As anyone with a grant will tell you (whether you ask or not), there are a lot of reporting requirements, and it makes sense why. Someone has given you money and probably never sees you, so keeping up on how you are spending that money requires trust as well as some verification. One of those …read more
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Limited Submissions Due in March and April
Below are some of the limited submissions with internal deadlines in March and April. To be considered for these opportunities, please send a letter of intent (LOI) to Beth Keithly by the Internal deadline. The LOI for any internal limited submission needs to be a one page document (it may be a bit longer or shorter, …read more
Proposal Writing Tips for Non-Native English Speakers
Proposals often require specialized language, providing a special challenge for non-native English speakers even though they may be very proficient in English. Because grammatical errors and awkward phrasing can distract reviewers from the content of the proposal, PIs should make every effort to avoid these mistakes. Below are a few mistakes that are commonly made by PIs whose native language is not English.
Pulling the Red Lever: Writing in Layperson’s Terms
Summarizing your research in layperson’s terms is a critical skill to get funding. It is also a requirement of nearly all grant applications. Funding organizations will ask you to summarize your work for the people they answer to, which means you need to be able to explain to Congress (or perhaps a Board of Directors …read more
What’s the Why? An Exercise Before Writing Your Proposal
Writing anything can be a difficult process. Staring at a blank page can be frightening, especially when you have people like me saying how important it is to start with something engaging in order to get the reviewers interested in your work. So, while I stand by how important it is to start with something …read more
Limited Submissions: Upcoming Deadlines
This fall, we have several popular limited submission deadlines, including the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI). To be considered for these opportunities, please send a letter of intent to Beth Keithly or Alexandra Ferraris by the Letter of Intent (LOI) (internal deadline). The LOI for any internal limited submission needs to be …read more
Why are Budget Justifications Important?
Budget justifications are like recipes – if it’s your recipe, you know it by heart and don’t need instructions to make it – but if your friend would like to prepare it, they need to know all of the details. Like your friend trying to make the recipe, reviewers need those details in order to …read more
Balancing Details in Your Grant Proposal
“The devil,” the expression goes, “is in the details.” When writing a grant, that is especially true because details in a grant proposal show that you have thought about your project, which is what the reviewers want. However, when you only have a few pages and a lot of ground to cover, getting too detailed, …read more