Writing a Successful Grant Proposal Advice for SLA

Writing a Successful Grant Proposal: Advice for SLA Graduate Students (Fall 2013) Kevin Gotham, Associate Dean, SLA • Former NSF program director • Current NSF panelist • Current NSF awardee Jennifer Ashley, Visiting Assistant Professor, Sociology Department • NSF DDIG awardee • Fulbright-Hays awardee Gaurav Desai, Professor, English Department • SSRC reviewer • panelist for the SSRC’s dissertation field research award

Why do universities want you to write grants? • High visibility for the university • Overhead or indirect costs help balance the university budget and pay for administration • Contributes to prestige and national ranking of the university

Why do you want to write grants? • Pay dissertation research costs: travel, data, funds for equipment, time to write • Raise your research visibility • Open doors to consulting, collaborative research, new research agendas, etc. • Increase opportunities for national & international presentations, and shaping public policy • Improve research and writing • Help you get a job and make tenure

SLA Summer Merit Fellowship Award • Competitive grants that provide up to $5000 to support summer activities for completing terminal degrees • SLA students may use funds for research expenses, equipment, and travel to support data collection, analysis, and performances • The Award will not support tuition, workshops, or conferences, past credit card bills, food, rent • A summer stipend for writing and completing the dissertation is limited to $2500 • First and Second year Ph. D. students are ineligible • Students who have received two Fellowship Awards in the past are ineligible

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program • Supports individuals proposing a comprehensive holistic plan for graduate education • Plans for graduate education must demonstrate potential for significant achievements in science and engineering • Awarded to individuals in the early stages of their graduate study • Applicants must be US citizens • Three years of support • $32, 000 annual stipend • 2, 700 new Fellowships will be offered for 2013 • Anticipated Funding Amount: $325, 000

NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants (DDIG) • Small grants (~$12 K) to provide support for costs related to dissertation: • field work, data collection, payment to subjects, survey expenses, software, microfilm, reproduction of tapes and written materials, data transcribing • Travel to specialized facilities and field research sites • Partial living expenses for conducting research away from the student’s university • Dissertation advisor is the grant PI • Begin seeking IRB (human subjects) approval immediately • Expect decision process to take approximately six months • Work with our Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA)

NSF Social Science Programs offering the DDIG • • • • Archeology (accepted anytime) Documenting Endangered Languages (September) Geography and Spatial Sciences (October and February) Sociology (October and February) Biological Anthropology (November and February) Political Science (January) Linguistics (January) Cultural Anthropology (January) Law and Social Sciences (January) Research on Science and Technology, Surveys, and Statistics (January) Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics (January) Economics (January) Decision, Risk and Management Sciences (January) Science, Technology, and Society (February)

Proposal Development Strategies • Develop a long-term research agenda with clear goals (create a plan, not just a proposal) – What do you intend to do and why is your research important? – What work has already been done and how are you going to do your research (data collection and analysis)? • Conceive of the final product before writing the proposal(s) • Research multiple funders to identify their priorities and see if they fund projects similar to yours

Proposal Development Strategies • Familiarize yourself with funding sources and proposal guidelines • 1. internal funding opportunities • Provost’s Office • SLA website (Summer Merit Fellowship) • Your department or graduate program • 2. external funding opportunities: • Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA) • Google: e. g. , “humanities grants for graduate students” • Federal grants database (Grants. gov)

Proposal Development Strategies • Check: – eligibility – average size of awards – maximum amount available – previous awards – proposal requirements and format – deadlines – evaluation criteria and process

Proposal Development Strategies • A successful proposal is one that is thoughtfully planned, well prepared, and concisely packaged • Base the proposal on an interesting idea that fills a gap in scholarly knowledge – Survey the literature – Contact Investigators working on topic – Obtain preliminary data – Prepare a brief concept paper – Discuss with colleagues/mentors • Use concise, direct, and straightforward language (no jargon)

Proposal Development Strategies Understand the importance of the abstract (first impression) Write to the audience that will review your proposal Explain the urgency and timeliness of your work Provide evidence that you can successfully complete the project (don’t be over- or under-ambitious) • Read guidelines several times and follow directions completely • Explain the value-added nature of the research – Why should anyone care about your work? – Answer the “so what” question • •

Final Thoughts • Federal funders are looking to fund research that is bold, original, innovative, and transformative • Pay attention to the funding agency’s goals and review criteria as you craft your proposal • If possible, revise and resubmit if you get declined for funding • Be tenacious, persistent, and resilient