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Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

http://www.purdue.edu/research/vpr

OVPR Web Site

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

Large Proposal Development

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

Proposal Coordination for Small Proposals

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

“And so you just threw everything together?… Mathews, a posse is something you have to

• rganize.” From The Far Side by Gary Larson

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

…Gets Lost in a Not-So-Good Proposal Top Four Reasons Why Good Science…

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

• 1. No sizzle
• 2. Poor writing mechanics
• 3. No answer for ‘Why Purdue?’
• 4. No independent feedback

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

NO SIZZLE

Many proposals have perfectly good science but broach the topic in very unexciting ways. If you can’t tell the reviewers why your work is significant, then your work has no sizzle and won’t sell. You must relate your research to a real problem.

—quote from a real, live NSF program officer

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

A Compelling Storyline

• Every proposal should tell a story
• Think Op-Ed

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

Building the Story

• A problem overview can help you find

that storyline

– What is the problem? – What has been done already to address the problem? – What is the gap that remains? – How do you propose to address this gap?

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

POOR WRITING MECHANICS

There were a significant number of typos in the description and inconsistencies in the project data, which indicate a lack of detail and have negative implications on the attention to detail the PIs would give to the project. —excerpt from proposal review

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

• Articulate clear goals
• Make an outline before you start writing
• Use active voice instead of passive
• Get rid of your jargon

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

NO ANSWER TO ‘WHY PURDUE?’

• Identify your win differentiators

– Researcher expertise – Equipment and facilities – Purdue experience and campus environment – Uniqueness of academic schools – Uniqueness of programs – Prior work

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

NO INDEPENDENT FEEDBACK

Email your program officer and tell us about your idea. We can tell you if you are heading down the wrong track, or if we just funded three million projects with the same idea. We can save you a lot of time and effort.

—a real, live NSF program officer

Office of the Vice President for Research Resources and Strategies for Competitive Proposals

• Ask your program officer if you can

email a one-page project description

– Storyline, vision, goals, concise methodology

• Allow time for formal or informal internal

reviews

– Adjust general proposal timeline to your time frame – Convene internal review panel or ask colleagues informally