The information presented here is designed to assist members with all aspects of the grant-writing and submission process.
Are you Interested in writing a grant but unsure how to navigate the grant-seeking and grantwriting waters? We have produced a video that will assist you with the grantwriting process. The video, Grantseeking Basics: A Guide for the Communication Scholar, contains interviews with four Communication scholars who have successfully written, and been funded with, grants from a variety of government agencies and private foundations. Representatives from the American Council of Learned Societies, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation and a private foundation are also interviewed for their perspectives on the funding process.
Browse through the accompanying PowerPoint guide to the Grantseeking Basics video.
The video is divided into seven chapters:
- Chapter 1: Introduction to Video Participants (3:22)
- Chapter 2: How Do I Start? (11:54)
- Chapter 3: Where Do I Look for Funds? (7:26)
- Chapter 4: Who Are Program Officers and How Do I Work with Them (7:37)
- Chapter 5: What is the Key to a Successful Proposal? (18:24)
- Chapter 6: How Do I Write a Budget? How Does the Review Process Work? (14:17)
- Chapter 7: What Happens Once I Get the Grant? What Advice Do You Have for Communication Scholars? (11:06)
Writing Proposals
There are a number of how-to resources available for writing grant proposals. You may wish to contact the research office on your own campus as a first step in the grant-seeking process. Listed below are some resources to get you started:
- Snyder, L., & LePoire, B. A. (2002). Writing your first successful grant application to conduct communication research. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 30, 321-333.
- The Foundation Center offers an online tutorial and webinars to assist in proposal writing.
- The Social Science Research Council has produced a booklet called On the Art of Writing Proposals by Pzreworski and Salomon (Social Science Research Council, 1995 rev., 1998) that may be helpful. While designed for social science proposals, the booklet is a step-by-step guide for capturing reviewers’ attention and adapting proposals to your audience
- The National Institutes of Health has produced two videos about the grant proposal process.The first, “NIH Peer Review Revealed,” is a simulation of the peer review process used at NIH. This video was created for new applicants and others who want to know how the National Institutes of Health evaluates the 80,000+ grant applications it receives each year.
- The second NIH video, “Tips for Applicants,” features reviewers and staff at the National Institutes of Health as they provide insights to scientists seeking to improve their chances of getting an NIH grant. The NIH Center for Scientific Review created this video as a companion to its NIH Peer Review Revealed video, which features real scientists reviewing fictional, but realistic, grant applications. Visit the Center for Scientific Review website for more information.
- An interview with psychologist Amber Story, the deputy director of NSF’s Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS), provides information on BCS and opportunities for funding
How to Pursue Funding in the Humanities - A battle plan for pursuing funding in the Humanities, notably for scholars working in the book tradition.
Glossary of Public Grants
Links to Funding Agencies
The best place to learn about funding is to sign up for mailing lists and grant update lists directly from the major federal and non-governmental funding entities.