“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”

Zora Neale Hurston ‘28

Grants Pre Award Workshop

Office of Institutional Support

October 26, 2011

I am not a fish, but I dive deep into streams and ponds, using my bill to poke around for delicious crustaceans and aquatic insects…

I am not a groundhog or a gopher, but I breathe air and dig burrows where I hide most of the day…

I am not a lizard or a snake, but I lay eggs and my mate can squirt venom…

I am furry and make nutritious milk to feed my young…

What am I?

Institutional Support• Institutional Priorities– Facilities– Scholarships– Curriculum Development– Faculty Development

• Faculty Sponsored Research– For individual research

Finding Funding

Federal

Non-Federal

Fellowship

Internal Funding opportunities

Internal Competitions

Presidential Research Award

MinigrantsConference Travel

GrantsSpecial Assistant Professor Leaves

Federal SourcesNational Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency

FellowshipsGuggenhiem, American Council of Learned Societies

Non Federal SourcesColumbia University, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Sloan Foundation, American Chemical Society

Connecting with a Funding Source

IRIS – Illinois Research Information Serviceshttp://www.library.illinois.edu/iris/

Grants.gov

Foundation Centerhttp://wwwapp.cc.columbia.edu/ldpd/rti/results?hl=1&ps=1&sb=1&ss=1&hpp=100000&hk=-1&rt=all&qt=6&q=foundation

Preparing a ProposalDeveloping a grant proposalDeveloping a budget

“Where do I start?”• Meet with your Department Chair to discuss proposal• Set up an appointment with us• Send us an abstract if you have one• Have a conversation with your program officer• Send us the FOA or RFP if you have one• If your research involves human subjects, contact the

IRB to begin your application• If your research involves animals, contact Columbia

Award/Decline

Submission

Funding Source Identification

Proposal/Budget Preparation

Submission to Institutional Support

Provost Review/Approval

Return to PI

Department Chair Email

Routing Form

Research Question

Developing your Budget“we can do this for you from scratch”

• Personnel Services– Salaries and Wages– Fringe

• Other than Personnel Services– Supplies– Equipment– Consultants– Subcontracts

• Indirect Cost Rate (67.5%)

Budget Template

• See Handout

Best Practices in Developing a Budget

• Think of funds only for expenses related to the project

• Make sure costs are reasonable (prudent person test)

• Make sure you can use funds within the term of the grant period

Developing your Proposal– Abstract/Summary– Budget– Budget Justification– Narrative

• Needs Statement• Goals and Objectives• Methods• Data Management Plan• Evaluation• Future Funding

– Cover letter– Appendix/attachments

Data Management Plan• the types of data, samples, physical collections, software, curriculum

materials, and other materials to be produced in the course of the project;• the standards to be used for data and metadata format and content

(where existing standards are absent or deemed inadequate, this should be documented along with any proposed solutions or remedies);

• policies for access and sharing including provisions for appropriate protection of privacy, confidentiality, security, intellectual property, or other rights or requirements;

• policies and provisions for re-use, re-distribution, and the production of derivatives; and

• plans for archiving data, samples, and other research products, and for preservation of access to them.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

• What is Conflict of Interest in Research?A conflict of interest is not a behavior or a bias,

but simply a situation in which a primary interest, such as a patients welfare or the validity of research, could be unduly influenced by a secondary interest, such as financial gain.

(National Science Foundation)

Provost Approval

• Required for all external funded projects whether or not a funding agency requires institutional submission.

• Including Fellowships such as Fulbright, ACLS, and Guggenheim

• 3 Day Policy

“All leaves of absence must be approved by the department chairman, and the Provost and Dean of the Faculty. Officers of instruction are normally expected to render full-time service or part-time equivalent service for at least two academic years between all except short-term leaves of absence…Sabbatical leaves are granted only if the officer of instruction plans to return to the College for at least one academic year of full-time service or equivalent part-time service after the leave” Barnard Code of Academic Freedom and Tenure, http://barnard.edu/provost/resources/policies/code

Routing Form

• Standard questions• Project specific questions• Routing signatures and attachments• Where to find the Routing Form

Electronic Submission

• Grants.gov– Most common portal

• eRA Commons (NIH)• Fastlane (NSF)

FUNDED!

• Who receives notice?• Who sets up an account?

FYI:• Principal Investigators are required to oversee the

financial transactions and financial status of each grant

• PI’s must financially closeout the grant and submit required progress and technical reports

• PI’s must know and abide by the terms and conditions of the award

• PI’s must ensure all work is conducted in compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws

• PI’s must ensure project is managed in compliance with College policies

• PI’s must manage the project budget so that funds are spent correctly – taking into account any restrictions imposed by the sponsor

• Duck-billed Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)Courtesy: Nicole Duplaix, Getty Images