In 2006, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), principal health research agency of the federal government, announced that the Extramural Research Program, which supports research all across the country, accounted for $24 billion of NIH’s total appropriation of $29 billion. Research project grants are increasing by $56 million, raising the number of new and competing research project grants by 247 grants to a total of 9,463. A large supporter of individual scientists, NIH reviewed over 40,000 applications for research projects in 2004. Only the top 24 percent were funded.
Mark Senior is an academic researcher, a director of programs at an international multidisciplinary research society, and an NIH review policy officer.
“One way to make sure you will have a job is to write grants,” says Mark Senior. He adds, “It is important for postdocs to know how to write to find the hook that tailors the description of a good idea to the interests of the particular funding body.”
According to Sigma Xi, a multidisciplinary research society, most scientists face the challenge of securing grant funding to support research and educational projects. Postdoctoral students must secure funds to begin their independent research careers.
College and university faculty are often called on to secure funds to support their own research, the research of their undergraduate and graduate students, and educational activities and equipment.
“Typically, a scientist knows their science very well, and as they are preparing a grant proposal, they have no problem talking about the science,” says John W. Rintoul, director of center programs at Sigma Xi. He continues, “The problem they have is communicating their science to reviewers in a way that makes a compelling argument for funding that particular piece of research.”
Simple, direct, to-the-point language that tells a compelling story about what a researcher wants to accomplish is the focus of the five-day Sigma Xi grant writing course, designed specifically for scientific researchers.
Rintoul says, “One of the goals is to help create programs that develop communication skills, develop media presentation skills and public relations skills, so a scientist is able to communicate his science in a way that any audience can understand.”
Another resource is the popular “Grant Writing for Success” presentation by Dr. Anthony M. Coelho Jr., review policy officer in the Office of the Director, NIH National Institutes of Health, Office of Extramural Research.
An overview of how the scientific peer review is carried out at NIH¯which draws on a national pool of scientists to review and make recommendations on applications for grants and contract proposals ¯the presentation covers the basics of successful grant writing, including lessons on how to make an application "reviewer friendly," and how to meet the needs of the reviewers and the funding agency. Inability to master these two lessons constitutes the most common reasons grant applications fail to secure funding.
For graduate students who want to secure funding for sponsored research, Senior says, “It’s important to remember that all grant writing is basically the same … whether it is to set up a business or a grant to get federal funding to do research.”
“When you see a request for proposal,” Senior adds, “I would encourage people to take a good look at the literature to make sure you are not going to duplicate something that’s already been done.
Senior says finding local data to back up an application, taking a look at what others have done¯including grant applications that were accepted and even those that were rejected¯and including only those elements you actually plan to research are critical for success.
