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More on Proposals

Charles Nicholas (nicholas@csee.umbc.edu)

CMSC 601

Revised April 28, 2008

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Sources

Peter J. Feibelman, A Ph.D. Is Not Enough! A Guide to Survival in Science. Basic Books, 1993.

Caroline Wardle, Obtaining Federal Funding, CRA-W Workshop Slides, 1993/1994/1999.

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Proposal Lifecycle

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Know Your Goal

Convince a possible sponsor that they should help pay for your research

If at first you don’t succeed, you’re normal!

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White Papers

Problem statement Who will care about the solution?

Your proposed solution Why is it different from anybody else’s?

Your plan of attack What will you do if you get the money?

Resources you will need to execute the plan Money Time Data?

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Format

A paragraph-length summary, to get them to read the white paper May be sent by email in advance

WP itself maybe 3-5 pages A figure is helpful, but not too many A 1-2 paragraph biosketch A few references

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General White Paper Advice

Send the wp to your colleagues and current sponsors for advice

Allow them to send it to their colleagues Remember that a white paper is a marketing tool,

and that’s it If you’re invited to submit a full proposal, the wp did

its job!

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Sources of Funding

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Government Agencies

The usual suspects: NSF, NIH, DOD SBIRs and STTRs State agencies