If a grant proposal to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is in your future, do yourself a favor and spend some time on the NIH website. Whatever you think about the government’s ability to help, the NIH, especially the Office of Extramural Research, has put some real time and resources into tools designed to …read more
I have no idea what I’ve agreed to when I click the button that says “Yes, I’ve reviewed all the rules and regulations” before I update the software on my phone. My family, mostly comprised of lawyers, are somewhat appalled by this, but I say, “Well, if I want to use the phone, I need …read more
There are not a lot of people who enjoy editing their own work. And, because so often, as writers, we are writing against a deadline, we don’t give ourselves enough time to do a complete edit. A complete edit needs time. The longer you can be away from your writing, the more people you can …read more
The first impression at a poster contest, as either the presenter or the listener, is a big deal. Granted, you have a lot of chances to make first impressions, but after spending some time listening at the Undergraduate Research Poster Contest, I saw some really bad and really good first impressions. Although, for the sake …read more
My son and a team of fellow elementary students did an experiment for school to see how much the splash pattern grew when you increased the height you dropped a water balloon. They still don’t know the answer to that question because the kids didn’t get the balloons high enough to pop the balloons, let …read more
In an earlier blog, I said I would provide a list to all the pieces involved in developing a grant proposal, because there is a lot more to it than the writing, although the writing is obviously a huge part. This is a long list and it is also why I think you need time …read more
I have been working with a student on his personal statement for a fellowship application. The document is two pages, double-spaced, so the statement will be less than 600 words by the time it is complete. We’ve been working on this document for about a month. I think this afternoon I sent him the final …read more
The role of a Program Officer (or Program Manager or Technical Point of Contact, depending on the sponsor) varies a lot between sponsors. For example, while it is extremely difficult to get Department of Defense funding without talking to the Program Officer, it is quite common to get funding from the National Institutes of Health …read more
On more than one occasion, I have discussed how important it is to address the “who, what, when, where, and why” of your research project when writing a proposal. One way of addressing those issues in a very systematic manner is by using the Heilmeier Catechism. The Heilmeier Catechism (sometimes called The Heilmeier Criteria or …read more
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award (YFA) is designed to give researchers a good look at the challenges and needs of the Department of Defense (DoD) and national security as a whole. The purpose, like the other young faculty programs, is to give researchers the opportunity to build relationships and understanding …read more
