This video was shot at a seminar I gave for my high-end grant writing students last spring. It walks you through the 3 things you MUST HAVE to get your grant funded. Your “Trifecta”.
And if you don’t get these 3 things in order, then you might just end up in the Cycle of Doom. I go over what this is, and how to break out if you find yourself there.
Enjoy!
3 replies to "The Grant Trifecta and Cycle of Doom"
Really great and inspiring!!!
The core of the message is sound but there is an important missing aspect.
In the current funding climate, having an excellent proposal (covering the three issues presented in the video) only gives you a ticket for a lotto together with the many other excellent applications submitted in each cycle.
Once you are there with that group of proposals, to get funded is determined by a variety of rather unpredictable circumstances.
I’ve talked a lot about this point that you make, Juan. Yes, there are random factors. Just like in a basketball tournament. Sometimes you miss the shot. Sometimes the other players steal the ball when you don’t expect it. And so on.
But you don’t make it to professional basketball by throwing up your hands in despair and saying “oh my! it’s all random! therefore I don’t need to practice!”
Getting grants has become a PRO sport. The players who prepare and train will have better odds of winning (by far). It doesn’t guarantee winning. However, it’s far better than having remote odds of winning.
i.e. what’s the difference between 1:3 odds versus 1:10 odds? (answer: more than 3x difference).
People writing great, professional grants that are strategically submitted at the right time and place are closer to 1:3 odds (including 3 of my clients who’ve had perfect 10 scores on their R01’s).
People writing “average” grants are ~1:10 right now at NIH.
Which one would you bet your career on?
So, yes, there is randomness. But unlike a lottery ticket, you can influence the odds, substantially.