Obtaining financial support BTC-506: L5

One of the milestones in career development, for which little or no preparation is usually given, is the obtaining of one's own finance-usually in the form of a project grant. If the research goes well subsequent project grants may also provide finance for technical or research assistants. Later in one's career, if the work has gone exceptionally well, it is sometimes possible to submit project or even program grant applications on behalf of a number of assistants.

The first project grant milestone is often a very difficult point to pass. The need to express one's ideas in a form which will convince other people that one is capable of doing research in an interesting and original area is not easy. People often find it difficult to 'sell themselves' in such a way as to convince other scientists that not only have they the relevant training and experience but they also have the originality of thought and the ability to see a project through to its conclusion.

It therefore becomes necessary to commit to paper sufficient information to convince referees and granting bodies that not only is the project original and feasible, but also worth doing under the terms of reference of the granting body, and that the project grant holder is a person who would be able to complete and publish the research in the required time.

As funds for research become increasingly difficult to obtain so it becomes more important that a research project application be researched thoroughly, be carefully and thoughtfully written and every opportunity be given to the referees and granting bodies to determine that it is worthy of support.

THE AIMS OF PROJECT AND PROGRAMME GRANT APPLICATIONS Essentially a project grant is for a defined piece of work which can be carried out in a definite time span, usually one to three years. A program grant is usually for a much wider ranging application aimed at giving general impetus to a broad research field, and often employing a number of post doctoral research assistants and technicians.

A project must start with a definitive aim. It must have clear methodology for carrying out that aim and the work must be capable of being carried out with the available technology and expertise in the time period stated. Whilst these objectives sound sensible and simple it is surprising, indeed depressing, how often project grants do not fall within this characterization. One of the major problems with project grant applications is often that only the most general ideas are expressed, often in very imprecise terms, and no clear ideas of the manner in which they will be carried out are given.

A good project grant starts out with a hypothesis. This hypothesis should rest on a body of published work. It may or may not be in accord with present dogma, but it is essential that it is capable of being tested. It must also be original. Whilst all research is based on the efforts of generations of other workers, nevertheless it is rarely appropriate to undertake the retesting of previous work unless it is particularly important that doubts be cleared up.

The projected work is usually an extension of present knowledge. In determining the originality of the work the referees will have to base their decisions on their own experience and knowledge of the field and on the literature search that is spelt out in the introduction of the project grant. In this introduction one must not fall into the trap of expressing only one point of view. A proper literature survey does not simply quote the latest review article but goes back to the primary sources wherever necessary.

Such sources should be chosen to give a full and balanced picture of the present state of knowledge. Based on this information an hypothesis which is the author's original contribution can be put forward. In other words it is important to build upon and extend the work of others, but not just to attempt to repeat it or extend it in non-productive or uninteresting directions.

CHOOSING A GRANTING BODY The first decision to be made in any grant application is the general nature of the research which it is wished to carry out. If the research is oriented to a specific disease then a relevant granting body, for example the Cancer Research Campaign, could well be a source of funds. The Medical Research Council, being a generalist funding body, can also be used, but it is obvious that applying to the Arthritis Research Council for cancer work, for example, would not be very profitable.

In Bangladesh, there are several granting bodies, which provide support to the researchers in different disciplines. Ministry of Health usually supports the health related projects, Ministry of Agriculture supports agriculture related projects and Ministry of Science and Technology supports research projects of various disciplines. Other than the Ministries, various organizations like University Grants Commission, Bangladesh Medical Research Council, BCSIR, BARC or other private organizations also fund different research projects.

PEER REVIEW During the preparation of the grant application do not at any time forget that this will be subject to scrutiny by people experienced in research. The referees, in their time, not only will have looked at many grant applications but also will have submitted a substantial number of their own. Do remember that referees are busy people who have their own work to carry out, be it research, administration or teaching, and reading your grant application is one added extra job.

Therefore, to get them to read the application completely, it must be concise, to the point and interesting. A dull repetitive introduction, a turgid summary and incomprehensible experimental detail will not improve the chances of even the most original idea being accepted.

ASSESSMENT OF PROJECT GRANTS In general all granting bodies, be they large public institutions or small private granting bodies, make use of external referees, usually two or three for each application. These are chosen by an experienced administrator or scientific advisor on the basis of relevance, usually from a pool of agreed referees. The referees are asked to report on originality, technical feasibility, sometimes on relevance to a particular field of support, feasibility of completion within time and technical competence.

Sometimes they are also asked to comment on the standing of the applicant, if known, in his field, and whether or not the referee knows the applicant personally, by repute or not at all. The referees are often asked to comment specifically about the competence of the literature reviews and the suitability of any requested equipment. Comments are also usually requested on the financial support requested.

A project grant is for a defined piece of work which can be carried out in a _______ time span. a. long b. indefinite c. definite d. short

c

A program grant is usually for a much wider ranging application aimed at a. giving general impetus to a broad research field b. employing a number of post doctoral research assistants c. technicians. d. all of them

d

A good project grant starts out with a a. weird idea b. dream c. copying your friend’s idea d. hypothesis

d

The projected work is usually an extension of a. future knowledge b. present knowledge c. hidden knowledge d. no knowledge

b

Ministry of Agriculture supports a. drama related projects b. music related projects c. astronomy related projects d. crop related projects

d