Applying for ADVANCE Grants:

It’s All About Expertise & Teamwork

Overview

ADVANCE-PAID Request for Proposal (RFP)Assessing expertise and organizing a grant-writing

teamMatching campus needs/interests with RFPUnderstanding earlier ADVANCE/ADVANCE-PAID

resultsDeciding on the grant focus and team-member

responsibilitiesAttending to things NSF MUST see

ADVANCE-PAID RFP

The devil is in the details

‘09 ADVANCE-PAID RFP

RECENT CHANGES/SPECIAL ATTENTION GIVEN Research is an explicit component within PAID to support

social science research related to the study of gender in academic STEM careers.

Underrepresented minority group & those with disabilities, women with disabilities & women from underrepresented minority groups are particularly encouraged.

Primarily undergraduate institutions, teaching intensive colleges, community colleges, minority-serving institutions , women's colleges, and institutions primarily serving persons with disabilities are particularly encouraged.

‘09 ADVANCE-PAID RFP

Up to twenty (20) PAID awards of various award sizes and lengths: Adaptation and implementation of materials, tools, research, and

practice demonstrated to be effective in increasing the participation and advancement of women in STEM academic careers.

Dissemination and diffusion of materials, tools, research, and practices, to the appropriate audiences, demonstrated to be effective in increasing the participation and advancement of women in STEM academic careers. Go beyond simply making materials, tools, research, and practices available to others. Instead, teach and/or train individuals and groups how to adopt or adapt the information is expected.

EXPERTISE ON THEGRANT-WRITING TEAMIt takes a team

Expertise on the Grant Team

Need for an interdisciplinary team:Social science research => member(s) with expertise in

issues of women &/or underrepresented minoritiesServing STEM departments => member(s) with

expertise/cachet within those departmentsSupport from administration => member(s) who

participates involved when the “wheels” are turned both on campus & in depts.

Tricky budget administration & research goals => research assistant with grant-management & research assistant skills

MATCHING CAMPUS NEEDS/INTERESTS WITH RFPGrant activities must serve a need

& have deep support

Identifying Campus Needs

Perform data-gathering activities to understand campus circumstances

Confer with chairs and deans, and with those who would be grant participants

Cast a wide net early on, and narrow as grant-writing proceeds

What sort of campus do you have? What makes sense here?

UNDERSTANDING EARLIER ADVANCE/ADVANCE-PAID RESULTS

Do your homework & don’t reinvent the wheel

Understanding Earlier Work

What has been done before that seems to fill a need on your campus?

Use the NSF Web Portal (listed on important websites sheet) to review existing grants

Engage in email correspondence with PI’s of grants that interest you

Become known as people interested in these issues, join professional organization subgroups

FINALIZING GRANT FOCUS & TEAM-MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIESIron things out before you get funding

Grant focus & refinement

Grant-management experience matters:Know what your grant activities will be, who will

attend them, and what you expect to happen because of them

Develop program evaluation/research activitiesDevelop dissemination & institutionalization activitiesBuild a matrix of tasks (more detailed than activities) &

decide at the outset who will do whatBuild a budget that covers the task analysis

THINGS NSF MUST SEE

Knowing what review teams look for

Write like a reviewer reads

Write the grant in response to the RFPContext and Data know your circumstancesCommitment & Sustainability link to support lettersActivities Description link to ADVANCE findingsProject Management adequate, believable budgetProject Evaluation PAID-research grants tougher,

& linked to research literatureNSF Goals

Intellectual merit Broader impacts

YOUR QUESTIONS?

escalate@wayne.edu

escalate.wayne.edu