Experienced grant writers know that reviewers are quick to decide whether they like or do not like the proposals they are reading. Therefore, much of the success of any given proposal rides on the strength of the first page--its capacity to "sell" the research idea to skeptical reviewers. This paper describes a writing technique designed to elicit…

The advancement of academic resarch productivity should be accomplished systematically using the following five steps: (1) determine the research fit within the institutional mission; (2) identify the extent of research involvement; (3) identify necessary staff and associated costs; (4) allocate institutional funds; and (5) monitor and evaluate…

In response to increasing costs and growing reliance on external funding for college faculty research, a plan for promoting faculty success in gaining financial support for research is proposed. The plan is based on information in the literature concerning prerequisites for success in getting external support. (Author/MSE)

Describes GRANT, an expert system for finding sources of funding given research proposals. The architecture of GRANT and the implementation of constrained spreading activation (a modified search algorithm based on semantic memory) are described, and recall and precision rates are analyzed. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the characteristics of applicants, their experience, satisfaction with proposal review, and the analysis of survey results. (CW)

Announces and presents highlights from a new report from NSF "Proposal Review at NSF: Perceptions of Principal Investigators." This report presents the results of a 1986 NSF survey of 14,000 applicants from academic institutions whose proposals for research support had been awarded or declined during 1985. (CW)

The State University of New York College at Brockport's experience in overcoming organizational challenges to implementing a successful sponsored research program is outlined step by step. A key to program success has been psychological support and supportive climate for faculty and staff through every stage of grant seeking. (Author/MSE)

This paper questions the assumption that junior faculty should write grant proposals and administer grants. It notes some pitfalls related to engaging in grantsmanship as a new faculty member. It then offers suggestions on grant proposal development, including have a positive attitude, manage time carefully, emphasize quality, and consider the…

There are many misconceptions about how funding decisions are made within federal agencies. Observations of how bias creeps into an otherwise objective evaluation process are presented, and hints are offered on improving the probability of receiving federal support. (Author/MLW)

This article describes the federal grant funding process for initial special education career researchers, including discussions of research priority development, the application review process, review criteria, characteristics of projects funded in recent competitions, and recommendations to improve researchers' ability to write competitive…