GRANT-PROPOSAL WRITING AS A CRAFT AND POTENTIAL WAYS TO IMPROVE GRANT-PROPOSAL WRITING KNOWLEDGE AND APPLICATION READINESS FOR STUDENTS SEEKING FUNDING ASSISTANCE ATTENDING POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

The goal of this dissertation is to examine grant-proposal writing as a craft and potential ways to improve grant-proposal writing knowledge and application readiness for students seeking funding assistance attending postsecondary education. In doing so, this research answers the question: What might experts and professionals in the field recommend to students involved in grant-proposal writing to assist them to better understand the process, develop the necessary skills, utilize the available resources, and explore the possible avenues to writing grant-proposals to enable students to be more successful in their funding pursuits? The objectives that address the specific research actions that have been identified as necessary in order to facilitate achievement of the goal include: provide a solid framework through which students may understand an overview of grant-proposal writing, associated terminology, proposal development, and the components of a grant application; assess the grantseeker’s role in the grantmaking process; explore the craft of grant-proposal writing; and discuss feedback and suggestions from experts and professionals in the field regarding student grant-proposal writing. In creating a more in-depth understanding regarding the phenomenon of student grant-proposal writing at postsecondary academic institutions, this dissertation can bring about positive change at the level of the student grantseeker as well as within the academic institutions that assist students in the grant seeking process in that these research findings will potentially help undergraduate and graduate programs to better support the grant-proposal writing efforts of their students. As such, this research could be especially valuable for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds as well as economically challenged campus communities where funding resources are scarce. Additionally, these findings may also prove valuable and informative to program officers and applicable funding agency personnel who work with individual grantseekers in a similar capacity to better target their instructional and outreach efforts which would benefit all grantseekers, not just students

Proposal Editing in University Research Administration

abstract: This project presents a mixed methods analysis of proposal editing in sponsored research administration at U.S.-based universities. As sponsored research funding has become increasingly competitive, universities have sought to support their faculty and research infrastructure by offering proposal editing services as a component of the proposal development process. However, the relative newness of proposal and research development as fields, combined with prior studies that show a general lack of research into proposal editing and faculty perceptions of proposal development resources, mean that these areas can benefit from additional focused research. This study aimed to answer two primary research questions: How do universities approach and offer proposal editing as a component of the proposal development process, and what are faculty reactions to editing services as a resource during that same process? The study consisted of two components: a survey of 32 faculty members' perceptions of editing services as an element of their proposal development, and interviews with ten research administrators and editors to discuss how editing services function within the proposal preparation process. Despite a small sample size and disciplinary homogeneity, the survey results showed that demand for institutionally provided editing services varies by research field and activity level, but that faculty showed noticeable interest in at least having the option of an editor reviewing their proposals prior to submission. Interview participants agreed that faculty who are new or early in their careers, along with faculty who speak English as a second language, are especially interested in receiving editing services. Editors themselves provide various levels of edit, dependent on their own backgrounds, editing timelines, and faculty receptiveness to the edits. When provided, edits focus on compliance and grammar, but deeper edits help academic styles of writing transition into more persuasive grant writing styles to strategically position the proposal. As proposal editing services become more widespread as a way of supporting faculty and increasingly proposal quality and success, universities should implement editing services according to faculty demand and needs. Careful implementation can ensure that editing services fully support faculty while making a meaningful impact on a university's research development strategies and goals.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Technical Communication 201

Report on the Third Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science: Practice and Experiences (WSSSPE3)

This report records and discusses the Third Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science: Practice and Experiences (WSSSPE3). The report includes a description of the keynote presentation of the workshop, which served as an overview of sustainable scientific software. It also summarizes a set of lightning talks in which speakers highlighted to-the-point lessons and challenges pertaining to sustaining scientific software. The final and main contribution of the report is a summary of the discussions, future steps, and future organization for a set of self-organized working groups on topics including developing pathways to funding scientific software; constructing useful common metrics for crediting software stakeholders; identifying principles for sustainable software engineering design; reaching out to research software organizations around the world; and building communities for software sustainability. For each group, we include a point of contact and a landing page that can be used by those who want to join that group's future activities. The main challenge left by the workshop is to see if the groups will execute these activities that they have scheduled, and how the WSSSPE community can encourage this to happen

IMPACT UMaine Research, May 2023

Congratulations graduates, UMSS award winners, and more. Featured stories include: Record high number of graduates degrees conferred during [academic year] AY2022-2023; Abedi wins Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award; 2023 UMSS Undergraduate and Graduate Researchers Awards; 2023 Faculty Research Funds Award recipeints; Jones recontextualizes the housing crisis

Mavericks and Lotteries

In 2013 the Health Research Council of New Zealand began a stream of funding titled 'Explorer Grants', and in 2017 changes were introduced to the funding mechanisms of the Volkswagen Foundation 'Experiment!' and the New Zealand Science for Technological Innovation challenge 'Seed Projects'. All three funding streams aim at encouraging novel scientific ideas, and all now employ random selection by lottery as part of the grant selection process. The idea of funding science by lottery has emerged independently in several corners of academia, including in philosophy of science. This paper reviews the conceptual and institutional landscape in which this policy proposal emerged, how different academic fields presented and supported arguments for the proposal, and how these have been reflected (or not) in actual policy. The paper presents an analytical synthesis of the arguments presented to date, notes how they support each other and shape policy recommendations in various ways, and where competing arguments highlight need for further analysis or more data. In addition, it provides lessons for how philosophers of science can engage in shaping science policy, and in particular highlights the importance of mixing complementary expertise: it takes a (conceptually diverse) village to raise (good) policy

Funding and Other Resources for Beginning Researchers

Despite the fact that osteopathic research is essential for the continued advancement of our profession, such research is lacking. One barrier is the attainment of funding resources to launch and continue quality research studies. In the present article, the authors outline resources for the early stages of research and provide guidance for grant proposal preparation, if it is determined that external funding is needed. Free and low-cost resources for obtaining preliminary data and sources of external funds are described. An overview of grant writing and information on where to obtain training is presented. Information on proposal writing basics, tips to increase the chances of success, the grant application process, and basic proposal and budget requirements is provided. Potential funding sources appropriate for beginning investigators are listed, as well. Suggestions are offered for revising and resubmitting unsuccessful proposals

Understanding the National Science Foundation CAREER Award Proposal Genre: A Rhetorical, Ethnographic, and System Perspective

With tightening university budgets, never before has the activity level of research grant proposal writing been more intense. With increased proposal numbers, including for the National Science Foundation\u27s (NSF) prestigious CAREER award, has also come increased competition and decreased funding rates. This dissertation has searched for successful and unsuccessful characteristics from funded and unfunded CAREER proposals. The research focused on a study of two key subjects: 1) a corpus of 20 texts that included 12 funded proposals and 8 unfunded proposals from across NSF programs, and 2) an ethnographic analysis comprised from interviews with 14 NSF program officers (PO) from varying programs. Coding elements with the texts to uncover topical chains of content, rhetorical, and document design strategies revealed sound rhetorical moves and rhetorical mistakes. The study also illustrated evidence of adherence to or neglect of NSF-mandated writing/formatting conventions as connected to the likelihood of receiving funding. Moreover, the study revealed conventions that have developed for the genre that are not prescribed by NSF but that, nevertheless, seem to be expected. Through genre field analysis, the study\u27s interviews with program officers (PO) revealed a system of genre-agents and player-agents that interact together in a highly rhetorical and social system. This system, comprised of locales in which a multitude of play scenarios can be enacted to exert influence, operates within fairly exact rules of play. Such rules may be published by NSF or simply be understood, yet principal investigators (PI) are held accountable for them regardless. The ethnography created from interviews with POs revealed multiple genre field elements (e.g., genre- and player-agents, transformative locales, play scenarios, penalty conditions) as well as common mistakes and best practices. A complete mapping of the CAREER award proposal preparation, submission, and review process resulted from the study, which mapping has offered insightful strategies to expand PI (and other agents\u27) influence on the funding process. The dissertation concluded by offering investigators a step-by-step process to identify and map the elements of the proposal genre field in which they operate

Year Seven Annual Report: Activities, Findings and Evaluators\u27 Reports

The National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) is a collaborative network of scholars with backgrounds in technology education, engineering, and related fields. Our mission is to build capacity in technology education and to improve the understanding of the learning and teaching of high school students and teachers as they apply engineering design processes to technological problems. This year’s accomplishments include: completion of doctoral dissertations and post-doctoral research; continuation of research program; exploration of a strategic alliance of engineering and technology education groups in major doctoral-degree-granting universities; development of a caucus on high school engineering design challenges; and ongoing dissemination efforts

New Faculty Guide to Competing for Research Funding

Guide for Morehead State University faculty on finding and writing research grants printed in October of 2016