Funders don't fund your research because they find it as fascinating as you do—they do it to further their own goals, which could be anything from finding new ways to treat depression to curing heart disease to increasing the number of psychologists from diverse populations in the research workforce.
When it comes to getting funding, "one of the biggest struggles is how to strike a balance between moving your research agenda forward and crafting an application that meets the agency's funding priorities," says Andres De Los Reyes, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Finding the right fit between your research and a funder's priorities is just one aspect of the process of securing financial support for your work, says De Los Reyes, who is also a member of APA's Board of Educational Affairs. Other steps include researching funding sources, writing a compelling proposal and overcoming any intimidation you feel about calling program officers, for example.
The Monitor asked program officers and successful grant seekers about how to increase your chances of achieving grant support. Here are their recommendations.
Educate yourself. Start by asking mentors and colleagues for advice. Visit your institution's research office, which may offer grant-writing workshops, successful past applications you can peruse and staff who can offer advice on proposal writing and other grant-procuring know-how. The research office may also have up-to-date information about funding opportunities. Some institutions even have mock panels that can provide feedback before you submit your proposal to an actual funder.
Potential funders may also have resources to educate you on the process. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), for example, offers research training and career development programsopens in new window, "All About Grantsopens in new window" podcasts, regional grant-writing workshops and the NIH RePORTERopens in new window, a repository of funded projects.
In addition, APA and other professional organizations often host continuing-education programs on grant writing at APA's Annual Convention and other meetings. The Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, for instance, sponsors an annual Future Directions Forumopens in new window to give promising young scientists professional development in grant writing and related areas. There are also online options, such as APA's "Applying for Grant Funding as a Counseling Psychologist: From Thought to Action" continuing-education course. Also check out the National Research Mentoring Networkopens in new window, which offers mentorships, professional development programs and even coaching groups for proposal writing to researchers at all stages of their careers.
One of the best ways to hone your proposal-writing skills is to collaborate on a grant proposal with a more experienced colleague. Doing so will give you hands-on training with someone who's already successful, says Debra A. Major, PhD, a member of APA's Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA) and a psychology professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
Broaden your funding horizon. NIH and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are obvious sources of funding for psychological scientists. But go beyond these big-name funders and try to diversify your funding. Begin by searching APA's grants database and the government-wide database www.grants.govopens in new window , where you can find relevant grant opportunities from such agencies as the Department of Defense or the Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. While you're at it, sign up for grant announcements from your university and professional societies, scan APA division websites, watch for announcements on social media—and check those sources regularly.
Also check with your institution's research office about whether your institution has internal grants mechanisms of its own. "Many universities have internal competitions to help people get seed funding to launch a research program," says Major. Procuring such pilot data, she adds, will help make proposals to larger funders more competitive.
Foundations are another often overlooked source of funding. The American Psychological Foundation (APF), for example, is "tailor-made" for early career researchers, says former APF Executive Director Elisabeth R. Straus. While it can be difficult for early career psychologists to get other types of funding, APF takes on riskier projects that many larger funders avoid. Plus, having an APF grant can give you the credentials you need to try for bigger grants. But there are plenty of other foundations, too, says De Los Reyes. If your work focuses on education, for example, you might visit the Spencer Foundationopens in new window, which is dedicated to improving education around the world, he suggests. If your research focuses on youth development, try the William T. Grant Foundationopens in new window or the Jacobs Foundationopens in new window.
Corporate funding is another option, says De Los Reyes. He cites as examples Sonyopens in new window, which funds research on human/computer interaction and related areas, and the Nestlé Foundationopens in new window, which funds research on nutrition around the world. If your work intersects with a corporation's aims, contact the company's philanthropic or research arm and see if they're willing to hear you out. "Sometimes you can seek support outside a traditional call for applications with just a cold call," he says.
Start early. To give yourself the best chance at success, begin preparing before you even start thinking of submitting a proposal, says Albert Avila, PhD, who directs the Office of Diversity and Health Disparities at the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Start collecting data and strengthen your CV by publishing papers, for example. "You want to show that you're productive and that you'll be able to accomplish what you're proposing to do," says Avila. Then develop a grant-submission timeline for yourself. Talk to program officers about possible grant mechanisms and identify potential grants. Also give yourself several months to write the best proposal you can. That includes giving mentors, other trusted colleagues and your institution's research office time to review your draft proposal to determine if it is strong, complete and accurate. "The more eyes and red ink on a proposal, the stronger your application will be in the long run," says Avila. "Sometimes you're so close to your application—it's your baby—that you can't really see things other folks can see."
Your institution's research office can also help you set a budget. Grants typically cover both the direct costs of research—researchers' and graduate students' salaries and benefits, any specialized equipment you need to purchase and the cost of promoting your work, for example—and the indirect costs that support research at your institution, such as research space, utilities and administrative costs. "If you're submitting a grant proposal at the last minute, there's not much they can do to help," says Major. And if the research office doesn't have enough time to review and approve the budget, it simply won't submit your proposal to the funding agency.
Even once you submit your grant proposal, it takes time to hear back from the funder, says Avila. At NIH, for example, "it takes about nine months from the time you submit your proposal to when you get your notice of award, and that's if you get it on the first try," he says.
Build a relationship with the program officer . Don't be intimidated by the thought of contacting the program officer responsible for the grant you're interested in. "Folks think they're pestering us or bothering us, that we're just too busy to talk to them," says Christopher Sarampote, PhD, associate director of research training and career development in the National Institute of Mental Health's division of translational research. "Yes, we're busy, but talking to potential grantees with great ideas is the best part of my job."
Start with an email introducing yourself and your proposal. Then, schedule a call, making sure to read the entire funding announcement beforehand to avoid questions whose answers are easily found elsewhere. During your initial call, the program officer can tell you whether your proposal fits with the funder's priorities or not: Funding priorities can change quickly, for example, or a funding area may be oversaturated, Sarampote says. If your work isn't a good fit, the program officer can help point you to a more appropriate funder.
Contact with the program officer shouldn't be a onetime thing, adds Sarampote. As you enter the application process, program officers can help answer questions both scientific and procedural. The conversation should continue even if your application is rejected, he says. Program officers often sit in on review panels or study sections, whether in person or by phone or videoconferencing, and observe as reviewers discuss grant applications, says Sarampote. "We can help read between the lines or provide context for comments in the written critique," he says. The program officer can also help you decide whether to address problems and resubmit the application or move on.
Keep an eye out for program officers at APA's Annual Convention and other meetings, Sarampote adds. "We attend meetings regularly with the intent of reaching out to the scientific community, learning what people are doing and being available if folks have questions," he says.
Write a great proposal. A good grant proposal should read like a story, says De Los Reyes, who recommends the book "Houston, We Have a Narrative: Why Science Needs Storyopens in new window" (University of Chicago Press, 2015).
Your proposal should excite the reviewers' interest by reviewing the literature, identifying a conflict or gap that needs to be addressed and suggesting a resolution in the form of the research you are proposing. Some proposals just list a string of facts and ask for money, De Los Reyes says, so set yourself apart by delivering a punchy narrative.
On a more basic level, ease the reviewers' job by using clear, jargon-free language, adds BSA member Adriana Galván, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Spell out acronyms. And use varied language to reiterate your research goals and what is novel about your proposal. "One mistaken idea is that you need to say things only one time—that repetition is boring," she says. In fact, repetition is very helpful because it helps prevent readers from getting lost, she says.
In your grant proposal, be realistic about your budget and don't lowball your costs, Straus advises. Sometimes, she says, applicants will propose "a very lofty project, and there's no way that the amount of money they're requesting will be enough to complete the project." If the amount you're requesting will be just part of a larger budget, explain how that amount will fit into the overall budget and how it is important, adds APF Program Officer Erin Carney.
Finally, follow directions exactly. Don't exceed the page limit, don't include an appendix if it's not allowed and don't use a tiny font size to try to squeeze in more text. "It may sound obvious, but funding agencies return proposals without review for not following the instructions," Major says.
Keep trying. Most grant proposals get rejected, so don't take it personally, says BSA member Jeffrey M. Zacks, PhD, a professor of psychological and brain sciences and radiology at Washington University in St. Louis. When a rejection left him disheartened early in his career, he turned to a more experienced colleague for advice. His colleague pulled out a file cabinet drawer and showed him the 30 or so rejection letters he had received in the past few years. The sheer bulk made an impact, Zacks remembers.
Rather than tossing the reviews in a drawer and forgetting about them, read them at least twice, advises BSA Chair Sara Jo Nixon, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Florida's College of Medicine.
"The first time you read them, you might argue with everything the reviewers said and think, ‘They didn't understand' or ‘They're stupid,'" she says. "Give it time." When you read the comments with a cooler head, you'll usually see that the feedback is sound. Use those recommendations to strengthen your proposal and resubmit it, whether to the same funder or a new one, she says.
Just keep pitching proposals, says Galván. "Applying, applying, applying" gives you tons of practice, she says. Even if those proposals don't get funded, you'll get helpful feedback from reviewers you can use to craft stronger proposals in the future.
Adds De Los Reyes, "If you aren't getting rejected, you're not doing it enough."
