Ⅰ Research Proposals - Burford Reiskind Lab

3/14/16 Scientific Writing
Part 1: Writing a scientific research proposal
S  How a scientific research proposal is organized
S  How to build a good paragraph
Research Proposals
S  Writing tips & Common mistakes
Part 2: Deeper Analysis
S  Building a good hook– Examples
S  Common Mistakes introduction, hypotheses, background,
Part 1
experimental plan
S
Goal of scientific proposal?
S  Resources
Research proposal organization
Organization and formatting
S  Different funding agencies want different things
S  To catch a reviewers interest and get research
funding!
S  Author’s responsibility to follow instructions
S  Writing should be simple and clear, don’t need to
wow them with how smart you are!
S  Keep the reviewer in mind!
1 3/14/16 Research proposal organization…
NSF Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)
pre-proposal
Examples of instructions for authors:
Research proposal organization…
Research proposal organization…
Title Examples
Title
S  Three parts to research titles: keywords, emphasis, and impact
S  Brief & Focused - descriptive, what the research is about
S  Avoid abbreviations and too technical terms
Title: Reproductive Competition in the Dengue
Vector Aedes aegypti: Phylogeographic to
Adaptive Genomic Landscapes
Hook the reviewer, what’s the
main point, what’s the target…
S  Avoid starting with “Study of…,” “Observations of…,” “An example
of…,” etc. etc. Get rid of fillers.
S  Include common and scientific names of your taxa if you use them
S  Funny titles can be awesome or colossal failures… avoid it
2 3/14/16 Research proposal organization…
Title Examples
Research proposal organization…
Project Summary
S  One page includes an overview of the project, the
intellectual merit, and the broader impacts
S  One to two paragraphs per section
Title: Origins of sharp phylogeographic breaks along continuous shores
Title: Replicate divergence between and within sounds in a marine fish: the
copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus)
Overview
Overview
Intellectual merit
Intellectual merit
Broader impacts
Broader impacts
3 3/14/16 NSF Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)
pre-proposal
Research proposal organization…
Conceptual Framework or Introduction
S  2 to 3 paragraphs
S  Need a hook for the reader
S  Start of with a broad statement the frames the research
project
S  Make sure to expose the gap that your research project will
address
Think: WHY should we
care?
Broad hook
Set the stage with a broad
statement with a specific
audience in mind
Gap
4 3/14/16 Punch line
NSF Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)
pre-proposal
Set the stage
Research proposal organization…
Rationale & Significance or Background
S  4 to 5 paragraphs
S  Show you know the field, the gaps, and what is needed
S  Show why your question is interesting and important
S  How does it build on previous work, how does it show a new
approach
S  How will it advance the field
Things to remember: when discussing previous research
always use the PAST TENSE
Think: What do we
know and what do we
need to know!
How will your research
advance the field
5 3/14/16 NSF Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)
pre-proposal
Why it’s significant
What is known
How it will advance
the field
Research proposal organization…
Hypothesis &/or Research questions
S  Short and bulleted
S  Specific and concise hypotheses are best
S  Sometimes researchers will put predictions here, but it’s best
to leave those for when you develop your hypotheses
Without predictions
With predictions
Specific and concise
6 3/14/16 NSF Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)
pre-proposal
Research proposal organization…
Research Approach or Experimental Plan
S  As concise as possible, every word matters.
S  Organized in a logical manner, by research objectives or
hypotheses, by methodologies…
S  Need to justify sampling approach, data collection, and
analyses and make sure you have all these details here to
show that you know how you’ll process your results
S  Provide predictions
This will likely be at least half
of your proposal!!!
NSF Division of Environmental Biology (DEB)
pre-proposal
Organized by
objectives
Details of the sampling
What will be measured
How it fits with the
overall research goals
7 3/14/16 Research proposal organization…
Broader Impacts
S  Applications and dissemination
S  Outreach
This is a very important part
of most proposals, especially
NSF proposals!!!
Research proposal organization…
References
S  Formatting matters!!! – stay within the the page, text size,
and margin limits
S  Look up references in other papers of that research
proposal
S  Follow the guidelines
8 3/14/16 Writing Tips & Common Mistakes
S  Use active voice and not passive voice
S  Avoid –ing and –ly words (they weaken your statements)
S  Reduce wordiness
S  Use definite, concrete, specific language
S  Omit needless words
S  Keep related words together
Research Proposal
S  Use references appropriately
S  Use the correct tenses
Part 2
S  Make sure you transitions and the writing flows
S  Check grammar & spelling
S
S  READ YOUR PROPOSAL OUTLOUD!!!!!
What happens to your proposal once it’s
submitted?!?
Where do you fall out?!?
9 3/14/16 Common reasons for high ratings…
S  You nailed it, you have come up with a clear, smokin’, well-
documented approach to answer a question that has plagued
the field for decades, centuries!!!!! Basically, you’re a rockstar
S  PI has a perfect setup- students can jump right in, it will solve a
major problem, and produce publications in high-impact
journals
S  Are they crazy, what an ambitious project, can this really be
done, yet the PI has proven it can and published in peerreviewed journals
S  This is such a dreamy proposal, I have never seen such a
Common reasons for low ratings…
S  No well defined hypothesis or tests, lack of focus, fishing
expedition, rambling
S  Extraneous PIs
S  Important information on experimental or sampling procedures
is omitted, can’t evaluate the proposal properly without it
S  Fine project, but it doesn’t address any topic of broad or
current interest, I’m bored and probably wouldn’t read a
paper on the results
S  Scope is out of proportion to the budget and timeline…
fantastic proposal even from long-in-the-tooth investigators…
What should I do about my review?!?
S  We all get bad reviews!!!!
Reasons:
What makes a proposal competitive?
S  Original ideas
1. Flaw in idea, logic, or approach
2. Written in a way that allows that criticism
S  Focused project plan
3. Reviewer is wrong (note: if reason is noted by more than one
reviewer, you’ve got a problem!!)
S  Cost effective
S  Strategy to handle you’re review
S  Knowledge and experience in the discipline
Read review
S  Experience in essential methodology
Blow off steam (privately)
Read again, annotate trouble spots in proposal
S  Realistic amount of work
Read proposal pretending this is someone else’s proposal
S  Sufficient detail, not too much, not too little (Goldilocks)
S  Strong rationale
S  Evidence of potential effectiveness
10 3/14/16 General NSF Review Criteria?
Three Main Areas
S  What is the intellectual merit of the proposed research?
S  Does it advance knowledge and understanding within its field or across fields
S  Is the proposer well qualified
S  Creative and original concepts
S  Well conceived and organized
S  Access to necessary resources
S  What are the broader impacts of the proposed research?
S  Does it advance understanding while promoting teaching, training and
learning
S  Does it broaden the participation of underrepresented groups
S  Does it enhance the infrastructure for research and education
S  Will the results be disseminated broadly and enhance understanding
S  Are there benefits of the proposed activity to society
Research Proposal
Part 3
Presentations
S
S  For special solicitations, there may be additional criteria.
Road Map
S  Effective presentations
What is a talk for?
S  Know the audience, know the purpose!
S  Guidelines for a Research
proposal talk
S  What your talk is NOT for:
It’s not your project description, it’s not your paper
S  What your talk IS for:
It’s the advertisement for your research proposal or paper
11 3/14/16 The purpose of your talk…
What about your audience?!?
is NOT:
S  To impress your audience with your intellectual prowess
S  To tell them all the details of your proposed research
S  To give them all the methodology of the proposed research
The audience of your dreams…
S  Sitting on the edge of their chairs, ready to be wowed
S  Have an excellent background in the topic
S  Fresh, alert
The audience of reality…
is:
S  To give the audience a understanding of your research
S  Excited them to read your paper or proposal
S  Maybe have heard of your topic, but found it boring
S  Have heard of your topic but have a negative feeling about it
S  Just eaten lunch and ready to snooze
S  To captivate, excite, inspire your audience
What about your audience?!?
The audience of your dreams…
Goal
isready
to…to be wowed
S  Sitting on the edgeYour
of their
chairs,
S  Have an excellent background in the topic
S  Fresh, alert
In a general sense what should your talk
contain?
1.  Motivation (20%)
In the first 2 minutes, you need to engage your audience
Why should they tune in, why should they care?
What’s the problem?
Why is it an interesting problem?
2.  Your key ideas (80%)
The audience
of reality…
WAKE
THEM
UP!!!!!
S  Maybe have heard of your topic, but found it boring
S  Have heard of your topic but have a negative feeling about it
S  Just eaten lunch and ready to snooze
…and make them glad you did
If the audience only remembers one or two things from your talk, what
would it be?
Organize around these ideas, prune anything that isn’t related
Throughout your talk stick to examples, avoid sweeping
generalizations, we want to hear a story!!!
12 3/14/16 In a general sense what should your talk
contain?
Content guidelines
1.  Motivation (20%)
In the first 2 minutes, you need to engage your audience
Why should they tune in, why should they care?
What’s the problem?
S  Tell a story
Why is it an interesting problem?
2.  Your
key ideas (80%)
Content:
A simple,
memorable story
If the audience only remembers one or two things from your talk, what
would it be?
S  Talk boils down to 1-3 key points
S  Make each point three times
Organize around these key ideas, prune anything out that is not
related
Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell
them, and tell them what you told them
The Hourglass Talk
A good story
S  The BIG picture
1.  The imperiled
S  Your problem in this context
2.  The villain
3.  The obstacle
S  What you will do
4.  How hero overcomes
obstacle to save the
imperiled
S  What this will tell you
5.  The happy imperiled
S  How it relates to BIG picture
13 3/14/16 A good story – conservation problem
1.  Imperiled biodiversity
Layout of your talk?
S  Max of 30 words per slide
2.  Threats to biodiversity damage
S  Max 3-5 items per list
3.  Problem that needs to be
S  Able to read all text 2m from laptop screen
solved
4.  Solution – what you will do
5.  How solution relates to your
topic
6.  How solution relates to
biodiversity
Layout of your talk?
Layout Guidelines
S  Max of 30 words per slide
S  Max 3-5 items per list
Layout: Clean and lean
S  Able to read all text 2m from laptop screen
S  Black text; white background
14 3/14/16 Layout Guidelines
Layout Guidelines
S  Max of 30 words per slide
S  Figures should help, not hurt
S  Max 3-5 items per list
S  Should not require a lot of explanation, clear and simple
S  Able to read all text 2m from laptop screen
S  Always explain the axes!
S  Black text; white background
S  Pictures should not distract or require introduction right away
•  No bouncing balls or swirlies, please
Layout Guidelines
Default settings not always the best
S  Figures should help, not hurt
S  Should not require a lot of explanation, clear and simple
S  Always explain the axes!
15 3/14/16 Small multiples work well
Photos from Wikimedia Commons
Why Islands are Important
Big and Clumsy
1500
S  High percentage of
S  15-20% of birds, reptiles,
plants
S  Critical habitat for
seabirds and marine
mammals
mass (g)
endemics
1000
landbirds
seabirds
500
0
median
average
Keitt & Finkelstein
16 3/14/16 Annoying slides
Annoying slides
S  Each point is a paragraph, that the
S  Reveal
presenter is going to say and you have to
follow along with them or get confused
because you are reading their paragraph
and trying to listen at the same time and it
leaves you wondering why you bothered
coming
S  your points
S  one
S  Just when you thought it couldn’t get
S  by one
S  by one, unless
S  there is
S  A punch line…
How to present your talk!
worse, their second point is also a
paragraph that confirms you are better off
just reading their paper and you begin to
wondering what your dog is doing at
home, did it get into the pantry again and
gorge?
S  By the third paragraph all you here is blah
blah blah blah and you begin to look at
your facebook page on your phone…
How to present your talk!
S  Time and memorize your
talk
S  Arrive early & test AV
Delivery: Short and polished
S  Make it short, end early
S  Don’t apologize
S  Tell us gracefully when
you’re done
17 3/14/16 Road Map
How to present your talk!
BE ENTHUSIASTIC!!!!
S  If you are not excited, why would your
audience be
S  Effective presentations
S  Guidelines for a Research
proposal talk
S  Wakes them up, keeps them engaged
S  Get’s you loosened up, breathing, and
moving
Annoying Presentations
S  Ummmms, just pause…
S  Standing in front of the image
Guidelines for slides in your Proposal Talk
S  Title slide (1 slide)
S  Introduction (1-2 slides): hook, background, and gap
S  Specific objectives (1-2 slides): given gap, what you’ll do to fill it
S  Turning your back to the
audience
S  Going over time, question time
fail
S  Methods & Predictions for each objective (2-6 slides): fig, diagrams, maps, analyses and
how they address the objective
S  Challenges & How you will address them (1- 2 slides): pitfalls?
S  Summarize main objectives & direct impacts (1 slide)
S  Avoiding eye contact
S  Broader impacts (1 slide): how you will include education, communities, conservation
S  Speak to only the first row
S  Intellectual merit as it relates to introduction (1 slide),: relates back to the big picture
S  Acknowledgements & Questions (1 slide each): not often an acknow. slide, but always
have a pretty picture for questions
18 3/14/16 Questions?
19