Sure, using trained researchers, or experienced research
administrators to encourage, mentor, train, cajole, and support
principal investigators is THE thing to do. Hiring "grant writers" is
probably not. Separating a grant development function from the
sponsored programs office is also probably not the thing to do. It's
ALL important, and to separate out the development function from the
fiscal function seems to me a lot like assigning one person to write
the narrative and another to do the budget without providing a means
of collaboration between the two -- it just doesn't work. That's not
to say that there shouldn't be staff with expertise in particular
areas, but physically and programmatically separating the two
functions seems shortsighted to me.

If there are resources to hire "grant writers, " think about using
those resources instead to hire a really good technical editor, to
encourage PIs to serve as proposal reviewers, to encourage
collaborative efforts, to discover what skills they lack and then
provide training in that area. Research is all part of scholarship,
and that's what we should be encouraging.

-Marcia

Marcia Landen Zuzolo
Sponsored Research Services
Bryan Hall, Room 1
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN 47405
812/855-0516 (v)
812/855-9943 (f)
xxxxxx@indiana.edu

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Know yourself. Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.
-Anonymous