online Journal warns that you’ll most likely have to return any money that’s left over, unused.
- National Library of Medicine: Research Funding – Why, When, and How?
- American Psychological Association: Academic Careers – How to Get Grants?
- Open Education Database: 100 Places to Find Funding for Your Research
- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: General Policies Governing All AFSP Research Grants
- American Psychological Association: Grants, Awards and Funding
- Grants.gov: Convenience Comes to Federal Grants
Beverly Bird has been writing professionally for over 30 years. She is also a paralegal, specializing in areas of personal finance, bankruptcy and estate law. She writes as the tax expert for The Balance.
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Grants & Funding. The National Institutes of Health is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. In fiscal year 2022, NIH invested most of its $45 billion appropriations in research seeking to enhance life, and to reduce illness and disability. NIH-funded research has led to breakthroughs and new treatments helping people ...
1. Abstract. The abstract is a summary of your research proposal. It should be around 150 to 200 words and summarize your aims, the gap in literature, the methods you plan to use, and how long you might take. 2. Literature Review. The literature review is a review of the literature related to your field.
Research funding is defined as a grant obtained for conducting scientific research generally through a competitive process. To apply for grants and securing research funding is an essential part of conducting research. In this article, we will discuss why should one apply for research grants, what are the avenues for getting research grants ...
NIH offers funding for many types of grants, contracts, and even programs that help repay loans for researchers. Learn about these programs, NIH funding strategies, and more. Access reports, data, and analyses of NIH research activities, including information on NIH expenditures and the results of NIH-supported research. How to Apply.
Make sure you and your collaborators are properly trained for the research. Closely examine grant applications from successful grantees. Read the instructions in the grant application kit (PHS 398), then read them again. Follow them to the letter. Have several experienced grantees critique your application.
Funding at NSF. The U.S. National Science Foundation offers hundreds of funding opportunities — including grants, cooperative agreements and fellowships — that support research and education across science and engineering. Learn how to apply for NSF funding by visiting the links below.
Step 2: Plan and research your project. Preliminary research for your grant proposal. Questions to ask yourself as you plan your grant proposal. Developing your grant proposal. Step 3: Write the first draft of your grant proposal. Step 4: Get feedback, and revise your grant proposal accordingly.
Conceptualising your research idea. Before writing a research grant proposal/application, consider what the research should achieve in the short, medium, and long term, and how the research goals will serve patients, science and society [9, 10].Practical implications of research, policy impact or positive impact on society and active patient/public involvement are highly valued by many ...
Types of Grant Programs. This page will help you explore the types of grant funding NIH offers, from research grants to career development awards, research training and fellowships, center grants, and more. NIH uses activity codes (e.g. R01, R21, etc.) to differentiate the wide variety of programs we support. NIH Institutes and Centers may vary ...
Grants Process Overview (PDF, 908 KB) Apply for Grant Funding Application Referral & Review Pre-Award & Award Process Get Started Find and understand funding opportunities, ensure your research is original, understand your organization's internal procedures, and prepare to write a competitive application. Ensure all registrations are in place ...
There are several different grant research tools with different strengths and weaknesses and dramatically different costs. To help nonprofits navigate the confusing world of grant research databases, we explored some of the available tools. In the chart below, we compare a few of them to help readers hone in on which one might be the best match ...
Professor Kate Vieira, a Curriculum and Instruction professor at UW-Madison with considerable grant writing experience, describes grant proposal writing as a creative process akin to fiction writing—these are works of imagination. Professor Vieira recommends approaching the task of writing a grant proposal with an attitude of wonder and ...
Developing a grant application can feel daunting at first, but with practice and good support, becomes easier with experience. 1. Get Visible - The Sooner, the Better! It's a good idea to start building up your profile within academia early on. Make use of all the resources available to you to showcase yourself, your research, and your ...
Writing a grant application is a demanding process, especially in the current environment of historically low funding levels. 1 The current funding rate of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute is 10%, compared with ≈30% funding rate in 2001. When preparing a grant application, the 5 criteria that reviewers will use to score the grant (ie, Significance, Investigator, Innovation ...
The Best Grant Writing Books for Beginner Grant Writers; Research Grant Proposal Funding: How I got $1 Million; Final thoughts. The bottom line - applying for grants is challenging. It requires passion, dedication, and a set of diverse skills rarely found within one human being. Therefore, collaboration is key to a successful grant process ...
A grant proposal or application is a document (or set of documents) addressed to an organization or funding agency to get funding for a research project. Grant proposals differ widely across the scientific disciplines, but there are general tips that work universally.
A grant proposal or application is a document or set of documents that is submitted to an organization with the explicit intent of securing funding for a research project. Grant writing varies widely across the disciplines, and research intended for epistemological purposes (philosophy or the arts) rests on very different assumptions than ...
Foundation Grant Research. At its most basic, grant prospect research essentially consists of two major practices: researching various foundations' grant cycles and giving histories, and managing your organization's applications for each foundation. The former is an exercise in Web research—identifying a list of foundations that might ...
The Spencer Foundation: The Spencer Foundation provides research funding to outstanding proposals for intellectually rigorous education research. The Fulbright Program: The Fulbright Program offers grants in nearly 140 countries to further areas of education, culture, and science. Friends of the Princeton University Library: The Friends of the ...
R03. NIH Small Grant Program (R03): Provides limited funding for a short period of time to support a variety of types of projects, including pilot or feasibility studies, collection of preliminary data, secondary analysis of existing data, small, self-contained research projects, development of new research technology, etc.
The department of science and technology research grant was available. for early career research award. A study from Australia showed that only 9% of the grant proposal. were always funded, 61% ...
As research budgets are being reduced by many funding agencies and more researches are competing for it, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to write a grant proposal of high quality. The purpose of this article is to give the reader guidance on how to organize a research proposal in order maximize chances to obtain the desired ...
research grant proposal. − Receiving relevant and up-to-date information about new research methods. − Establishing collaborative associations with peers. − Constructive feedback on research proposals and throughout the research process. − Assistance in the development of a long-term research and writing plan.
Research Forward 2025 Please read the full instructions and the Frequently Asked Questions below before completing an application. Read a story about Research Forward.. The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) has announced a new round of the Research Forward initiative to stimulate and support highly innovative and groundbreaking research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Public vs. private funding. The two main types of research funding are public and private. "Public grant funding comes from federal or state governments," says Dr. Albert. "Money is typically set aside because there is a specific problem or issue that the government wants rigorous research information on.
These types of research funding are very competitive and often require a strong track record of research achievements. They can entail either money or a cash prize or award in the form of a contract with a funding agency. How to Apply for Research Funding. Strategic Timing: When it comes to securing funding for research, timing is everything ...
The National Cancer Institute has awarded Dr. Courtney Thomas a $715,803 grant for her prostate cancer research focused on a protein found in epithelial cells. Thomas, an associate professor of ...
In 2019, charitable foundations were responsible for $26,662 million of funding for research. So, how exactly does funding work? Funds assist qualifying researchers with money, equipment, or both to conduct approved research or trials. The grantee is in charge of carrying out activities, reporting progress, and preparing results for publishing.
A grant that will provide targeted intervention for women and minorities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at Arkansas State University has been awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
Research grant funding may be paid to your school or institution, not directly to you, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In addition, it might not be a lump sum. Grants tend to be paid to awardees in installments over a period of predetermined years, and installments can be withheld if your research isn't proceeding ...