Research

“Lending Library”

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The resources in this library were extracted from a copyrighted source, available to you in a password protected iSchool site.  They are well written, targeted articles providing realistic, specific guidance for proposal preparation.  They are all extracted from Research Development and Grantwriting News, published by Academic Research Funding Strategies, LLC.  Full issues are available on SU Share in the Virtual Faculty Center (sushare.syr.edu).

Note: Due to the copyrighted nature of the sources, please click this link to be directed to the password protected page.

  • Agency Models for Introduction and Background (April 2015) – Capture the attention of your readers early.
  • Avoid the Cognitive Tax on Your Proposal Narrative (February 2014)  – Make it so your reader understands you!
  • Avoid Common Proposal Figure Mistakes (August 2014) – Learn what kinds of figures make a proposal harder to read and digest.
  • Avoid the Generic Introduction (July 2012) – Make your reviewer want to read more!
  • The Background Researcher on Proposals (February 2013) – Why you should read the literature cited in proposal solicitations.
  • Big Changes in STEM Education Funding (June 2013) – A description of the NSTC’s 5-year Strategic Plan and potential impacts on funding opportunities.
  • Broader Impacts and Evidence-Based Models (June 2015) –  Thoughts on effective and interesting broader impacts.
  • CAREER Heads Up – Don’t Let This Happen to You (June 2015) – Hints to be sure your proposal is compliant with the new guidelines.
  • Clarity in the Research Narrative (July 2015) – Writing isn’t clear? Don’t fund.
  • Confessions of a Grumpy Reviewer (June 2015) – A lesson on how to irritate your reviewer.
  • The Dictionary of Common NSF Usage (February 2013) – Shows you how to refine your proposal language to edge out the competition.
  • Don’t Bury the Lead (July 2015) – What goes into that all-important first page?
  • Explaining the State of the Art (July 2015) – Tips for writing your proposal’s background statement or lit review.
  • From Silos To Synergy: The Yellow Brick Road of Grant Writing (December 2012) – Writing the successful collaborative proposal.
  • Funding Favors the Strategically Prepared (February 2014) build a plan for funding success!
  • Getting the Writing Right (April 2013) – Get fresh eyes to read and critique your proposals.
  • Going From Research Ideas to Research Dollars (June 2013) – Critical touchstones that will transform your ideas into funded projects.
  • Grant Writer’s Checklist (September 2013) – A checklist for good writing and good content.
  • How Proposals are Reviewed by NSF, NIH, DoED, and DOE (June 2013) – When you understand the review process, you write a better proposal!
  • Implicit Requirements: Dark Matter of the Research Solicitation (August 2015) – There’s more than meets the eye – understanding the funding solicitation.
  • Importance of the Practice Proposal (July 2013) – Practice, practice, practice – you get better.
  • Interviewing Schrödinger’s Cat (August 2012) –Ambiguity in proposal narratives – It’s insidious and creeps in – get rid of it!
  • Make Your Case for Value-Added Benefits (August 2015) – What’s important to the funders?
  • The Myth That Agencies Fund Good Ideas (May 2015) – Or how to market your idea to support funders.
  • No Squishy Commitments or Weasel Clauses (March 2013) – Guidance for writing the most compelling letters of support or commitment.
  • No Tweaking, No Nudging, No Band-Aids, Please (November 2012)– Resubmitting your proposal?  Revise thoughtfully!
  • NSF Crosscutting and Interdisciplinary Programs (August 2014) – Some strategies for handling your interdisciplinary project proposal when no single program seems to fit.
  • NSF Ferrets Out and Punishes Research Misconduct (June 2014)  – Why does OSP and Sponsored Accounting always question everything?? Or, how stupid can people be?? This article will give you a glimpse of the work of the Office of the Inspector General, and the processes universities have in place to ensure the ethical and intelligent conduct of research.
  • NSF’s Perp Walk for Plagiarism (June 2015) – Sad, but true.
  • New NSF EHR Programs: EHR Core, IUSE, and REAL  (December 2013)  – What are the differences between these education research programs?
  • Optimizing the Proposal Planning Process (December 2012)  – How to determine if you have the time to prepare a competitive proposal.
  • An Overview of IARPA (June 2012) – the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity funder.
  • Proportionality and Sequence in the Project Narrative (March 2013) – Writing the narrative is tricky – how to make the most of your proposal real estate.
  • Psychology and the Reviewer (March 2015) – Will your reviewer look forward to reading your proposal? Or expect a long, hard slog?
  • Quantifying the Project Narrative (April 2013) – Give your proposal punch with well placed data!
  • Red Teaming: Scalable, Adaptable, and Versatile (May 2013) – Tap your colleagues to better understand a solicitation and create a better proposal.
  • Red Teaming the Solicitation (July 2012) – Use the face-to-face crowd to help focus the call for proposals!
  • A Research Professional’s Grant-Writing  Elevator Speech (November 2013) be ready for that fleeting moment!
  • Restoring The Research Foundation (October 2014) why research investment is critical to our economic prosperity.
  • The Role of Context in a Successful Proposal (November 2012) – Addressing the impact of your project on your discipline and to the agency’s mission.
  • Time to Get Started on Your NSF CAREER Proposal (March 2013) – Do it now!  Advice for the CAREER writer.
  • The Too Kind Program Officer (February 2013) – Program officers want to encourage; proposers are eager to be funded – A caution to listen critically to the careful language of program officers and hear what they cannot say.
  • Too Much Data? (September 2012) – Data is good, but don’t obscure your message.
  • Update on Funding for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences at NSF (November 2014)  – The SBE total budget is not large, so it pays to know what the agency’s priorities, goals, and strategies are for the immediate future.
  • Using Databases of Previous Awards to Understand What Funders Want (June 2014) – a necessary step to matching your project to a program.
  • What is Big Data and How to Fund it (October 2014) – likes to current solicitations and programs
  • What NSF Expects to See in Your Narrative (July 2015) – Doing your homework to get that proposal funded.
  • Why Formatting Matters, Part 1 (November 2012) – Sage advice on how to convey more information using formatting and graphics.
  • Why Formatting Matters, Part 2 (December 2012) – More sage advice on how to convey more information using formatting and graphics.
  • Why Halloween is Bad for Proposals, Part 3 (June 2012) – Make sure your research ideas are not disguised by these masks.
  • Why Halloween is Bad for Proposals, Part 4 (July 2012) – More disguises.
  • Why Halloween is Bad for Proposals, Part 5 (August 2012)  – More disguises.
  • Why Halloween is Bad for Proposals, Part 6 (September 2012) – More disguises.
  • Writing as a Team (April 2015) – Hints for a successful interdisciplinary proposal.