Re: Do people need help with proposal writing? Sally Eckert-Tilotta (Sally Eckert-Tilotta) 24 Apr 1998 14:18 EST
But Anne, are you really a hired gun? Do you write proposals for these faculty, or do you edit *their* work? A hired gun, in my mind, gathers info from a PI to support a proposal that he/she writes, or rewrites a PI's first draft. Or at least, in a collaborative project, collects the pieces contributed by others and writes a "frame" connecting them together. Not only designs how a proposal is put together, but actually puts it together. But you bring up a point that program officers in federal agencies have certainly said to me. Proposals generally fail not because the science is bad, but because the science was poorly presented. *************************************************** Sally Eckert-Tilotta, PhD, Assistant to the Director Office of Research and Program Development University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND 58202 email: xxxxxx@mail.und.nodak.edu tel: 701-777-2049 fax: 701-777-2504 >>> "ANNE C. CHISHOLM" <xxxxxx@ODU.EDU> 04/24 2:38 PM >>> Dear Colleagues: I am one of those "hired guns". I help faculty members produce proposals which are attractive to funding agencies. In the past several years, I helped faculty bring in awards totalling approximately $20 million. I tell faculty that winning a grant is 50% "good science" and 50% "good presentation" and that if either one of these areas is lacking, the proposal will probably not be funded. The best "science" in the world will not be funded in this competitive arena if the reviewer has to read the first two pages of the proposal twice in order to understand what is being proposed. ("Science" as it is used here includes all proposed academic areas of research). Proposal writing is a skill and an art. Faculty members whose first language is not English need help presenting their ideas (as others pointed out) but so do the rest of the faculty including those with tenure and those who are just starting. Presenting ideas in such a way that the reviewer can easily follow the logic of the ideas, is excited about the project, understands its significance and its potential impact upon science/the world/etc., and is thoroughly convinced that the idea is new and innovative yet is strongly anchored in and will significantly enhance the current state of knowledge is a skill that many faculty do not have. In my position, I assist faculty from all fields. I do not need to be an expert in their area of science because I am not attempting to impact the scientific content of their proposal. Proving the innovativeness and merit of the science is the PI's problem. Helping the PI to present that innovativeness and merit in such a way that the reviewer will be convinced is my problem. That approach works. Anne Anne Chisholm Director for Research Development Office of Research, Economic Development, and Graduate Studies Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA 23529-0013 Phone - 757-683-3707 Fax - 757-683-3004