Much of the literature on grant writing does not explicitly identify the skills needed to be an accomplished grant writer, or how these skills are acquired. This paper reviews literature on grant writing and argues the need to identify key grant writing skills to improve the quality of grant applications. The ability to persuade, to weave a clear…

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…

The ability to interact with and properly manage data in a research setting has become increasingly important in all disciplines. Libraries are attempting to identify their role in providing data management services. However, humanities faculty's conceptions of data and their data management practices are not well-known. This qualitative study…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) established the Building University Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) initiative to increase engagement and retention of undergraduates from diverse backgrounds in biomedical research. Portland State University, in partnership with ten other academic institutions, received a BUILD award and…

Research administrator interest in large research proposal development and submission support is high, arguably in response to the bleak funding landscape for research and federal agency trends toward making more frequent larger awards. In response, a team from Penn State University and Huron Consulting Group initiated a baseline study to…

Over the past decade there has been a dramatic increase in undergraduate research activities at colleges and universities nationwide. However, this comes at a time when budgets are being tightened and some institutions do not have the resources to pursue new initiatives. In this article we present some ideas for obtaining funding and support for…

Experienced grant writers know that reviewers are quick to decide whether they like or do not like the proposals they are reading. Therefore, much of the success of any given proposal rides on the strength of the first page--its capacity to "sell" the research idea to skeptical reviewers. This paper describes a writing technique designed to elicit…

Conventional wisdom says that the way to win more awards is to get researchers writing more proposals. Yet many incentives designed to stimulate proposal development can be hard on the bottom line, especially those that pay researchers for their time or to attend grant-writing workshops presented by outside consulting firms. This paper presents…

With tightening university budgets, never before has the activity level of research grant proposal writing been more intense. With increased proposal numbers, including for the National Science Foundation's (NSF) prestigious CAREER award, has also come increased competition and decreased funding rates. This dissertation has searched for successful…

Graduate students must complete a research project to receive their degree. In addition to this basic requirement, the student may be required to submit a research proposal and application to the governing Institutional Review Board (IRB) for approval prior to beginning the research project. This article describes the IRB process and offers tips…

With some NIH pay lines running at or below the 10th percentile, and funding becoming scarce for large science grants, new approaches are necessary to secure large interdisciplinary grant awards. The UCSD Moores Cancer Center has developed a team approach, starting with the identification of a competitive opportunity and progressing to the…

Research has shown that women may perform actions such as leading, communicating, or working on a team differently than men perform them. For example, female leaders may have a more inclusive rather than authoritarian style. The American university is an institution designed by men for men. Women are increasingly represented as students and…

Social workers in academic and agency settings have the opportunity to do funded research using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) R03 small grant mechanism designed for discrete, clearly defined projects that can be completed within a 1- to 2-year time period with limited funding. This article describes the R03 mechanism and provides a guide…