Tips for Writing a Successful

Grant Proposal
Diana Lipscomb
Associate Dean for Faculty and Research
CCAS

Life Cycle of a Proposal

Proposal
submitted by
ORS to
Sponsor

90 days

Life Cycle of a Proposal

Proposal arrives and is checked

for appropriateness and compliance

Not OK

Proposal returned unfunded

30 days

Life Cycle of a Proposal

Proposal arrives and is checked

for appropriateness and compliance

OK

Program Officer
evaluates and
selects reviewers

30 days

Proposal sent to
reviewers

Life Cycle of a Proposal

Reviews received
Outside Panel meets and
recommends proposals
for funding

4 Months

NSF Merit Review Criteria

Intellectual Merit
Advancing knowledge and understanding
Proposer qualifications (and results of prior
work)
Creative and original concepts?
Conception and organization
Resources

Broader Impacts
Promoting teaching, training and learning?
Broaden the participation of underrepresented
groups
Enhance the infrastructure for research and
education (facilities, instrumentation, networks
and partnerships)
Broad dissemination
Benefits to society

Typical NSF Panel Review

Meeting

Life Cycle of a Proposal

Not Recommended for Funding

Proposal returned with
reviews
summary of panel discussion

30 days
(total time 6 months)

Life Cycle of a Proposal

Recommended for Funding

Program officer determines

which of the recommended
proposals can be funded
Your proposal rejected
because of lack of funds

60 days
(total time 7 months)

Life Cycle of a Proposal

Recommended for Funding

Program officer determines

which of the recommended
proposals can be funded

Congratulations!

90 days
(total time 8 months)

Proposals to Federal Sponsors

VS.
Non-Federal Sponsors

Federal Sponsors

Federal agencies detailed requirements and forms.

Proposals to federal agencies are submitted by ORS.
Proposals to federal agencies generally will go out for peer review.
Some federal agencies have a mission and your research must closely
match their interests (U.S. Department of Energy, NASA), while
others are not, and you may submit a research project of your own
creation (National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the
Humanities). The U.S. Department of Education is a little of both
you can submit your project idea within one of their different areas of
interest.
Federal agencies send reviews if a proposal is rejected. If for some
reason you don't receive them, ask for them.

Non-Federal Sponsors
Most proposals to foundations or corporations are called
"letter proposals", only several pages long, and will need to
stress what you propose to do, why it is important, and
how you will do it.
They generally do not send your proposal for a peer review
but instead have a review panel.
Read their guidelines carefully to determine their areas of
interest. If you and they "fit", submit your letter proposal
if they do not list specific proposal requirements.
If you are rejected you may never know why. Reviews are
often not sent.

Read the Request for Proposals!

(RFP)
Do NOT deviate from the guidelines
Address all the points raised in the RFP

Parts of a Proposal
Cover or Title Page
Table of Contents
Abstract
The abstract should not be an abstract of the
proposal, rather a self-contained description of
the research that would result if the proposal is
funded.

The Narrative
Write with the reviewers and panel
constituency in mind
Write for both experts and generalists:
Need to show mastery of relevant content/areas
Need to avoid overloading readers with jargon
and technicalities

What Reviewers Look For

Proposals that are organized. Make their job easier by exactly
following the guidelines.
Proposals that they can understand. Avoid jargon. Keep your
language as clear and concise as possible. Don't leave reviewers
guessing, and leave nothing to the imagination.
Proposals that are pleasing to the eye. Think what you can do to
counter a reviewer's "fatigue factor." They will frequently be
reviewing from 20 to 50 proposals at one time. Small type and long
paragraphs are seldom a good idea. Use plenty of white space, as well
as bulleted items to catch attention
Proposals that someone else had read. Leave enough time to have
your advisor and friends read and critique what you have written.

What Reviewers Look For (cont)

Proposals that answer the questions:
What is this person doing? (Many reviewers have
complained that they were pages and pages into the
proposal before they could winnow out the project.)
Why is it important?
Is it innovative? (Innovation is an essential ingredient
in proposals today.)
How is this person going to do it?
Has this person made the case?

Basic Steps in Writing a Budget

(ORS will help you with this! Go to them early in the process)

Decide which budget line items are required by the project.

Price the items. Prorate costs to accommodate anticipated increases
if a multi-year budget is included.
Review budget to ensure that it is complete and justified.
Typical budget items:

Salaries
Fringe benefits
Travel
Supplies
Publication Costs
Other direct costs (ex. photocopying, equipment)
Indirect costs or overhead

Budget Justification
Arrange by budget categories and briefly
explain how budget items were estimated.
Details of salary and benefit rates, travel
rates, equipment needs, supplies, and
indirect costs are among the items usually
included.

Do not give up!

According to NSF, one out of every four
competitive grants you write will be funded
Decision not to fund, does not necessarily
reflect on the quality of your grant proposal
Good people (even excellent people) can
have proposals rejected, take rejection as a
learning experience