Grant Development Tips

Last week, we held our fifth annual Grant Writing Symposium out at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. We learned a lot from seasoned researchers and grant writers, including Dr. Adit Ginde, Professor and Vice-Chair for Research in Emergency Medicine; Dr. Jennifer Kemp, Director of the Research Office for the Department of Medicine; and Dr. Andrew Thorburn, Professor and Chair of Pharmacology.

Below, are some of the key points made by these experts:

Begin your Specific Aims with your goal
Many Specific Aims pages begin by describing the problem they're trying to solve, which is not a bad approach but don't forget to state the goal of your project right at the outset. Your reviewers will start reading your proposal wondering what is the objective of this research, so tell them right away within the first one or two sentences of your Specific Aims.

Your Specific Aims page can make or break your proposal
Most reviewers report that they pretty much know which proposals they like after reading the Specific Aims page. As Dr. Kemp explained, this means that you need to convince them of your project's merits within this crucial page. If you haven't convinced them in the Specific Aims, chances are you won't change their mind later on.

The most common error in the Specific Aims is not showing you're the right person for the job
Too often, PIs get focused on describing their project and the problem it's tackling in the Specific Aims. While this is important to convey, oftentimes PIs don't also show that they are the best-positioned researcher to do the project. Dr. Kemp urged PIs to show how you're the best person to conduct the research your describing.

Seek out Program Officers at scientific and professional meetings
Some POs are difficult to get ahold of. Dr. Ginde suggested seeking out POs at professional meetings. He also recommended finding a PI who already has a relationship with a PO and to ask that PI for an introduction.

Be sure to contact Program Officers after you receive your reviews
PIs often recognize the value of talking to POs as they are developing their proposals to make sure they're a good fit, but sometimes if their proposals are not funded, they throw up their hands. Not getting a grant can feel defeating, but after you've had some time to get over your frustration and have read your reviews with a clear head, reach out to your PO to see if they can give you additional insight into the review conversation. The PO can advise you as to what might make your proposal more competitive for the next go-round.

Reviewers don't want to be reading your proposal in the first place
When we asked Dr. Thorburn, what do reviewers really want, he replied that they don't want to be reading your grant proposal. He explained that reviewers are reading many proposals on top of all their other responsibilities. They might be reading it on the weekend when they'd rather be doing a multitude of other things. Having said that, Dr. Thorburn recommended writing clearly to make sure the process isn't more agonizing than it may be already.

There's no way you can make a grant proposal too simple
Speaking to Dr. Thorburn's last point, he emphasized that when it comes to grant writing, it's impossible to make your proposal too simple or too easy to read. This is why you should not hesitate to rid your proposal of as much jargon as possible and always connect the dots for your reviewer. Never let the reviewer guess at what you're doing or why it's important - tell them clearly, early on, and often throughout the proposal.

Resources:
Can We Talk? Contacting Program Officers - Robert Porter
What do Reviewers Really Want Anyway? - Robert Porter