Part1:BeforeYouBegintoWriteA. Thestartingpoint:YourIdea
B. IdentifyingSponsors
C. Reviewers:Whoreadsyourproposal?
D. Gettingreadytowrite:BestPractices
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Part1:BeforeYouBegintoWriteA. Thestartingpoint:YourIdea
1. Definetheproblemorneedthatyouwanttoaddress.
2. Collectandcriticallyanalyzerelevantbackgroundinformation/needsassessment.
3. Generateapreliminaryideaoractivitythatispertinenttotheproblemorcriticalneedyouhaveidentified.
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Part1:BeforeYouBegintoWriteA. Thestartingpoint:YourIdea
4. Assessyouridea’spotentialforsuccessandmodifyit,ifnecessary.
a. criticallyassessyourownabilitytopursuetheidea
b. criticallyassessyourcompetition
c. criticallyassessyourfundingpotential
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Part1:BeforeYouBegintoWriteA. Thestartingpoint:YourIdea
5. Seekconstructivecriticismofyourideafromknowledgeablecolleagues.
6. Refinetheideaoractivitytomaximizeitspotentialforimpactonyourfield.
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Part1:BeforeYouBegintoWriteB. IdentifyingSponsors
1. Knowyourfield,followtheliterature
2. Databases,emailalerts,OSP
3. Hanoverprospecting
4. Foundationsandindustry
5. Knowyoursponsor’smission
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Part1:BeforeYouBegintoWriteC. Reviewers:Whoreadsyourproposal?
1. Whatisthereviewer’slevelofexpertise?
2. Whatisthereviewer’slevelofinterestinyouridea?
3. Whyisthereviewerreadingyourproposal?
4. Willthereviewerbefairandimpartialinassessingthemeritsofmyproposal?
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Part2:Overview/ExecutiveSummary
A. IntroductionParagraph
B. Whatisgoingtobedoneandbywhom?
C. SpecificAims/Goals/Objectives
D. PayoffParagraph
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Referredtobyvariousnames:NIH—SpecificAimsNSF—BeginningofProjectDescriptionUSDA—BeginningofIntroduction
Conten
t
Part2:Overview/ExecutiveSummary
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…itishighlylikelythat,bythetimethereviewershavefinishedreadingthis~1-pagesectionofyourproposal,theywillhavemadeanexecutivedecisionaboutwhetherornotthisisaninterestingornovelidea,aswellaswhetherthisisaproposalthatwillbeenjoyableorpainfultoread.
A. IntroductionParagraph1. Openingsentence(s)
2. Importantknowns
3. TheGap
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Part2:Overview/ExecutiveSummary
Tip:LinkageofindividualcomponentswithintheOverview/ExecutiveSummarysectionandeliminationofextraneousdetailarekeytoleadingyourreviewerstoapositionofadvocacy.
1.Openingsentence(s)• Shouldbewritteninawaythatitwillimmediatelycatchtheattentionofthereviewers
• Providesufficientinformationsuchthatreviewerswillunderstandwhattheproposalisabout—keywords
• Conveywhythisproposalshouldbeofinteresttothefundingagency—agencymission,objectives
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1.Openingsentence(s)• Example(s)
• professionalsmustdealwithcolleagues,competitors,andcustomersfromothercultures
• cooperativeR&Dandmarketingdependsonallcollaboratorsbeingfamiliarwithculturalexpectationsandperspectives
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2.ImportantKnowns• Themostimportantinforeviewersneedtoknowinordertounderstandwhyyourprojectneedstobedone.
• Beginwitholderbutseminalobservations(‘theforest’)andcontinueuntilyoureachthecurrentstatusofthefield(‘thetree’)
• Shouldflowlogically,oneintothenext
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2.ImportantKnowns• Example(s)
• Englishhasbecometheprimarylanguageforinternationalcommunicationandcommerce
• globalcorporationsandinternationalorganizationshaverecognizedtheimportanceofmultiplelanguagesandcultures
• onelanguageoroneculturalperspectivenolongerprovidesstandardforstudentsaspiringtoleadershiprolesintheglobalcommunity
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3.TheGap• Whatessentialpiecesaremissing—theGap?
• TheGapisholdingbackyourfieldorcreatingaproblemorcriticalneed.
• TheGap,asyoudefineithere,shouldbeexactlywhatyouintendtoaddressinyourgrantproposal.
• TheGapshouldflowobviouslyfromthe“ImportantKnowns.”
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3.TheGap
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• Example(s)• thereisacriticalneedtodevelopinterdisciplinaryacademicprogramsthatinterfacebetweendepartments
• interdisciplinaryacademicprogramsshouldfocuson:
• multilingualculturalliteracy
• corecompetenciesforsuccessinspecificprofessionaldisciplines
• thereisacriticalneedtodesigninterdisciplinaryprogramstomakestudyingotherlanguagesandculturesbothattractiveandfeasible
B. Paragraph2:Whatisgoingtobedoneandbywhom?4. Yourlong-termgoal
5. Objectiveofthisproposal6. Hypothesis-drivenvs.statement-of-need
7. Statementofrationale
8. Whyyou?WhyUNC?
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Part2:Overview/ExecutiveSummary
4.Long-termGoals• Whatisyourlong-termprofessional(career)goal?
• Whatisthecontinuumofactivitiesthatyouintendtofollowoverthecourseofyourcareer?
• Whatisthenichethatyouhaveeithercarvedoutorwanttocarveoutinwhichyouareplanningtobecomeanexpert?
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4.Long-termGoals
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• Example(s)• tobetterprepareourstudentstofunctioneffectivelyinaglobalenvironment
• tocreatelastingcollaborativecurricularprogramsbetweentheDepartmentofForeignLanguagesandLiteratureandISU’sprofessionalcolleges
5.ObjectiveofThisProposal• Defineexactlywhatyourspecificobjectiveforthisproposalwillbe.
• Whatisthenext(orfirst)stepthatyouplantotakealongthecontinuumofyourlong-termcareergoal?
• Attainmentoftheobjectivemustfillthegapinknowledgeorsolvetheproblemorissuethatyouidentifiedinthefirstparagraph.
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5.ObjectiveofThisProposal(continued)
• Avoidplacingemphasisonthemethodology
• e.g.‘…tousemybicycletoridetothegrocerystoretopurchasealoafofbread.’
• actualobjectiveisthepurchaseofthebread
• Remembertokeepthelinkagebetweensectionstight:makeitclearthattheobjectiveisonestepalongthecontinuumofactivitiesprojectedbyyourlong-termgoals.
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• Example(s)• tostrengthenthenewLanguagesandCulturesforprofessions—Engineeringsecondarymajor
• toestablishsimilarprogramsincollaborationwiththeCollegesofBusinessandAgriculture
5.ObjectiveofThisProposal
Tip:Tobetterlinkyourlong-termgoal,objective,and(ifneeded)centralhypothesisistoavoidthetemptationofinterposingexplanatoryinfo—extraneousdetails—betweenthem.Thesecomponentsshouldbeascloselyjuxtaposedaspossiblesothereisaseamlessflowoflogicfromonetothenext.
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6.Hypothesis• Statementofneed-drivenproposalsneednotincludeanhypothesis.
• Hypothesesshouldbeobjectivelytestableandcannotprojectapredeterminedconclusion.
• Objectiveandhypothesisshouldbelinked:theobjectiveisobtainedbytestingthecentralhypothesis.
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7.StatementofRationale• Describesexactlywhyyouwanttocarryouttheactivitiesproposed.
• Whatwillbecomepossibleaftertheproposedstudiesarecompleted
• Linkagebetweenthegapandwhatwillbecomepossibleiscritical.
• Rationaleshouldbeappealingto(themissionof)thefundingagency.
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• Example(s)• criticalneed:multinationalcorporationsexpressinterestinrecruitingstudentswithinternationalcultureandlanguageexperiences
• significantincreasesininterestamongstudentsinpursuingsecondarymajorsinforeignlanguages
• demandsofmostprofessionalprogramshavemadethisdifficult
• amajorspecificallydesignedforprofessional-degreeprogramswillreachamuchlargergroupofstudents
7.StatementofRationale
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8.Whyyou?WhyUNC?• Introducekeyimportantfactsthatmakeyouuniquelyqualifiedtoaddresstheissueorsolvetheproblem.
• Youandyourteamhavethecompetitiveedgetodotheproject.
• Workingenvironmentandinstitutionarehighlyconduciveforsuccess.
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• Example(s)• stronginstitutionalsupportforthisproject• ISU’sstrategicplanto“encourageglobalization…”• taskforceinitiateddevelopmentoftheLanguagesandCulturesforProfessionalsprogramsin2002
• Dr.M.Rectanus,Directorofthetaskforce,developedprograms
• eachlanguagegrouphasrepresentationonthetaskforce
8.Whyyou?WhyUNC?
C. SpecificAims/Goals/Objectives
9. Specificactivitiestobeundertakentoachievetheobjectiveoftheproposal
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Part2:Overview/ExecutiveSummary
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9.SpecificAims/Goals/Objectives• Detailedstepsthatyouwilltakeduringthecourseoftheprojecttotestthehypothesisoraddressthecriticalneedandachievetheoverallobjective.
• Brief,informative,attention-gettingheadlines.
• Twotothreespecificaimsareideal.
• Shouldlogicallyflowfromfirsttosecond,secondtothird,etc.
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9.SpecificAims/Goals/Objectives(continued)
• Itisnotnecessary(orevenadvisable)toprovidealotofdetailintheSpecificAims.
• Suggestedformat:SpecificAim/Goal#1(Writteninboldfaceitalics):Amplifyingstatement(workinghypothesisorinformativedescriptorasappropriate).
SpecificAim/Goal#2(Writteninboldfaceitalics):Amplifyingstatement(workinghypothesisorinformativedescriptorasappropriate).
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• Example(s)• Objective#1:ImplementasecondarymajoroptioninLanguagesandCulturesforProfessionalProgramswithintheDepartmentofForeignLanguagesandLiterature.<<amplifyingstatement>>
• Objective#2:CreatestrongerbridgesbetweencoursesinForeignLanguagesandLiteraturethatalreadyhaveaprofessionalfocusandthosecoursesthathaveanareastudiesfocus.<<amplifyingstatement>>
9.SpecificAims/Goals/Objectives
D. PayoffParagraph
10.Innovation
11.Expectedoutcomes
12.Impact
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Part2:Overview/ExecutiveSummary
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10.Innovation• Whyistheproposedworkpotentiallynovel,innovative,orunique?
• Being“thefirst…”isnotalwaysanappropriateargument.
• Notalwaystrueand/ornecessary:meritoriousprojectsarenotnecessarilynovelorinnovative.
• Optional,dependingonyourproject.
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• Example(s)• theLanguagesandCulturesforProfessionalsmajorwillbeuniquewithintheIowaRegentsUniversitysystem
• nootheruniversitiesinIowaofferaspeciallydesignedmajoroptioninforeignlanguagesforprofessionals
• theproposedprojectwillintegrateanddiffuseelementsofprofessionalcommunicationswiththoseofgloballiteracy
10.Innovation
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11.ExpectedOutcomes• Whatisexpectedfromthesuccessfulcompletionoftheproject?
• Shouldcollectivelyvalidatethecentralhypothesisorcriticalneed.
• Shouldattaintheoriginallystatedobjective(s)oftheproposal(breakdownby#).
• Accompanyeachwithaprecise,substantivestatementofwhythatexpectedoutcomeisimportant.
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• Example(s)• asignificantincreaseinthenumberofstudentsinprofessionalprogramswhowilldeclareasecondarymajorinforeignlanguages
• thestudentsenrolledinthisnewmajorcanbeexpectedtoachieveahigherleveloflinguisticproficiencyandgloballiteracy
11.ExpectedOutcomes
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12.Impact• Generallyconveywhyyourexpectedoutcomeswillhaveapositiveimpactonceknowledgeisappliedorneedisfilled.
• Shouldrelatetobothyourfieldandthefundingagency’smission.
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• Example(s)• platformandforumforglobaleducationatISUthatisembeddedwithintheprofessional
• createnewopportunitiesforcollaborationsamongstudents,faculty,andcorporateleaders
12.Impact
ExpandingyourExecutiveSummaryoutline1. Considerhowalloftheelementsrelateto
eachother.Logicallyandwell?
2. Doesyourlong-termgoalencompasstheknowledgegap?
3. Refineandperfectyouroutline,thenexpandintosentences.
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NextSteps
NextSteps:TheFullProposalA. ExecutiveSummary/Overview
B. Background/NeedsAssessment
C. SignificanceParagraph
D. PreliminaryStudies/PreviousExperience
E. ProjectedApproach/PlanofWork
F. Budget&BudgetJustification
G. Supportingdocuments
H. AbstractandTitle39