Edith Gonzalez — a Graduate Center PhD herself, and now the Executive Director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) here at the GC — joined us on Oct. 10th for a talk on Grant Writing 101.  She discussed resources available for students applying for external funding, gave us advice on the grant application process, and explained the impact of the government shutdown on students who are currently applying for federal grants.

Thanks so much to Dr. Gonzalez, and to everyone who attended!  Below are brief notes for anyone who wasn’t able to make it.

 

The external grant application process:

• The first step involves identifying funding opportunities to apply for.  RSP assists students and faculty with external funding (grant money coming from an outside organization or foundation, not from CUNY), and can help you find potential sources if you email a brief abstract of your project to rsp@gc.cuny.edu.  An easier option, though, is to check the GC library’s own webpage on grant databases.  The site links to resources like COS-Pivet, the Foundation Direcotry Online, and Grant Advisor Plus (check Grant Advisor Plus first if you need money soon, as the application deadlines are listed chronologically).

It can also be helpful to find out where mentors and colleagues sharing similar research interests have gotten funding in the past.  Dr. Gonzalez advised that when you’re networking, you shouldn’t be shy about asking, “Who’s funding your project?”

• Once you’ve found a prospective funder, contact RSP (simply send an email brief description of the project and funder to rsp@gc.cuny.edu with NEW PROPOSAL in the subject heading).  The office is located in room 8309 on the 8th floor of the Graduate Center, and the team there knows about year-to-year changes for specific grants, the type of luck GC students have had in the past, and what competitive applications might look like.

Dr. Gonzalez cautioned that she receives approximately 300-350 emails per day (!), and so you should be persistent and resend an email if you don’t get a response within 38 hours. She also tries to set aside Thursdays at 2pm to meet with students.

• Dr. Gonzalez said her most important piece of advice is that applicants should read the guidelines carefully.  Although this sounds obvious, sometimes it’s easy to overlook the fine print (for example, one recent grant required a single page of the application to be notarized).

• Begin working on the application early (and work on it often).  A federal grant proposal takes at least 120 hours, Dr. Gonzalez warned, and so the biggest mistake most people make is not budgeting enough time.  She argued that you should be writing something about your research everyday, even if it’s just for 15 minutes.

Some foundations will even look at drafts six weeks before and offer feedback.  But applications should definitely be ready two weeks ahead of deadline so RSP can review your application.  It’s also a good idea to develop a reputation for submitting grants to the foundation at least five days ahead of deadline, Dr. Gonzalez said (you’ll want to develop a good relationship with program managers, just in case future opportunities open up).

• As you prepare your application, Dr. Gonzalez advised that you keep a few things in mind:

–Grant proposal writing is different from other academic writing: it’s a sales pitch.  Be sure to understand who your audience is.

–When you’re asking professors for letters of support, find out if they are also writing on behalf of anyone else (if so, the letters could effectively cancel each other out).

–If you are applying for  funding early in your grad school career:

–Even if you aren’t certain about the specifics of your research yet, your passion needs to come through to grab the reader at an emotional level. You should demonstrate your leadership abolities and other personal strengths and and explain your career goals and why being at the Graduate Center is a good fit (for example, because of specific  research centers, language centers, available mentors, etc.).

–If you are applying for funding for dissertation-level research:

–Make sure you can articulate the broader implications of your research without sounding grandiose.

–Your proposed budget should be realistic — not too high or too low.  Dr. Gonzalez said this is always the first thing she checks when she serves on an awards committee herself.

• Finally, once you hear back from the committee, don’t give up if you don’t receive the funding this time around.  Ask for the reviewers’ comments, and apply again the next time.  There will be a new pool of applicants, and a new panel of reviewers.

 

A note about the government shutdown:

All federal agencies will notify RSP about new grant deadlines once agencies are fully back up and running.  If you have an application to submit soon, just hold on to it and keep working for now.

 –Flannery Amdahl