Why? Exam Quals NSF fellowship NRSA fellowship Post-doctoral fellowship PI grants A good way of...
-
Upload
noreen-wilkins -
Category
Documents
-
view
215 -
download
3
Transcript of Why? Exam Quals NSF fellowship NRSA fellowship Post-doctoral fellowship PI grants A good way of...
Why?
Exam
Quals
NSF fellowship
NRSA fellowship
Post-doctoral fellowship
PI grants
A good way of thinking about science
WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
1) It must be hypothesis driven
2) It must be concise and focused
3) Supportive preliminary data
4) Spend most effort on the experimental plana) Restate the hypothesisb) Present a rationalec) Describe the research pland) Describe the methodologye) Provide a rational plan for failure
HYPOTHESIS
Definition: a proposed explanation for a phenomenon
NOT: Xist is interesting: let’s study it.
BUT: Xist regulates X chromosome inactivation by binding to the X chromosome to be inactivated
Be specific and focused
Do not just use a technique to address an experimental areawithout a well formulated hypothesis (no fishing trips)
The four components (for a 5 page grant proposal)
1) Specific aims: 1/2 page to concisely definewhat you intend to do and why.
2) Background and significance: 1-1/2 page section to review published information in support of your hypothesis. Bring out the importance!
3) Preliminary data: a 1 page section to use in support of your hypothesis, an important part of a grant that allows the reviewers to understand that the approaches you plan to use actually work.
4) The experimental plan: 2 page section that allows the reviewers to understand how you actually plan to attackyour question
SPECIFIC AIMS=DETAILED SUMMARY
State overall hypothesis Give enough background
Spell out the specific aims of your proposal (2-4, each with an individualized hypothesis followed by a concise summary of the expected results
BACKGROUND
Provide a good overview of the field (be a scholar!)
“Need to know” basis
What are the gaps in knowledge that you are going to fill with your proposal
Set up the stage for the whole grant
PRELIMINARY DATA
Not always possible to have preliminary data, but it helps a lot!
Examples:
Show that the technique has worked for a related project
Data that show that the hypothesis is sound
What are you really going to do?
This section is the heart of the grant application
BUT, many people spend somuch time on the background and preliminarydata section that they run out of steam by the end
How many aims?
The aims should NOT be inter-dependent on one another
Between 2 and 4 (generally 3)
Provide the outline for your experimental approach as follows
1) Restate each specific aim at the beginning of each section
2) Restate the hypothesis for the specific aim3) Provide a rationale for the specific aim4) Provide a detailed “plan” for the
experiments5) What are the expected outcomes?6) Be sure to include alternate plans if the
selected approach fails.