EXSC 331 : Scientific Writing : Home

Your grant proposal assignment will require you to 

• select a topic
• refine that topic into an answerable question
• search the literature and select ten sources to review in an Annotated Bibliography
• Write a literature review summarizing the research on your topic, including at least 10 primary sources and no more than 3 secondary/review articles. 
• write a grant proposal to secure funding to support research into your topic.

This guide will help you with the resources you need to be successful with this project. 

Remember that the research process is just that: a process. A good researcher isn't someone that puts the right words in the search box the first time, it's someone who uses each search to improve the next one. By being aware that you'll circle back and perform tasks more than once, use more than one tool, and look at more resources than you actually use, you'll be better equipped to plan how long your research takes and pick the best sources.

Check out these sample NIH grant proposals to start getting a sense of what your grant proposal might look like:

NIH NAID R03 Successful proposals

• Martin Karplus, Ph.D., of Harvard University - "Modeling atomic structure of the EmrE multidrug pump to design inhibitor peptides"
• Chad A. Rappleye, Ph.D., of Ohio State University - "Forward genetics-based discovery of Histoplasma virulence genes"

The below examples from the journal BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders aren't grant proposals but are 'study protocols' which describe the creation and design of a study...similar to how you will need to propose the design of a research study for your grant proposal:

• Effectiveness of Aquatic Therapy vs Land-based Therapy for Balance and Pain in Women with Fibromyalgia: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

• Taking ACTION to reduce pain: ACTION study rationale, design and protocol of a randomized trial of a proactive telephone-based coaching intervention for chronic musculoskeletal pain among African Americans

• Study protocol: the effects of work-site exercise on the physical fitness and work-ability of older workers

Search for other examples of successful grants in these awarded grants databases:

• NIH RePORTER (National Institutes of Health)

  • Information on research projects funded by the NIH, CDC, AHRQ, HRSA, SAMHSA, and VA.
  • Search for keywords in titles and abstracts of awards; search by institution, principal investigator, study section, etc.
  •  Grant information includes associated articles, U.S. patents, news, and ClinicalTrials.gov IDs.
• Federal RePORTER

  • Can search for grants from Veterans Affairs, National Science Foundation, Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, and Health & Human Services.
• National Science Foundation (NSF) Award Search

  • Search for keywords in titles and abstracts of awards.
  •  Use "Advanced Search" to find awards by institution, principal investigator, program officer, or keyword.