1.  English 317: Technical Writing
Writing Grant Proposals
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2. Types of Proposals
 Solicited. Business or organization advertises its needs
often called a Request for Proposals (RFP), Information
for BID (IFB), Request for Bids (RFB) or other names.
Writer responds to these needs exactly as requested.
 Unsolicited. Reader is not expecting the proposal. Writer
identifies the need and offers to meet it.
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3. Proposal Deliverables
 Goods-and-services proposals differ from research proposals in that goods-
and-services proposals promise to deliver a tangible product, a service, or
some combination of the two.
 Research proposals lead to a document (a report, scholarly article, and/or
conference paper) in which findings/results are disseminated.
Of course, such research may lead to tangible products as well, such as an
experimental new drug or a prototype of something.
 For this assignment, you are writing a research proposal.
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4. Follow the proposal instructions.
 Prepare your proposal exactly as instructed in steps 1 through
3 of the Student Grant Proposal instructions with one
exception:
1. You will not need to include a faculty letter of support.
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5. Proposal Components
 Completed Investigator Form (only your signature is needed for the
purposes of this assignment)
 Abstract of no more than 200 words.
 (Note: the abstract is part of the Investigator Form).
 Completed Budget Form
 Cover Letter (1 page max)
 Narrative (6 pages max)
 Additional Information (3 pages max)
NOTE: You will need to compose a single document that includes the
Components listed above.
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6. Compose a title that conveys what is in the proposal.
Vague Specific
Project Grant Proposal Overwintering of Blue Spruce;
A Proposal to Improve Survival
Rates Using a New Type of
Container.
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7. What is an abstract?
 A summary of a proposal or report.
 Reviewers will use it to decide if proposal or report
warrants further merit.
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8. Writing the abstract for your proposal.
 Provide a concise abstract (limited to 200 words) as a non-
technical description of the problem, work to be performed,
and expected outcome(s).
 The abstract should serve as a guide to the reader, introduce
key concepts and provide the groundwork for understanding
key points.
 The abstract is part of the Investigator Information online form
– write then cut and paste into form.
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9. Writing the proposal cover letter (1 page max)
 Provide a cover letter that, concisely states the following:
 The main goal(s) of your work and your overall methods for
accomplishing said goal(s),
 The importance of your work to your academic career as well as to
the university and your field of study,
 A statement of need, summarizing available funding (or lack thereof)
for your work.
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10. Writing the proposal narrative (6 pages max)
 Use the same headings as in the proposal instructions:
 Objectives
 Importance
 Methods
 Timeline
 Bibliography
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11. Narrative needs to answer both of these questions
1. What exactly are you proposing to do?
2. How exactly are you proposing to do it?
Often an RFP will direct you as to how to organize the proposal narrative,
At other times it will simply leave the organization up to you.
For your proposal, keep in mind the instructions direct you to organize your
proposal according to the following sections.
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12. Writing the objectives (2 pages max).
 Describe the proposed activity, the overall goal, and your
specific objectives and include relevant background
information.
 Cite appropriate sources when necessary such as placing you
work within the context of other research. (See slides in this
lecture about citing sources).
 Consider a list if more than one objective.
 Use strong verb(s) to describe the objectives.
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13. Including background with the objectives.
 Sets the context for proposed research. Here are questions
that are typically answered in a background to the objectives.
 What is the research context behind the proposed project? For
example, what, if anything, has been tried to solve a problem, test an
hypothesis, answer a central research question, or meet aneed? How
well have prior solutions worked? Note: don’t try to answer all of these.
 Decide how to place the background. Should it come before or after
the objectives? Which would be clearer to reviewers? If you place
background before the objectives, be certain it is not much
 longer than a paragraph because readers will want to move quickly
to your objectives.
 Consider listing the objectives and be very specific.
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14. Writing a statement of the problem
Answers the following question:
 What is the specific problem that your proposed research will address?
 Problem can also be defined as an identified engineering or design need,
scientific hypothesis, or central research question.
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15. Writing the importance (1 page max)
 Explain how the proposed activity will contribute to your
academic success as well as to your discipline or to other
disciplines and the university.
 Cite appropriate sources where necessary. Note: this lecture
explains how to make rhetorical choices about using sources
and citing.
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16. Writing the methods (2 pages max)
 Describe in detail the procedures or techniques you plan to
use to conduct the proposed research.
 Cite appropriate sources where necessary.
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17. Writing the timeline (1 page max)
 Provide a timeline that demonstrates that you have a realistic
understanding of the sequence of events and the amount of
time it will take to complete the project within the funding
period.
 This means you need to list the specific research tasks for the
project and connect to specific dates.
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18. Writing the bibliography
 If applicable. Sometimes the research or scholarly activity
does not require a bibliography, so consider if you need to
include one.
 Although you may use the format appropriate to your
discipline, the bibliography should remain consistent
throughout the Narrative.
 NOTE: the bibliography is not counted towards the 6-page
limit.
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19. Example: Science Proposal
 From introduction to a scientific proposal written by a team of
scientists.
 Writers targets members of the scientific community.
 Their readers would have a high-level of technical expertise but are
not “equal” in what they know. Some researchers may be interested
because they are working on the same problem (high-level); others
simply interested in a proposal to approach a problem in a new way
(mid-level).
 Notice how writers move readers between information they would
likely know to the new information the proposal promises.
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20. Background contains information readers know, but it sets the context.
 Notice the definition (blue text) and a statement of the main problem
(green text).
 Peptic ulcer disease is a chronic condition characterized by frequent
recurrences. After ulcer healing, the continuation of anti-ulcer
therapy results in a reduced rate of ulcer recurrence, but it does not
affect the natural history of the disease. When maintenance therapy
is discontinued, expected patterns of rapid recurrence resume (1).
 When creating background, you may want to move from a definition leading to the
main problem --- something that other researchers have been working on.
 Note: the number in parenthesis is a citation style.
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21. Writers begin to introduce new information. This may or may not be information
readers know, but the writers are drawing attention to it to set the context for what
follows.
 Recent studies have suggested that the eradication of
Helicobacter pylori infection affects the natural history of
duodenal ulcer disease such that the rate of occurrence
decreases markedly (2,4).
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22. Specific statement of the problem
 However, the interpretation of these results has been complicated by the
fact that several of the larger studies did not use control groups or any
form of blinding (3,5,6). In addition, studies of the effect of H. pylori
eradication in patients with gastric ulcer have not been done.
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23. Objective – the new information.
 We propose to conduct a randomized, controlled trial to evaluate the
effect of therapy designed to eradicate H. pylori on the pattern of ulcer
recurrence in patients with duodenal or gastric ulcer.
 Readers would now expect, in the body of the proposal, for the writers to
explain why H.pylori is important to curing ulcer disease because this was a
very radical idea.
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24. Citing Sources
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25. Purposes for Citing Sources
 Places your research in context, relating it to other work on the subject.
 Acknowledges conflicts with other research findings.
 Provides support for important claims.
 Directs reader to bibliographical information not only where to find the
source but this information conveys aspects of credibility.
 A first-tier, peer-reviewed journal article by a major researcher may have
more weight with readers than a lower-tier or industry produced report or
article.
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26. Two Basic Citation Systems
Name-Year System Used By:
-MLA: Modern Language Association
-APA: American Psychological Association
Numbered-Sequence System Used By:
-CMS: Chicago Manual of Style
-CBE: Council of Biology Editors
-IEEE: Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers
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27. Choosing a Style for Citing Sources
 No “right” or “wrong” -- only preferences.
 Reasons to select a specific citation style:
 Standard for your field.
 Employer or publisher preference.
 Reader preference.
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28. Rhetorical Moves
in Citing Sources
Some silly sentences follow this slide to make a point.
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29. Direct and Indirect Citation
 Direct citation. Author (and/or work) is identified directly and
cited by parenthetical reference or through a footnote or
endnote.
 Indirect citation. Author (and/or work) is not identified but
cited parenthetically or through a footnote or endnote.
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30. Direct Citation
Two Parenthetical Documentation Styles
 APA [emphasis on date]
Brie (1988) showed that the moon is made of cheese. Cheddar (1990)
reached the same conclusion.
 MLA [emphasis on page number]
Brie showed that the moon is made of cheese (111-19). Cheddar reached
the same conclusion (40-52).
Typically, APA is used in the social sciences while MLA is used by disciplines in
the humanities (English, history, etc.).
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31. Three Documentation Styles Using Endnote Systems
 CMS [superscript number placed at the end of sentence.]
 Brie showed that the moon is made of cheese.1 Cheddar reached the same
conclusion. 2
 CBE [superscript number placed closed to author’s name]
 Brie¹ showed the moon is made of cheese. Cheddar² reached the same
conclusion.
 IEEE [uses brackets around superscript number placed close to author’s
name or reference to research]
 Brie[¹] Brie showed that the moon is made of cheese. . Cheddar[²] reached the
same conclusion.
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32. All Documentation Styles
 In-text citation information (parenthetical or superscript) must
be accompanied by a corresponding entry in a Works Cited,
References List, or Bibliography where information about the
source is provided.
 Basic elements of a bibliography (any documentation style):
 Name of author
 Name of text
 Date of text
 Publisher of text
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33. Writing the Additional Information (3 page max)
 Institutional resources available – This includes resources already available
through the university that will aid in the completion of your project (i.e.
laboratory/gallery facilities, existing equipment that you will therefore not
have to purchase to complete your project, etc).
 Other sources of funding – If you need additional sources of funding aside
from the SGP to complete your project, you need to address in this section
of the proposal how you will be obtaining these funds. You also need to
address in your budget where/how these funds will be used.
 Plan to disseminate to the university – As mentioned under
“Responsibilities of Grant Recipients”, you will need to present the results
of your project to the students of the University of Idaho. In this section,
outline how you intend to fulfill this requirement (i.e. Grad Expo, campus
poster session, etc).
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34. Additional information continued
 Regulatory committee approvals – Any research proposal involving
controlled substances, radioactive materials, human beings, or animals
must be cleared with the appropriate university compliance committee(s)
before any funds are released from the SGP.
 NOTE: for the purposes of this assignment, you will not be required to
obtain clearance from the university compliance committees, but you will
need to explain the following:
 In this section of the proposal, identify whether your project will require approval
from any of these committees and how you will address the common concerns of
these committees. In addition, projects involving the use of controlled substances
must be (co-)sponsored by a permanent faculty member who is properly licensed by
the appropriate state/federal agencies and the necessary license information and/or
identification must be noted in this section.
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35. Additional information continued
 Other – Provide any other information that demonstrates you are capable
of conducting the activities specified in the proposal
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36. Writing the Budget: use the form.
 Equipment (Capitol Outlay): Any item which will retain its usefulness
beyond the grant period is considered capital equipment and will be
retained by the university once the project is completed. All equipment,
including laptops and desktop computers, must receive a university
identification tag.
 Expendable Supplies and Materials: Include enough supply money for all
activities in the project. Include both expendable laboratory supplies and
expendable large-quantity office supplies (e.g. stationery, duplicating
supplies, typing/computing supplies, and software).
 Travel Costs: Please refer to the university travel guidelines for appropriate
expenditures.
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37. Writing the Budget: use the form.
 Personnel/Services: Identify who is to receive funds and include salaries
and fringe benefits (i.e. graduate or undergraduate assistants, digital
services, secretarial help, etc). Remember, requests for funds to pay
investigators on the grant will not be considered.
 Other Expenses: List all other expenses not covered under any of the
headings above. All items in this section should be described in the Budget
Justification.
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38. Writing the Budget: use the form.
 F&A Fee: Facilities & Administration fees traditionally pay for indirect costs
of research, such as office and laboratory space, heat and lights, library
services, administrative assistance/staff, and other costs. This fee must be
included as part of your overall total requested from the SGP. Calculate the
amount needed by totaling your budgetary line items (budget sections a-e)
and multiplying by 8%. That number must then be added to the total
budgetary line items (a-e) for the total amount requested from the SGP.
 Justification - For all expenses over $100 and those items listed under
“Other Expenses”, describe on an additional page the expenses such that
reviewers and committee members will be able to immediately recognize
the relevance and necessity of the items. For all expenses listed under
"Equipment", indicate who will assume responsibility for the equipment
once the project has been completed.
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