Developing a Funded Research Program Lori Post, PhD Dept of Emergency Medicine

1. Developing a Funded Research ProgramLori Post, PhD Dept of Emergency Medicine October 28, 2010

2. Why do I want to land a grant? • Proposal writing is key to: • Funding your own research • Creating and controlling your work environment • Independence • Getting a job • Getting a better job • Higher Salary • Being promoted

3. DISCLAIMERS • Don’t bank on everything I say • There is more than one way to skin a cat • This presentation is a reflection of my experience with the grant process • Observe and mentor with other successfully grant funded researchers

4. Developing a goal oriented lifestyle

5. Goal Oriented Lifestyle • Develop THE PLAN. • What specifically is your area of expertise and interest? • Where do you want to be in five years? • Where do you want to be in ten years? • The biggest predictor of achieving your goals is being able to articulate them.

7. Determine Overarching Career Goals • Develop a timeline with goals and objectives. • Developing new goals = GOOD. • Giving up = BAD.

8. Strategies • Publications • Partnering • Networking • Proposals • Develop a national reputation • Recognize an opportunity

9. PUBLICATIONS • Can NOT get a federal grant without them. • Set a minimum of two per year. • Hierarchy • Peer reviewed journals – shoot for tier 1 in your area • Chapters • Books • Abstracts and Briefs and Reports

10. Partnering • Who is interested in what you are interested in? • State and Federal Government • Community • Other departments/schools at Yale • Other Universities (ride on somebody else’s coat tails when you are junior)

11. Networking • Present at national conferences every year and eat dinner • Get involved in organizational administration • Review papers • Scientific panels • Sit on advisory councils • Attend coalition interest groups • Contact federal, state and local government • Contact national/international figures in areas of interest

12. Proposals • The biggest predictor of getting funding is applying • Write lots of proposals (3 per year) • Take the reviewer comments • Improve • Try again

13. Developing a National Reputation • Publications, Publications, Publications • Conference presentations • Review papers and proposals • National advisory committees • National Academy of Sciences • Make contact with others with national reputations

14. Recognize an Opportunity • Say “YES” when people ask you to collaborate • Don’t get bogged down with dead weight • Don’t invest your time in somebody else’s career • Its usually as much work to get a big grant as a little one

15. Funding Mechanisms, cycles, where to find • PHS Agencies • Community of Science • Create a portfolio of funding agencies like you would your own retirement

16. Opportunities to obtain support / funding from YCCI? •Scholar Awards •Pilot Grants •Office of Research Services

17. YCCI Junior Faculty Scholars • The YCCI Junior Faculty Scholars program is focused on furthering the training of junior faculty members or postdoctoral fellows who are ready to transition to faculty and are strongly committed to careers in clinical or translational research. The program, which includes KL2 career development award recipients, awards funding for salary support and research. • Annual competition for any faculty member in first 5 years of appointment • Up to 75% salary support and up to $30K for supplies • 2 year award

18. Yale Resources • Research Associates and budget officers within your own department or section • Grants budget pre and post awards • Grants Seminar Series • YCCI & YCAS

21. Proposal Writing • Is one SMALL aspect of landing a grant. • Most workshops focus on the mechanicsof proposal writing. Most are lead by non grant active administrators. • Whether or not your proposal is funded depends on a well written proposal PLUS other aspects we will talk about today. • A poorly written proposal will disqualify you no matter how good the idea.

22. Mechanics of Proposal Writing method problem goals staff appendix stats title budget evaluate

23. Proposal Detail • EXERCISE: P & B

24. HINT # 1Make Life Easier • Borrow, copy, remodel, recycle • No need to reinvent the wheel • All your work should be leading to the same place so a proposal is not new work • You will learn to develop proposal language

25. HINT # 2Don’t Be Lazy! • NEVER EVER PLAGIARIZE! Software will tell • The application MUST match the announcement – don’t shove a square peg in a round hole • Same group of reviewers and they have good memories

26. HINT # 3Develop Yourself First • Writing an excellent research proposal is just one aspect of successfully funding a project • Developing a successful research PROGRAM is essential

27. HINT # 5You Cannot Fool a Panel! • Reviewers are experts in your area • That is why they are reviewers • They easily feel offended if you overlook their work • Cite their work • Be on top of the literature

28. HINT # 6Snap Judgments • It takes 30 seconds to judge you! • First impressions taint and frame the entire review. • Publications better be commensurate with experience, funding, and years out of training • References – 90-95% of the literature should be in the last five years except for seminal citations. Be on top of the literature. • PET PEEVE is grant apps with references that stop when investigator graduated school

29. HINT # 9Sell Yourself • Promote! Promote! Promote! • You must show you are amazing, going to solve an important issue, are brilliant, have the means to do it, know what you are doing. • You must do this even if it makes you uncomfortable • Cultural Issues

30. HINT # 10Be Responsive • Respond to Program Officer • Respond to RFA/RFP • Respond to foundation or center goals. They are usually on websites

31. HINT # 11Funding Faux Pas • There is no relationship between how much you ask for and being funded as long as you are below the cap • Asking for too little makes you seem naïve and a novice which makes your reviewer think negatively of you • A grant award results in a contract. You MUST deliver what you promise even if the funding is insufficient

32. HINT # 12Strategies for Career Stage • New Faculty • Training • Publications • Mentoring • Research Active but not Grant Active • Apply for smaller grants to get research management experience • No Research • Publications (need 3 years of activity)

33. Common Mistakes in Writing Grants • Ideas not original or significant. • Unrealistic amount of work proposed (overambitious). • Project too diffuse, lacks focus. • Rationale to do project not clear or valid. • Project is fishing expedition and/or lacks hypothesis driven research. • Studies are based on a shaky hypothesis or shaky data. • Proposed experiments are descriptive and do not test a hypothesis. • The proposal is technology driven not hypothesis driven.

34. Time to Write a Grant • 300 Hours R01 • 400-600 for a Multi Investigator Program Grant • Get as much stuff done ahead. Bio-Sketch • Descriptions of facilities, resources, etc. • Borrow the “non-science” aspects from other proposals • Look at successful proposals

35. Questions???