an overview Doug Levey Dept Biology Take home messages Start small but above all start Proposal writing is a skill requiring practice Dont be afraid of failure Seek mentoring ID: 298412
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Slide1
Writing grant proposals:an overviewDoug Levey (Dept. Biology)Slide2
Take home messagesStart small (but above all, start!)Proposal writing is a skill
, requiring practiceDon’t be afraid of failureSeek mentoringFollow directionsKeep objectives of funding agency in mind
Put yourself in the shoes of a reviewerSlide3
Why proposals are important (and why you should be writing them)
Fellowship supportThey empower you to do your own researchThey prove you:
Have good ideasCan communicate those ideasWill be able to support your work
IMPORTANT: Size doesn’t matterSlide4
It’s not naturalProposal writing is hard – it requires practiceRisk is requiredT
he successes are what matter
(Photos of baseball players removed from original presentation)Slide5
It’s not naturalProposal writing is hard – it requires practiceRisk is requiredIt’s the
successes that countDoug’s batting average .260
Doug’s successes: $5.4 millionDoug’s “failures”: $15.1 million
Remember this (quiz coming up…)
Photo of congratulatory mob at home plate removedSlide6
The 2 RoadblocksFear of failure (If I don’t try, I can’t fail)
Flip this around: What is the best predictor of success in writing grant proposals ? Number of times you submit
average = 2.7 for NSF Slide7
The 2 RoadblocksFear of failure (If I don’t try, I can’t fail)
ADVICEStart smallSubmit at least 1 proposal per semesterHave a vision and build towards it
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else” (Yogi Berra)Find mentors (professors and peers). Don’t be shy!Get examples of successful proposals
Web resources (at UF: i-cubed; UF library
; Graduate School)Slide8Slide9
Workshops
Subscribe to funding alerts
Master list of grants & FellowshipsSlide10
UF Graduate School Site – lots
of information!Slide11
The 2 RoadblocksFear of failure (If I don’t try, I can’t fail)
It’s too complicated & overwhelmingADVICE
“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going” (Beverly Sills)Same as before: Start small; keep trying; find mentors and seek feedback
Read directions (There’s a reason for the complexity; figure it out!)
Example: NSF’s two merit criteria,
Scientific Merit
and
Broader Impact
Plan in advance. (Make a list of proposal deadlines and requirements)
Reviewers are your best
guides
to a better proposal. Act on their advice.Slide12
You’ve found your way around those roadblocks. Now what?(Miscellaneous advice)
Put yourself in the shoes of reviewers and panel members
How the process works
Bottom Line
: Reviewers are hurried but care. Make their job as easy as possible.Slide13
How to make a reviewer’s job easierAssume the reviewer is a generalist in your field, who knows little about your particular topic. Thus …
Job #1 is to convince them your idea is worthwhile. Paint the big picture first. Then, highlight how your project fits into the big picture.Friendly formattingFollow exactly the order of sections requested
Use different fonts to highlight important pointsState hypotheses (or goals)Explicitly link anticipated results to your hypotheses. Or, how will goals be assessed?
Make sure you’ve addressed merit criteria
We’ll return to this slideSlide14
Example of an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Proposal (J. Resasco)Testing
an Ecological Cost of Habitat Corridors: Spread of Invasive SpeciesBackground:
As extensive tracks of habitat become fragmented, populations in the remaining habitat become isolated and increasingly vulnerable to extinction. A frequently touted solution is the creation or maintenance of habitat corridors – strips of habitat that connect otherwise isolated patches of the same habitat and that presumably increase animal movement between patches
1-3. Although corridors make intuitive sense, their actual effectiveness remains controversial4,5. The controversy has arisen because: (1) studies frequently reach opposite conclusions1
, (2) the vast majority of studies are non-experimental, small-scale or poorly replicated2, (3) confounding factors are often overlooked (e.g., the additional area and edge habitat that corridors inevitably bring with them)1, and (4) corridors may facilitate the spread of invasive species
6
.
I
will test the effectiveness of corridors in restoring communities of native ants in a highly threatened ecosystem, longleaf pine savanna
. I am fortunate to be able to address or overcome many of the above problems and constraints of previous studies.
Specifically …..
The issue
A novel twistSlide15
Example of an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Proposal (J. Resasco)Testing
an Ecological Cost of Habitat Corridors: Spread of Invasive SpeciesBackground:
As extensive tracks of habitat become fragmented, populations in the remaining habitat become isolated and increasingly vulnerable to extinction. A frequently touted solution is the creation or maintenance of habitat corridors – strips of habitat that connect otherwise isolated patches of the same habitat and that presumably increase animal movement between patches
1-3. Although corridors make intuitive sense, their actual effectiveness remains controversial4,5. The controversy has arisen because: (1) studies frequently reach opposite conclusions
1, (2) the vast majority of studies are non-experimental, small-scale or poorly replicated2, (3) confounding factors are often overlooked (e.g., the additional area and edge habitat that corridors inevitably bring with them)1
, and (4) corridors may facilitate the spread of invasive species
6
.
I
will test the effectiveness of corridors in restoring communities of native ants in a highly threatened ecosystem, longleaf pine savanna
. I am fortunate to be able to address or overcome many of the above problems and constraints of previous studies.
Specifically …..
The issue
The solution
A novel twistSlide16
Example of a successful NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Proposal (J. Resasco)
Testing an Ecological Cost of Habitat Corridors: Spread of Invasive Species
Background: As extensive tracks of habitat become fragmented, populations in the remaining habitat become isolated and increasingly vulnerable to extinction. A frequently touted solution is the creation or maintenance of habitat corridors – strips of habitat that connect otherwise isolated patches of the same habitat and that presumably increase animal movement between patches
1-3. Although corridors make intuitive sense, their actual effectiveness remains controversial4,5
. The controversy has arisen because: (1) studies frequently reach opposite conclusions1, (2) the vast majority of studies are non-experimental, small-scale or poorly replicated
2
, (3) confounding factors are often overlooked (e.g., the additional area and edge habitat that corridors inevitably bring with them)
1
, and (4) corridors may facilitate the spread of invasive species
6
.
I
will test the effectiveness of corridors in restoring communities of native ants in a highly threatened ecosystem, longleaf pine savanna
. I am fortunate to be able to address or overcome many of the above problems and constraints of previous studies.
Specifically …..
The issue
The solution
The
contro-versySlide17
Example of an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Proposal (J. Resasco)Testing
an Ecological Cost of Habitat Corridors: Spread of Invasive SpeciesBackground:
As extensive tracks of habitat become fragmented, populations in the remaining habitat become isolated and increasingly vulnerable to extinction. A frequently touted solution is the creation or maintenance of habitat corridors – strips of habitat that connect otherwise isolated patches of the same habitat and that presumably increase animal movement between patches1-3. Although corridors make intuitive sense, their actual effectiveness remains controversial
4,5. The controversy has arisen because: (1) studies frequently reach opposite conclusions1, (2) the vast majority of studies are non-experimental, small-scale or poorly replicated
2, (3) confounding factors are often overlooked (e.g., the additional area and edge habitat that corridors inevitably bring with them)1, and (4) corridors may facilitate the spread of invasive species
6
.
I
will test the effectiveness of corridors in restoring communities of native ants in a highly threatened ecosystem
, longleaf pine savanna
. I am fortunate to be able to address or overcome many of the above problems and constraints of previous studies.
Specifically …..
The issue
The solution
The
contro-versy
Statement of PurposeSlide18
Hypotheses: I hypothesize that (H1) Corridors will increase species richness of longleaf pine savanna ants
. (H2) Corridors will increase abundance of S. invicta
. (H3) S. invicta abundance will be negatively correlated with the species richness and abundance of native ants.
(H4) Removal of S.
invicta will increase the species richness and abundance of native ants. Methods: The experimental manipulation required for H 1-3
has already occurred. Testing these hypotheses now requires data on spatial and temporal variation in ant abundance. I will census
ants….
To test
H4
, I
will ….
Analyses:
Tests of
H1
and
H2
will employ the same Mixed Linear Model used in previous studies at this site
1-3
, with landscape as a random effect and patch type and distance to edge as fixed effects. Species richness will be standardized via rarefaction.
H3
will be tested via regression.
H4
will be tested as a Before–After-Control–Impact (BACI) design.
Clearly articulated hypothesesSlide19
Hypotheses: I hypothesize that (H1) Corridors will increase species richness of longleaf pine savanna ants
. (H2) Corridors will increase abundance of S. invicta
. (H3) S. invicta abundance will be negatively correlated with the species richness and abundance of native ants.
(H4) Removal of S.
invicta will increase the species richness and abundance of native ants. Methods: The experimental manipulation required for
H 1-3
has already occurred
. Testing these hypotheses now requires data on spatial and temporal variation in ant abundance. I will census
ants….
To test
H4
, I
will
….
Analyses:
Tests of
H1
and
H2
will employ
the
a Mixed
Linear Model
….
H3
will be tested via regression.
H4
will be tested as
a Before–After-Control–Impact (BACI) design.
Clearly articulated hypotheses
Methods and Analyses linked to HypothesesSlide20
Broader Impacts: Many conservation plans simply assume that habitat corridors are effective4. Data are sorely lacking. My project provides an opportunity to
integrate straightforward tests of corridor theory with restoration of a highly threatened habitat. Likewise, invasive species are often blindly assumed to have detrimental effects on native species, but
restoring native biodiversity may not be as simple as removing non-native species10. My project will test the extent to which this is the case. Finally, the U.S. Forest Service is keenly interested in applying
our results in their longleaf management plans at SRS -- I am already collaborating with them, attempting to bridge research and restoration. Apart from this project’s broader impacts on conservation, I believe ecologists have a responsibility to educate the general public about their work. Such outreach is especially critical for children and youth from groups under-represented in science.
I will use this project to bring new material to my current and future outreach activities (STEP and SPICE, respectively; see Personal Statement).
How this study fills a need in conservation
Integration of theory and practice
Novel twist
Personal statement of conviction
Specific plan and link to other part of applicationSlide21
How to make a reviewer’s job easierAssume the reviewer is a generalist in your field, who knows little about your particular topic. Thus …
Job #1 is to convince them your idea is worthwhile. Paint the big picture first. Then, highlight how your project fits into the big picture.Friendly formattingFollow exactly the order of sections requested
Use different fonts to highlight important pointsState hypotheses (or goals)Explicitly link anticipated results to your hypotheses. Or, how will goals be assessed?
Make sure you’ve addressed merit criteria
We’ll return to this slideSlide22
Take home messagesStart smallProposal writing is a skill, requiring practiceDon’t be afraid of failure
Seek mentoringFollow directionsKeep objectives of funding agency in mindPut yourself in the shoes of a reviewer