By
Francesca Williamson
Pic Courtesy: Google
Granting
writing is a key skill for researchers, teachers, non-profit managers, and
anyone looking to fund scholarly or creative activities. Graduate school is a
time to learn key skills for academic and non-academic pathways, yet we
often have variable experience with finding grants and writing proposals for
broad audiences. The grant writing process, though challenging, can be
rewarding for scholars who have learned key practices for preparing successful
proposals. For this blog, I share tips and resources to consider for pursuing
grants during graduate studies and
beyond.
Seek support for finding funding
opportunities
Many types
of funding are available to graduate students, such as support travel to
conferences, research grants, pre-doctoral and dissertation fellowships, and grants
for specialized equipment or services (e.g., transcription, data collection
tools).
Funding
opportunities can be grouped into two categories:
- Internal: funding offered through your institution and typically available to faculty, postdocs, graduate students, or undergraduates. These opportunities are usually announced using departmental email lists and institutional databases.
- External: opportunities beyond your institution, such as community-based foundations or national organizations (e.g., National Science Foundation).
Internal
and external funding can be difficult to find at first, but many institutions
of higher education have offices and staff who work with grant seekers –
faculty, postdocs, graduate students, etc. – to find funding opportunities for
research and creative activities. A good starting point for finding these
opportunities is to contact the Office of Research Administration (another
possible name: Office of Research and Sponsored Projects) at your institution.
Staff in these offices are often expert users for internal and external grant
databases and help grant seekers understand eligibility requirements for
grants.
Example grant databases:
COS Pivot (pivot.cos.com): This online database has over 20,000 funding opportunities internationally ($7.26B for the field of education alone!). Many institutions have subscriptions to this database and, if so, students can create accounts for free.
GrantForward (grantforward.com): A large online database of funding opportunities that also requires an institutional subscription.
Example funding opportunity related to science education:
Example grant databases:
COS Pivot (pivot.cos.com): This online database has over 20,000 funding opportunities internationally ($7.26B for the field of education alone!). Many institutions have subscriptions to this database and, if so, students can create accounts for free.
GrantForward (grantforward.com): A large online database of funding opportunities that also requires an institutional subscription.
Example funding opportunity related to science education:
National Geographic Society: Participatory Science
(due January 2019, up to $50,000)
“We seek
to support participatory science through the development or
innovative use of data-driven, technology-powered tools that will increase the
understanding, preservation, and protection of our planet.
Applicants should design and/or implement tools that support
citizen science work, particularly data collection or data analysis,
in ways that create learning experiences for citizen scientists, including
students.” – abstract from COS Pivot.
Utilize campus writing support for
preparing grant proposals
Grant
writing is a unique genre. It can take the form of a five-page research
proposal or an application with a few 250-character responses. In either case,
the narrative and “big picture” of the idea you propose should be compelling
and clear. Writing support staff on campus can help you write a strong
narrative for your work. Here are some example tips I’ve received from the
writing support staff on campus:
- Know your audience. Who will be reviewing the proposal? Experts in your field? Interdisciplinary audience? Practitioners? What writing style is suited for that audience?
- Weave your “why” or the underlying motivation for your work in the project narrative.
- Keep jargon to a minimum.
- Ask a colleague from a different discipline to review your proposal (and offer to do the same for them!)
- Clearly describe measurable outcomes and connect them to your narrative.
- Make the broader impact of your work clear.
Resources
Many
books, articles, and resources are available to support researchers and
educators win grants. These resources provide practical guidance for the
various stages of grant writing – crafting project ideas, creating budgets,
what to do after a rejection, and more. Here are a few helpful resources:
Comments
Post a Comment