Research Funding (for my GEO 121 students)
In class this week, we were talking about remote sensing and I mentioned the cost of some of the image data (which can run into the thousands of dollars). A student asked "Who buys that?" I explained that people with research grants could afford it and mentioned that I had purchased some recently for a project. Later, another student asked "Did Miami [University] have to pay a lot of money for that?". I mentioned that the USDA did, since they funded our research. The discussion ended there, but I thought it might be a good idea to explain a bit more about the whole process of how we do research and get grants to fund that research. Here is how the process might go:
1) Someone has an idea for a research project.
This can come from many sources, including earlier research, reading articles, talking with colleagues, etc.
2) This person looks for funding sources for this research.
Depending on the field of the study, this person might look for funding with government agencies like the USDA (US Department of Agriculture), EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), DOE (Department of Energy), or NSF (National Science Foundation). These agencies receive funding from the federal government, some of which is to be made available for research. In those cases, they put out a call for proposals. These can be very specific or more general, but each agency has its own set of deadlines and requirements for people that apply to win that funding. These grants are competitive- MANY people apply for the money, but only a small percentage actually get anything. There are also some private sources of funding, such as foundations, which also vary across different fields of study. In addition to the external sources of funding, most universities have programs to fund smaller research projects- usually in the hope that the research will be a pilot study and lead to external funding later!
2a) Why does someone need money to do research?
While there are some things that can be done without research money, most big projects require funding for things like data (such as in remote sensing), equipment (like computers or special equipment for other scientific research), travel (to a field site- which may be in another part of the world), graduate and undergraduate students (to help with all aspects of the work to be done), plus other expenses that might be necessary if a project includes training teachers or students. Some grants also include salary for faculty and students to work during the summer. On top of these expenses, universities charge overhead on these grants. Since the work is being conducted on their campus, they collect overhead to cover expenses of office staff, IT professionals, etc. that are necessary to keep the university going. At Miami University, this is 42% of each grant that is awarded to faculty here. This has to be included in proposed budgets for any project and the university has to approve all proposals before they are submitted to a funding agency.
3) The person (or people) write and submit a proposal to a funding agency.
Most proposals are collaborations between people- in the same department and often between people in different departments. To write a good proposal requires research on literature (how have others conducted related studies), including results of other research conducted by the people proposing this work (if they have done some), a clear plan of how the research will be done (usually with a time line), an explanation of why YOU are the best people to do this research and lots of collaboration with other people to write the required parts of the proposal, organize a budget, and get everything approved. This usually takes months, but often gets down to the wire so that the proposal is being submitted the day it is due!
4) The person (or people) wait to hear back from the funding agency.
This can take six months in a lot of cases. If this is a new project being proposed, it will likely be declined for funding and the people will have to decide if it's something that can be revised and submitted again later (which might be a year after the first one). They will usually receive feedback from the funding agency and the reviewers (other people who work in that kind of research) to help revise or change the proposal. If the grant is funded, it is common to have to revise the budget (to a lower amount of money). It's wonderful to actually have your research funded, so the people usually don't mind! Then the research can begin: student workers can be hired, data and equipment can be purchased, and everyone can get to work. All money from the grant comes to the university who distributes it to the department(s) and the faculty members can use it for doing the work. I won't get into all of the forms that this involves and how administrative staff keep track of the money and how it is spent, but that is part of the process.
I have left out a LOT of details, but I wanted to give an overview for those who are unfamiliar with the process. I have been involved in MANY declined proposals and only a couple that have been funded, so I have been through the proposal process many times. It can be discouraging, but it's all a learning process! If any of my professional colleagues want to add anything in the comments that I've left out, please do! If anyone has questions, please post those, too! Thanks for reading! Maybe I'll write another post about the project I am working on now and how the process worked for us.
1) Someone has an idea for a research project.
This can come from many sources, including earlier research, reading articles, talking with colleagues, etc.
2) This person looks for funding sources for this research.
Depending on the field of the study, this person might look for funding with government agencies like the USDA (US Department of Agriculture), EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), DOE (Department of Energy), or NSF (National Science Foundation). These agencies receive funding from the federal government, some of which is to be made available for research. In those cases, they put out a call for proposals. These can be very specific or more general, but each agency has its own set of deadlines and requirements for people that apply to win that funding. These grants are competitive- MANY people apply for the money, but only a small percentage actually get anything. There are also some private sources of funding, such as foundations, which also vary across different fields of study. In addition to the external sources of funding, most universities have programs to fund smaller research projects- usually in the hope that the research will be a pilot study and lead to external funding later!
2a) Why does someone need money to do research?
While there are some things that can be done without research money, most big projects require funding for things like data (such as in remote sensing), equipment (like computers or special equipment for other scientific research), travel (to a field site- which may be in another part of the world), graduate and undergraduate students (to help with all aspects of the work to be done), plus other expenses that might be necessary if a project includes training teachers or students. Some grants also include salary for faculty and students to work during the summer. On top of these expenses, universities charge overhead on these grants. Since the work is being conducted on their campus, they collect overhead to cover expenses of office staff, IT professionals, etc. that are necessary to keep the university going. At Miami University, this is 42% of each grant that is awarded to faculty here. This has to be included in proposed budgets for any project and the university has to approve all proposals before they are submitted to a funding agency.
3) The person (or people) write and submit a proposal to a funding agency.
Most proposals are collaborations between people- in the same department and often between people in different departments. To write a good proposal requires research on literature (how have others conducted related studies), including results of other research conducted by the people proposing this work (if they have done some), a clear plan of how the research will be done (usually with a time line), an explanation of why YOU are the best people to do this research and lots of collaboration with other people to write the required parts of the proposal, organize a budget, and get everything approved. This usually takes months, but often gets down to the wire so that the proposal is being submitted the day it is due!
4) The person (or people) wait to hear back from the funding agency.
This can take six months in a lot of cases. If this is a new project being proposed, it will likely be declined for funding and the people will have to decide if it's something that can be revised and submitted again later (which might be a year after the first one). They will usually receive feedback from the funding agency and the reviewers (other people who work in that kind of research) to help revise or change the proposal. If the grant is funded, it is common to have to revise the budget (to a lower amount of money). It's wonderful to actually have your research funded, so the people usually don't mind! Then the research can begin: student workers can be hired, data and equipment can be purchased, and everyone can get to work. All money from the grant comes to the university who distributes it to the department(s) and the faculty members can use it for doing the work. I won't get into all of the forms that this involves and how administrative staff keep track of the money and how it is spent, but that is part of the process.
I have left out a LOT of details, but I wanted to give an overview for those who are unfamiliar with the process. I have been involved in MANY declined proposals and only a couple that have been funded, so I have been through the proposal process many times. It can be discouraging, but it's all a learning process! If any of my professional colleagues want to add anything in the comments that I've left out, please do! If anyone has questions, please post those, too! Thanks for reading! Maybe I'll write another post about the project I am working on now and how the process worked for us.
Thank you for sharing this interesting glimpse into the process of where research begins.
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