Scientific Outreach and Grantsmanship Part 6 Writing Grant Proposals

Getting a grant is like having a paper published
- Prof. Susan Laurance

Similarities with writing a paper
• There are reviewers
• Need careful planning of experiments & writing in
order to maximise the your chances of acceptance

But some differences
• The tone and writing style is very diferente
• Grant funding agents often do not give feedback
• If you are the Principal Investigator (PI), YOU and
your qualifications/experiences/online-presence
could matter
• You are expected to deliver the goods (progress
reports, publications etc)

WHERE ARE THE GRANTS
WHAT KINDS OF GRANTS

Sources of these “Grants”
• Government
• Corporations
(businesses)
• Philantropic
• Public (“Crowd-funded”)
• Specific fund-raising
events

What kinds of “Grants”?
• Grants for projects
• Sometimes only fieldwork and/or equipment and/or
analyses, to buy land
• Scholarships/prizes
• Sometimes only for certain nationalities/genders/disciplines
• Sometimes only for short professional development (1-4
months)
• Bursaries
• Based on financial condition of the applicant
• Waivers
• Waivers for studies, etc

All require an application process!
Typical activities involved
• Writing a proposal (sometimes with Bibliography)
• Sometimes a cover letter
• Prepare your CV (in English!)
• Prepare your online presence
• Sometimes a short vídeo (absolutely neccessary for
some types of grant applications)
• Budgeting
• Initiating collaborations (for industry, public sector
sometimes)
• Gathering references (people who know your skills)
Except personal funds

What do Grant/proposal reviewers
look for?
• Firstly, it depends on
the background of the
reviewer
• Politician?/Governme
ntal person?
• Another scientist?
(but again the
background matters)
• The CEO or managers
of a company?
• A mix
RULE BEFORE ALL RULES

look for?
• Firstly, it depends on the background of the
reviewer
• Politician?/Governmental person?
• Another scientist? (but again the background matters)
• The CEO or managers of a company?
• A mix
• ALL OF THEM WILL APPRECIATE:
•A Clear and Easy to Follow
proposal

look for?
Pay particular attention to the:
- Importance of the research topic and question
- Presence of a clear problem statement
- Up to date review of the literature
- Use of an optimal design and instrumentation
- Sufficient and unbiased sample
- Appropriate and well applied statistics.
And you need to write all these in a way that is non-technical

But remember that ultimately, the
story matters
• Michael Fay’s Mega Transect

RULE NO. 1
• KNOW THE
ELIGIBILITY
CRITERIA &
REQUIREMENTS!
• Also try to know
who is assessing
your proposal
(scientists,
administrators,
politicians, or a
combination)

RULE NO. 2
• PLAN AHEAD!!!
• Give yourself enough
time to research and
write
• Some applications
need many documents
that will take time to
gather
PROPOSAL

RULE NO. 3
• DO ENOUGH
RESEARCH ABOUT
THE TOPIC
• Formulate compelling
questions,
hypotheses
• How will you conduct
your study?
• Your proposal must
cover the topic well

RULE NO. 4
• GET THE NEEDED
DOCUMENTATION
• Ethics approval etc
(sometimes it is ok if
it is pre-approved)
• Collection permits if
relevant
• Visas
• Contact the
appropriate people
for documents
needed
• (Sometimes referral letters
are needed, especially for
Fellowships/Scholarships)

RULE NO. 5
• WRITE A FLAWLESS
GRANT PROPOSAL
• The plan must be
realistic
• Vocabulary/Grammar
perfect
• Word limits/Instructions
followed
• Everything ties up
• Budget matches plan
• etc

RULE NO. 6
• SELL SELL SELL
• It must be attractive
• It must be worth the
money spent (i.e
produce useful
outcomes)
• Does it help train
students?
• Add value by having a
plan for broader
outreach
• Consider
interdisciplinar work

Timetables
• Make sure you plan out everything well!
• Depending on timeframe, the milestones can be
monthly or quarterly
• Make sure data collection (or fieldwork), data
analysis, writing time is clearly planned out
• Good to say that data analysis and writing will be carried
out throughout
• MUST BE REALISTIC

Budget
• Must look well thought-out and reasonable
• Depending on the requirements, you may need to
give details (brands etc) of items you are budgeting
for
• Try to ask for lower than the maximum

A checklist for grant writing
Bordage, G., & Dawson, B. (2003). Experimental study design and grant writing in eight steps
and 28 questions. Medical education, 37(4), 376-385.

Who should be on your grant?
• Well YOU
• Your supervisor (while you are an under/postgrad.
or Early Career Researcher) working under a larger
Project
• People who can and want to contribute (even
better consider interdisciplinar partners)
• Partners in industry/education (depending on
Project)
• Partners for scientific outreach
• Involve students!

So... Grant
writing
• It is going to be challenging
• Learn from failures
• Start Practicing early in your career

Local/National opportunities (in
Brazil)
National/State
• CAPEs
• CNPQ
• FAPE(estadual)
• Etc
Environment related
• Boticário
• etc
Any field (All states)
• L'Oréal (Para
mulheres)
• Serrapileira
• Etc
Certain fields (All
states)
• Petrobras
• etc

International Opportunities
(thematic studies)
• Prince Bernhard Nature Fund (for Threatened Species)
https://www.pbnf.nl/grantseekers/
• Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (for Threatened Species)
https://www.speciesconservation.org/
• SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund (for Threatened
Species/habitats)
https://swbg-conservationfund.org/en/grant-seekers/grant-faq
• National Geographic Grants for Early Career Researchers
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/grants/grant-opportunities/
• etc

Funds for other things (e.g
equipment)
• Neotropical Grasslands Conservancy: Research Equipment
Program (thematic)
http://conservegrassland.org/our-programs/#equipment
• Find more within your discipline, etc.

TIP
• I suggest making a time table for submission due
dates for the grants you are interested in applying
for

Crowd funding
• A popular option that we should all try
• Ask for small amounts (usually a few Thousand $)
• Much less bureaucracy
• In many cases it is YOU who gets the Money
• The most easy to outreach

Crowdfunding websites
• https://www.kickante.com.br
• Redologos.com.br
• Experiment.com
• Rockethub
• https://crowd.science/
• USEED (useed.org – donations made
to the University)
• Consano (medical-related)
• Medstartr (medical-related)
• FundRazr (medical-related)
• Indiegogo
• Kickstarter (US citizens only)
• GoFundMe
• Razoo (if you are part of a non-profit
organization)
• Appbackr (to fund apps)
Science-only
platforms
General
platforms
There are many other platforms you may find

But Understand This!
Crowdfunding is not
as easy as it looks

ESSENTIAL TO READ
Vachelard, J., Gambarra-Soares, T., Augustini, G., Riul,
P., & Maracaja-Coutinho, V. (2016). A guide to
scientific crowdfunding. PLoS biology, 14(2),
e1002373.
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1
371/journal.pbio.1002373
Wheat, R. E., Wang, Y., Byrnes, J. E., & Ranganathan,
J. (2013). Raising money for scientific research
through crowdfunding. Trends in ecology &
evolution, 28, 71-72.

Tips for Crowdfunding campaigns
Tip Before Tip 1. The Video is CRUCIAL:
- You need a well-planned, compelling video
- Short. Make the first 30 seconds matter!.
- Good sound, good lighting, stable images.
- Answer clearly why are you asking money from the
crowd and what is the big picture behind your project?

1. Have a good idea or a terrific story:
- Your research idea must be too good not to be part
of;
- your supporter must believe in your ability to make
a defined step forward.
https://natureecoevocommunity.nature.com/users/54273-olwen-m-grace/posts/18355-
crowdfunding-your-science

2. Have your support network/system ready:
- Colleagues, friends and family to help with publicity
and in delivering the goods. Run your campaign as a
team if possible.
- Engage the expertise of the science support teams
at your institute, and friends who may have
experience with publicity and science outreach.
- Be prepared to answer difficult questions and, deal
with trolls online and unwelcome correspondence

3. Have a plan and be flexible
- - adapt the campaign as it
progresses to suit the mood
on social media and the
opportunities that arise while
it runs.
- - Plan to measure success at
certain intervals and make
snap decisions if necessary.
- - Plan time for social media.

4. Use a solid crowdfunding platform
- - Use a platform with credible experience and a
reliable pay channel, and get advice from your
institute about how to get this right.
- - Think about whether you want to use a science-
only platform or a general crowdfunding platform
where you will likely reach a wider audience but
compete with many more projects for backers.

5. Have a meaningful reward
for your supporters
• E.G,
• a day in the field, in the lab
with you,
• a mention in your paper or
webpage acknowledgments.
• If your project leads to a
product, provide a first sample
of your prototype as a reward
• Name a species after you
supporter

Another important resource for
learning about Crowdfunding
• https://scifundchallenge.org/

Study Scholarships (usually PHD) for
study/Exchange programs overseas
• Scholarshipstips website (subscribe to their newsletter)
https://scholarshipstips.com/
Also see their Twitter (@ScholarshipsGL)
• Missouri Botanical Gardens fellowships/scholarships (For botany, plant phylogeo/ecology etc)
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/plant-science/plant-science/resources/opportunities/fellowships.aspx
• Kew Scholarships (For botany, plant phylogeo etc)
https://www.kew.org/science/training-and-education/scholarships
• Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future (for women in STEM)
https://www.fftf.slb.com/
• Endeavour Fellowship (to do a postdoc in STEM in Australia)
https://internationaleducation.gov.au/Endeavour%20program/Scholarships-and-Fellowships/Pages/default.aspx
• Tem que ter mais...

For Fellowshups after your PhD
(outside of Brazil)
• Branco Weiss Postdoctoral Fellowships
https://brancoweissfellowship.org/
• Marie Curie Fellowships
https://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/actions/individual-fellowships_en
• Smithsonian Institute Postdoc fellowships
https://www.smithsonianofi.com/fellowship-opportunities/
• Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future (for women in STEM)
https://www.fftf.slb.com/
• Endeavour Fellowship (to do a postdoc in Australia)
https://internationaleducation.gov.au/Endeavour%20program/Scholarships-and-Fellowships/Pages/default.aspx
• Or various other opportunities you may find for postdocs from your social media/ResearchGate/LinkedIn

EXAMPLE OF SECTIONS OF AN
INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION

•The Describe Your Program section

•The How does Project align with
your PERSONAL goals section

•The How does Project align with your
PERSONAL goals section (contd.)

Benefits to home or host country section

References
• Bordage, G., & Dawson, B. (2003). Experimental study design and grant writing
in eight steps and 28 questions. Medical education, 37(4), 376-385.
• Porter, R. (2007). Why Academics Have a Hard Time Writing Good Grant
Proposals. Journal of Research Administration, 38(2), 37-43.
• Blanco, M. A., & Lee, M. Y. (2012). Twelve tips for writing educational research
grant proposals. Medical teacher, 34(6), 450-453.
• Wisdom, J. P., Riley, H., & Myers, N. (2015). Recommendations for writing
successful grant proposals: an information synthesis. Academic Medicine,
90(12), 1720-1725.
• Liu, J. C., Pynnonen, M. A., St John, M., Rosenthal, E. L., Couch, M. E., &
Schmalbach, C. E. (2016). Grant-writing pearls and pitfalls: maximizing funding
opportunities. Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, 154(2), 226-232.

Scientific Outreach and Grantsmanship Part 6 Writing Grant Proposals

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