ALS 6046 Grant Writing

Description

Effective grant writing skills are essential to acquiring competitive funding from government agencies and private foundations. Writing a successful grant proposal is a blend of art and science. It requires basic know how, content knowledge, writing proficiency, strong research skills, creativity, organizational ability, patience and a great deal of luck. This course will provide students with the background necessary to develop a competitive funding proposal. Students will be expected to prepare a complete grant proposal (minimum 40-70 pages with forms) to an agency of their choice and have that proposal reviewed by professionals in their field. Lectures will focus on:

• Components of an application
• Helpful tools and resources
• Strategies for developing a proposal
• How to identify potential funding sources
• How to read and understand grant guidelines, requests for proposals/applications(RFP/RFA)
• Writing objectives
• Preparation and justification of budgets
• Protocols for use of animal and human subjects in research
• Cost-sharing and sub-contracts
• Procedures for grants submission and grants start-up
• The grant review process
• Writing cover letters
• Preparing a curriculum vitae
• The job interview process

Prerequisites

This class is designed for doctoral students who have started their research. Master’s students who are completing their research and have approval from their committee chair are welcome to register.

Course Format

Lectures and Discussion: 100% online https://lss.at.ufl.edu/
Location: The course will meet on Canvas

Course Goals

This course will provide an introduction to the basic skills, principles and techniques of successful grant writing. Students completing the course will:

• Understand the fundamental components of a grant proposal such as the abstract or summary, background and significance, specific aims/goals and objectives, project design and methods, sustainability, assessment, broader impacts, dissemination, budget, budget justification, and cover letter as well as the overall grant submission process.
• Learn how to locate available funding opportunities.
• Develop the skills needed to develop competitive grant proposals.
• Prepare a complete grant proposal to an agency of their choice. This includes a minimum 10-18 page narrative and a minimum 2-year $80,000 budget with multiple budget categories. Most full proposals will be 40-70 pages long with all of the required forms.

Topics

Week 1:	Introductions and timetables; overview of course assignments and requirements.
Week 2:	Strategies for developing a proposal, helpful tools and resources; planning before you begin.Remember your RFA/RFP has the following minimum requirements-Remember this includes a minimum 10-18 page narrative and a minimum 2 year $80,000 budget with multiple budget categories and a budget narrative. Most full proposals will be 40-70 pages long with all of the required forms.
Week 3:	Using grant databases; Group exercise student database search due (5 points).
Week 4:	Understanding and writing for your audience.
Week 5:	Components of an application. Crafting a title, writing an abstract.
Week 6:	Components of an application.Designing methods and evaluation: who are key personnel?Grant RFAs due online.(5 points).
Week 7:	Components of an application continued; budgets.Draft abstract and detailed proposal outline due for peer review. (5 points).
Week 8:	Provide peer review of draft abstract and detailed proposal outline.(5 points).
Week 9:	(Spring Break -No Class)
Week 10:	Abstract and detailed proposal outline dueonline on e-Learning(5 points); Subcontracts and proposal processing.
Week 11:	Reviewer names due (10points).Peer review assignment-Provide draft budget and grant forms for review and provide a peer review.(5 points).University and sponsor-required forms; forms for use of animal and human subjects.
Week 12:	Peer review of full proposal narrative (10-18 pages, single spaced). (5 points).
Week 13:	Broader impacts and grant panels; Full proposals due(PDF files only, saved as your last name.pdf and submitted on e-Learning);(20points).
Week 14:	Preparing a curriculum vitae; job interview process. Submit 2 page grant CV forPeer Review, provide peer review. (5 points).
Week 15:	All external reviews due(10 points); Social mediaand broader impacts data.
Week 16:	The grant review process; analysis of your proposal reviews; course summary and online evaluations.