The academic research enterprise is highly complex, involving multiple sectors of society and a vast array of approaches. In "Demystifying the Academic Research Enterprise," Kelvin K. Droegemeier shows next-generation scholars across all disciplines how to become more productive earlier in their career, as well as how to help shape the…

A review of major grantsmanship and research proposal guides identified common themes for the preparation and writing of the literature review: completeness, currentness, discussion of results and methodology, critical nature, organization, and uniqueness. It is suggested that much of the advice given is anecdotal and should be tested for…

Large collaborative grant applications, typically involving researchers from varied disciplines and proposing a lengthy work span, can be stressful for researchers and research administrators. The research office of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston helps plan and develop these complex applications. Resources and services are…

The University of Wisconsin River Falls is a small, primarily undergraduate teaching institution with a limited history of grant support. In 1990 it created an office of grants and research, whose director found writing proposals with faculty to be an effective way to increase external funding. The methods, pitfalls, and results of this approach…

After a continuing effort to improve its grant application process, the department of medical microbiology and immunology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is submitting many more applications and realizing increased funding. The methods and strategy used to make the process more efficient and effective are outlined. (Author/MSE)

As researchers turn to industry over government for research funding, it is proposed that research administrators provide substantial assistance to faculty in the different strategies and skills needed to win grants. Differences between corporate and federal sponsors, basic strategies found effective in winning grants, and elements of effective…

A study of 163 colleges and universities examined 33 variables seen as incentives for faculty to engage in sponsored research. Results suggest a small predictive relationship between released time to write proposals, reduced faculty loads to work on funded projects, availability of graduate and research assistants, return of some direct costs to…

Diminishing resources have sent colleges and universities searching for innovative ways to increase external funding. Proposal development workshops to increase the number of individuals competent to submit competitive proposals were offered at the University of Oklahoma. Experiences in developing a model program are described. (Author/MLW)

A survey of tenure-track faculty in the Texas A & M University college of education investigated attitudes concerning the environment for grantsmanship. Results indicate the need for a system providing faculty with assigned time for proposal development, provision of start-up money for competitive grant-writing, equal emphasis on grant writing…

To demystify the grant-seeking and proposal-writing process, two administrators at Kutztown University (Pennsylvania) began a standing committee to train, encourage, and help faculty members assist each other. The committee has offered collaboration, social support, and technical expertise; the result has been an increase in grant proposals and…

A faculty development workshop program at Southeast Missouri State University is designed to introduce faculty to the importance, techniques, and applications of classroom research, to expose faculty to prospective research project sponsors, and to discuss development of qualitative research proposals. Providing faculty with such opportunities is…

Examines both benefits and problems associated with collaborative projects, based on experiences of the University of Southern Indiana and 15 school corporations in the state to improve public school mathematics and science instruction. While the partnerships had many positive outcomes, the burden of preparing proposals and implementing projects…

Guidelines for managers of university research groups cover securing resources, personnel, and services and choosing collaborators, as well as organizing, supervising, and controlling research activities. Attention is directed to: orientation of personnel; reporting mechanisms; boosting morale; the needs of different personnel; handling travel,…