Preparing and Submitting an External Grant Proposal: Tips for

Navigating the Intersection of Science, Schools and SPA

Moderator:Joanne Sobeck, Ph.D., School of Social Work

Panelists:James Barbret, OVPR/SPA

Andrew Feig, Ph.D., ChemistryJeffrey Loeb, M.D., Ph.D., Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics

• Developing your idea for a grant proposal• Planning for a successful submission• Writing the proposal• Submitting the proposal• Critiquing the proposal, post-submission• Re-submitting • Overall comments and questions

Today’s TopicsToday’s Topics

• Develop an hypothesis• Get preliminary data/review the literature• Significance/Innovation• Write specific aims• Use your mentor(s)

Developing Your Ideas Developing Your Ideas

• Be ambitious but not too ambitious

• Be innovative but not too innovative

• Consider “expansion of concept” ideas

• Be flexible and open to suggestions for change

Best TipsBest Tips

Eating yellow snow and school performance among children

Hypothetical ProposalHypothetical Proposal

• A chemical compound in the yellow snow creates cognitive problems

HypothesisHypothesis

• Substantiate that children eating yellow snow have cognitive problems compared with children who do not eat the yellow snow

• Match on age, gender and SES• Isolate and identify the substance(s) in the

yellow snow• Develop remediation/intervention/education

to prevent children from eating yellow snow

Specific AimsSpecific Aims

PlanningPlanning

• Identify the agency and funding mechanism that fits your idea

• Periodically contact the Program Officers

• Identify what preliminary data are needed

• Identify deficiencies• Get collaborators/consultants for

those deficiencies• Modify the aims if necessary• Use your mentor(s)

• Make a commitment to find/make the time necessary to prepare and write a competitive proposal.

• Don’t assume you know what the funder wants. Download, read carefully and take to heart the funder’s mission and guidelines. Make sure your idea fits into their RFA.

• Be pro-active and make sure that your grant goes where it has the best chance of getting funded. Send an abstract with specific aims to see if this funder is appropriate.

• Write a stunning one-page specific aims page (NIH) and don’t send it until you run it by your mentor(s).

Best TipsBest Tips

Writing the ProposalWriting the Proposal

• Read and take to heart the instructions• Write clearly for a general audience; make no assumptions• Don’t make the reviewers guess on the significance,

innovation, and relevance to the funder---sell your idea!• Articulate the need in a maximally understandable way• Revise, revise, revise• Prepare your budget and revise more• Make a check list for all required components (compliance

human, animal, biosafety, facilities and equipment, WSU environment, biosketches)

• Be prepared to change your specific aims again• Use your mentor(s)

• Use OVPR’s review mechanism if you have sufficient time

• Align the budget with the aims. Grant administrators can provide accurate costs for salary figures, GRA tuition, participant recruitment, etc.

• Begin to meet with your departmental administrator/grants coordinator to plan for grant submission and required documents (subcontract letters, consultant letters of support)

• Continue to develop and refine the budget as you move the proposal forward

Best TipsBest Tips

• Inform your Sponsored Program Administration (SPA) officer that you are submitting a grant proposal. Provide your officer with the RFA, PA.

• Work with Sponsored Program Administration (SPA) in the Office of the VP for Research to submit the proposal.

Proposal SubmissionProposal Submission

• Anticipate some of the criticism you might receive from the reviewers – (e.g., should I have provided more data? )

• Expect rejection but don’t let it slow you down -- keep working in anticipation that you’ll re-submit.

Post-Proposal CritiquePost-Proposal Critique

• Read the reviews with an open mind and say ‘thank you for beating me up’

• Find out all you can about the review and discussion (read between the lines)

• Call the program officer to fill you in on the discussion of your proposal

• Consider delaying resubmission to truly respond to the reviewers

• Use your mentor(s)

Re-SubmittingRe-Submitting

• Mentoring/orienting new faculty

• What to do with the new NIH guidelines

• Communication with foundations, NIH and NSF regarding how your idea fits their mission

• Should you submit an R01 or R21 if you’re a new investigator?

Additional AdviceAdditional Advice

Joanne Sobeck Andrew FeigDirector for Research Associate ProfessorSchool of Social Work Department of Chemistryjoanne.sobeck@wayne.edu afeig@chem.wayne.edu

Jeffrey Loeb James BarbretAssociate Director, Center for Associate Vice PresidentMolecular Med and Genetics Office of the VP Researchjloeb@med.wayne.edu james.d.barbret@wayne.edu

Thank You! Thank You! Questions?Questions?