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External Funding and Collaboration

External Funding and Collaboration. NSF Teacher Enhancement Summer Institute University of Alabama in Huntsville July 2001. What we’ll cover. Terminology Who should write collaborative proposals Essential proposal elements Success proposal generation Successful proposal implementation.

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External Funding and Collaboration

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  1. External Funding and Collaboration NSF Teacher Enhancement Summer Institute University of Alabama in Huntsville July 2001

  2. What we’ll cover • Terminology • Who should write collaborative proposals • Essential proposal elements • Success proposal generation • Successful proposal implementation

  3. Terminology • PI – principal investigator • Co-PI – co-principal investigator • Grant – usually involves research, no strict deliverables • Contract – usually are concrete, specific deliverables • Program officer – funding agency point of contact, provider of information, review panel organizer • Review panel – meeting of individuals selected to represent different points of view who will critique submitted proposals

  4. Terminology (cont’d) • Preproposal – draft proposal submission that outlines the general proposal idea and rough budget. Feedback should be provided on the preproposal before submission of the final proposal • Full/Final proposal – final proposal submission containing all required proposal elements and a final (committed) budget

  5. Terminology (cont’d) • Proposal negotiation – discussion between review panel decision and award to determine if the proposal can be changed in response to the review panel’s suggestions and be within a target budget determined by the program officer. To the proposers advantage to finish this step FAST.

  6. Terminology • Cost sharing – amount of money/resources required by funding agency to be provided by the proposing institution • Usually can be “in-kind” • Usually is personnel time • Rarely is cash

  7. Who should organize collaborative proposals • Characteristics of good proposal leaders • Energetic – Type A • Idea generator • Compromiser • Consensus builder • Writing skills • Organizational skills • Patience – Type B

  8. What the proposal organizer should bring to the table • Institutional strengths • Personal connections with peers and organizations in the field • Past experience and successful performance on previous grants (track record) • Personal credibility to funding agency

  9. Becoming a proposal organizer • Becoming a proposal organizer is a chicken and egg problem • Critical elements come from successful proposals • First time prospective PIs don’t have a track record • Solution – become attached to a mentor who has been through this before • Caution – there are a lot of people who have “been through this before” and do it wrong

  10. Levels of responsibility • Key personnel • PI • Co-PI • Senior scientist • Unnamed contributor • General expertise

  11. Responsibilities • Institution’s Office of Grants and Contracts (or Office of Sponsored Programs or …) • Institutional signatures • Proposal submission approval • Subcontract generation and approval • Changes to award • Requesting award funding from funding agency • Distributing award funding to appropriate institution budget line

  12. Responsibilities • PI • Technical contact for the funding agency • Leader for management and implementation of award • Approval for charges against the award including subcontracts • Responsible for cost sharing accounting • Periodic reports to funding agency • Management of award • Answer questions from funding agency

  13. Responsibility • Co-PI • Role defined by the PI and the proposal • If at an institution different than the PI, will be funded by subcontract from the PI’s institution • Usually receives (at least partial) credit from own institution for funding received • At universities, at least, receive partial remittance of overheads collected along with PI

  14. Essential Proposal Elements • Funding opportunity identification • Collaborators • Proposal generation • Proposal outline • Budget • Submission • Reviews returned • Debriefing for proposal

  15. Opportunity Identification • What are you interested in doing (interest drives proposals not vice-versa)? • Subject area • Possible partners • Outcomes • Ballpark funding required • Possible cost sharing available • Resources available

  16. Exercise • Create a MS Word document • Make a list of the opportunity identification elements on the previous slide for a proposal you are interested in

  17. Funding Opportunity Identification • Compile a list of funding sponsors • Starting points • Government agencies • State agencies • Industry • Foundations

  18. Funding Opportunity Identification • Government agencies • Know the politics • http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/reports/no-child-left-behind.html • National Science Foundation www.nsf.gov • http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/publicat/nsf013/ehr/esie.htm#section2 (ESIE program website) • Department of Education www.ed.gov • http://web99.ed.gov/GTEP/Program2.nsf/vwNetLevel?OpenView&Start=1&Count=30&Expand=3#3 (K-12 programs) • Department of Energy www.energy.gov

  19. Funding Opportunity Identification • State agencies • State department of public instruction • Find your state at http://www.ed.gov/Programs/bastmp/SEA.htm • E.g. North Carolinahttp://www.dpi.state.nc.us/ • Use search function on keywords like “grants” or “funding”

  20. Funding Opportunity Identification • Industry • Intel http://www.intel.com/education/grants/index.htm • Intel in the Community • Intel National and Community Grants • http://www.intel.com/education/grants/k12/foundation_guidelines.doc • Matching Gifts/Volunteer Matching Grants Program • Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com/giving/ • GlaxoSmithKline http://www.glaxowellcome.com/gwfound/

  21. Funding Opportunity Identification • Foundation • Generally on the web • Books of foundations • Generally every large corporation has a foundation • Glaxo-Wellcome-SmithKline • Intel • Compaq

  22. Funding Opportunity Identification • Foundations • http://www.fdncenter.org/ • Search by keyword • Search by state

  23. Exercise • Find one government and one foundation funding source that might satisfy your requirements

  24. Opportunity Identification • Narrowing the list of possibilities • Determine return on investment (include overhead time for grant administration) • Make sure it is something you want to do • Optimally the project is something you were going to do anyway • Minimally it should not be distracting • Chasing money for the sake of funding is counterproductive

  25. Opportunity Identification • Meet with the Program Officer (or minimally arrange a telephone call) • Take a one page white paper of what you think will respond to the opportunity solicitation • Take a folder of information about your institution targeted to the opportunity

  26. Opportunity Identification • White paper sections • Project Summary • Project description • Background • Needs • Project Partners • Goals • Outcomes • Project Design • Technology Plan • Work Plan • Evaluation Plan • Dissemination Plan

  27. Opportunity Identification • White paper sections (cont’d) • Biographical Sketches • Bibliography • Example…..

  28. Exercise • Generate a draft white paper with the preceding sections for your proposal

  29. Opportunity Identification • Agenda for Program Officer meeting • Provide overview of your institution • Request a solicitation overview • Discuss the one page white paper and whether it responds favorably to the solicitation • Receive pointers from the Program Officer about white paper changes • Ask Program Officer about other proposals that have been funded that are similar to the white paper • Establish a relationship with the Program Officer that will enable follow-up email and subsequent visits • Take good notes!

  30. Opportunity Identification • Realistically assess chances of winning • Raw probability • Ask Program Officer how many proposals submitted last round and number of winners • Better estimate • Experience • Budget • Meet expectations of solicitation • Competitors • Comparison to previous winning proposals

  31. Opportunity Identification • Revise white paper • Send to Program Officer for comments or review changes by telephone • Use the white paper to solicit partners • Send the white paper to your Grants Office to keep them in the loop • Receive feedback, if any • Receive institutional experience about the funding agency (success of others, pitfalls)

  32. Exercise • Go around the room and assess the probability of success of a proposal for the funding source identified

  33. Collaboration • Breakdown the solicitation into subject areas • Ensure there are collaborators with credentials in each subject area • Utilize “networking” to find potential collaborators • Ask Program Officer for potential collaborators

  34. Exercise • Add a short phrase about what each potential collaborator would add to the proposal

  35. Collaboration • Establishing collaboration • One approach is to have a meeting with all potential collaborators identified • Determine theme for proposal based on solicitation • Identify how each collaborator supports the theme • Identify role of each collaborator • Identify benefits to each collaborator

  36. Collaboration • Pitfalls • Identification of the PI, co-PIs, senior scientists and unidentified collaborators • Collaborators who are “too busy” to pay attention to generating another proposal • Not establishing a strong probability of success for this proposal and the collaborators • Budget

  37. Proposal Generation • Two primary jobs • Content Leader (usually the PI) • Responsible for content in the proposal • Defining roles of collaborators, adding collaborators, removing collaborators • Deciding on budget • Assigning writing assignments • Establishing milestone dates

  38. Proposal Generation • Logistics Leader • Forms • Creating proposal drafts from submitted text • Enforcing proposal generation timelines • Calling funding agency to resolve logistical problems • Calling collaborators • Interfacing with Grants and Contracts

  39. Proposal Generation • Secondary roles • Content section chairs • Individual contributors • Technical writer • Proof reader

  40. Proposal Generation • Steps (6 months to complete) • White Paper • White Paper revised • Pre-proposal (short version of full proposal) and rough budget • 1st draft full proposal • 2nd draft full proposal and 1st draft budget • 3rd draft full proposal and 2nd draft budget • Final full proposal and final budget • Signed institutional commitments

  41. Proposal Outline • Cover sheet and forms • Project summary • Project description • Background • Need • Project Partners and Roles • Goals and Objectives • Outcomes

  42. Proposal Outline • Project Description (cont’d) • Project Design • Technology Plan • Work Plan • Project Management • Key Personnel • Advisory Committee • Evaluation Plan • Dissemination Plan • Institutionalization

  43. Proposal Outline • Institutional Resources Available • Bibliography • Biographical Sketches • Budget • PI institution • Subcontracts • Current and Pending Support (NSF) • Project Data Sheet (NSF) • Letters of Support

  44. Budget • Every funding agency has its own form • Generates most of the disagreements after award • Can be fatal to the project if miscalculated • Has the potential to be audited during the project and after project completion • Cost sharing can be underestimated but better not be overestimated • Required cost sharing can range from 0% to 50%

  45. Budget • Proposal submission requires institutional signature • Engage Grants and Contracts early in the budget process – they can be your best friend or worst enemy • Determine budget expectations of the funding agency early

  46. Budget • Budget justification • Shows how you arrived at the numbers you show • Reviewers key in on certain aspects of the budget • Amount of funding provided directly to teachers • Amount of funding for subcontracts • Amount of funding for “overhead” expenses • Make sure anticipated expenditures are allowable • Example….

  47. Budget • Cost Sharing • Pre-award costs incurred usually don’t count • NSF has a 90 day rule for costs incurred prior to award • In-kind as well as cash allowed (fair value) • Personnel costs are popular • Cash is unpopular

  48. Budget • If budget is not competitive, try: • Negotiate with your institution on indirect costs • Increase cost sharing • Decrease scope of work and decrease cost • Increase core work to increase economies of scale • Leverage previous work • Decrease level (and cost) of personnel involved

  49. Submission • Requirements • Cover letter – official transmittal • Proposal – usually several copies required • Font size • Margin requirements • Section lengths • Signatures – gathering PI/co-PI signatures tricky for multi-institutional proposals • On-time delivery – crucial!!!

  50. Submission • Plan ahead • Know what must be done the last week • Make emergency plans • Editing • Photocopying • Delivery • Parallelize tasks as much as feasible

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