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CHE 594 Lecture 17The Specific Objectives

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Good Research Idea

Describe The Work Well

Review: Keys To Building A Successful Proposal

Lect 4, 5, 7

Lect 2,3

Lect 12, 13

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My Typical Outline

Introduction One page giving an overview of the work, describe how it

advances the literature and make a case for funding Figure that gives a picture of the work I am proposing

Literature review (NSF, DOE, NIH not DARPA, DHS) 1-2 pages giving the main themes in the literature

Proposed work Specific Objectives

Paragraph outlining the entire scope of work & its major challenges

Work plan Subsections organized around each major question (paper) I

wish to address Variables I will vary Techniques I will use Sometimes data analysis if that is significant Description of preliminary data

Summary Highlight the significance -

Lect 13-16

Lect 18

Lect 17

Lect 6,7 12

Today: The Specific Objectives

The specific objectives are a 1-2 page summary of what you are going to do and its impact

It is like the case statement but greatly shorten the discussion of your work and

where it fits Explain you hypothesis and why you believe it is

plausible given the previous literature Explain your specific objectives in more detail.

Explain how you will accomplish them. Include a discussion of data analysis so you can

say how you specific objectives will allow you to test your hypothesis

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What is your hypothesis? Explain why the hypothesis is reasonable

based on previous literature This may be a repeat but remember that

not every reviewer will read every section of your proposal

How you are going to go about resolving the issue identified above? What are your specific technical objectives

and what are their roles in proving of feasibility?

How are you going to go about accomplishing these objectives?

How will you analyze your data?

Questions you need to answer

Adapted from http://www.sba.gov/gopher/Innovation-And-Research/SBIR-Pro-Prep/

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Research Plan Starts By Defining The Technical Objectives/Hypothesis

Specify what questions you will answer Important to have a clear connection

between the questions you raised and the experiments you will do

Reaching your objectives should mean you have proven the feasibility or solving the problem or realizing the opportunity

Adapted from http://www.sba.gov/gopher/Innovation-And-Research/SBIR-Pro-Prep/

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SBA Gives The Following Hints

Your technical objectives should be plausible; Do not promise more than you can do with the available staff, facilities and budget.

In presenting your objectives, begin by specifying those objectives which are most clearly related to the solicitation topic and agency concerns.

Next proceed to objectives relating to "spin-off" benefits. Make sure that "spin-off" related objectives are clearly secondary to topic related objectives.

Adapted from http://www.sba.gov/gopher/Innovation-And-Research/SBIR-Pro-Prep/

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Next Summarize The Approach

Second paragraph of a research plan should describe what approach(es) are being taken to address the problem or answer the question(s). How does the approach(es) answer the questions, i.e. what is the hypothesis being investigated and how is the hypothesis being proved or disproved (supported or refuted)?

Usually a 1 paragraph summary of exactly what you are planning to do

My Usual Outline

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The long term goal …So far we have seenTechnical objectives, hypothesis …

Explain why this hypothesis is plausable based on the literature, preliminary data

Specific objective 1 – one sentence descriptionSeveral sentences describing the rational for the objective, saying why this goal is important and describing how it will be accomplished

Specific objective 2 – one sentence descriptionSeveral sentences describing the rational for the objective, saying why this goal is important and describing how it will be accomplished

Data analysis

Example From My Work

My longterm objective is to develop a better model for water transport in PEM fuel cells. So far we have demonstrated that we can observe water motion for the first time using MRI and microCt imaging. We have found that water is mainly transported by a slip and stick mechanism not slug or mist flow as previously supposed. In this proposal we will develop and equation for slip and stick motion.

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Specific objectives

Specific objective 1 measure the rate of water motion as a function of key wall properties

Specific objective 2: determine the key mechanism for motion: tank treading, wave collapse, other

Specific objective 3: use the results to develop an equation for the motion.

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The Book Proposes a different outline for NIH

The long term goal …So far we have seenSpecifically I propose examining the

following hypothesesHypothesis 1 – one sentence descriptionHypothesis 2 – one sentence description

Specific experiment 1Specific experiment 2Rationale

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Good Science and Good Proposals Not The Same

Good science uses inductive and deductive reasoning

Deductive Inductive

NIH encourages hypothesis based (deductive) proposals

Adapted From William M.K. Trochim Cornell

Example from Ogden and Goldberg

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A number of clinical diseases have been associated with disorders of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) transport and barrier function. The long-term goal of this research is to fully characterize these properties of human RPE to facilitate treatment and perhaps prevention of these diseases.

During the last period we also developed and standardized a new method by which fluid fluxes can be measured directly rather than calculated from isotope fluxes, which are subject to cumulative experimental errors.

Example cont

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We plan to incorporate this method into our proposed studies, to test the following hypotheses:1.Cultured fetal human RPE, under normal conditions, transports fluid from is apical side to it basal side utilizing a Na+, K+, Cl- cotransport system as well as a Na+, HCO3 – cotransport system.2.The activities of these transport systems are modulated by intracellular cAMP concentrations.3.Cultured fetal human RPE mediated transepithelial fluid movement is modulated by beta adrenergic agonists, histamine, prostaglandin E1, and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) that alter intracellular cAMP concentration. In addition, agents that alter intracellular cAMP metabolism, such as the phosphodiesterase inhibitor isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX), also alter human RPE mediated transepithelial fluid movement

Example cont

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To test these hypotheses, we propose studies with the following specific aims:  1.To characterize cultured fetal human RPE transepithelial transport by extending Ussing chamber studies using pharmacologic probes, ion manipulation, and isotope flux studies.2.To determine how cultured fetal human RPE transepithelial transport is modulated by intracellular cAMP.3.To determine the degree to which cultured fetal human RPE transepithelial transport may be regulated by extracellular receptors (such as those to beta adrenergic agents) and to determine the degree to which cultured fetal human RPE transepithelial transport is affected by agents (such as IBMX that alter intracellular cAMP metabolism

Key Hints

All work needs to be completed in 2-3 years

No more than three hypotheses and specific aims

Use action verbs “to determine, to examine, to identify, to verify, to calculate”

Avoid non-action verbs “to study, to appreciate, to understand”

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Key Pitfalls

Do not propose too much Only propose what you can realistically

do in two years

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Recall The Hourglass Picture Of Research

Adapted From William M.K. Trochim Cornell

Start with an important big question

Focus to solvable question

Observe

Analyze data

Reach conclusions

Generalize back to big problem

Need to convince

reviewers it is solvableLimits

problems to ones the reviewers

think they can solve

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Four Most Common Mistakes

Writing too ambitious a proposal Proposing too much

Unfocused technical objectives Talking about the large problem instead of a

narrower idea that you can really do Proposal hard for reviewers to navigate

No clear sections (i.e. introduction, literature review, technical objectives) that the reviewers can jump to

Hoping that the reviewers will get the idea instead of telling them directly

Unclear/unfocused writing

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Other Common Errors In The Work Plan

Proposing things that are insufficiently novel Proposals that propose to use a well established

technique on a small variation of a problem that has already been solved

Exception if the variation is of great importance

Failure to consider important variables Makes reviewer doubt your qualifications OK to say that we will control these variables

and only consider variations in these variables Unfounded claims

Important new conclusions from preliminary data without strong evidence

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Items To Improve Your Odds Of Success

Pretty pictures showing your expected molecules, devices

Table outlining your research plan Diagram outlining and complex procedures Table outlining your risk mitigation strategy

Remember that most reviewers will not read every word in your proposal so it is important to make it easy for them.

The saying “A Picture is worth 1000 words” is doubly true in proposals

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Other Important Points On Writing

Read the instructions NSF requires you to discuss the broad impacts

of your work http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/nsf07046/nsf07046.jsp

NIH requires risk mitigation Be sure to give the review panel what

they want to hear NSF – 50+ references, some theory NIH – Lots of preliminary data, real application

to human health, all details of procedures, supporting letters

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Writing Style Is Important!

You need to write in a plain style and spell everything out clearly No jargon

Most reviewers will be outside of your sub-field. The proposal needs to be clear to them

No mystery novels Keep everything clear and in the right section If the reviewer cannot quickly find something

important where he expects to find it, he will assume that you have not included it and recommend someone else’s proposal for funding

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Read Chapter 9 In Johnson-Sheehan

Chapter 9 in the Johnson-Sheehan has a good discussion of style. Simplify your sentences Keep the subject the same in all of the

sentences in a paragraph Keep the sentence length a “breathable

length” Be sure to carry ideas from one

sentence to the next

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Questions?