TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health TUM Interna+onal Graduate School of Informa+on Science in Health How to write an international proposal? – The example of research and training funding Prof. Dr. Gregory Hager / Dr. Ursula Mühle November 17th, 2012 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Agenda •  Background: general trends in University Funding •  German and InternaIonal Funding Sources (DFG, EU) •  Proposal WriIng General Remarks •  Proposal Structures •  Proposal WriIng Hint s •  Proposal WriIng Dont s hQps://gsish.tum.edu TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Background I: The rise of third party funding •  German trends of university funding: increase of third party funding •  Example In 2010, 33% of the enIre TUM budget (243,3 Mio€) was Third Party Funding (including sources such as the EU, the German Research FoundaIon (DFG) the Volkswagen SIYung as well as Industry Funding) •  Results •  Basic university funding is only a precondiIon but not suﬃcient for sustaining research •  It is increasingly expected from researchers to raise their own funding •  Young researcher need to learn early to raise money within their career 3 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Background II: The rising importance of educa=on and training •  In Germany but also on an European level, one big poliIcal objecIve is to support junior scienIsts to train them adequately for raising their employability both in academia and industry •  Result: •  Rise of funding lines for ﬁnancial support for combining research and training (e.g. EU: Marie Curie funding line; DAAD (German Academic Exchange Programme) funding lines, DFG (German Research FoundaIon Funding Line) 4 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Background III: Increasing Interna=onaliza=on •  Research and Teaching is increasingly becoming internaIonal •  E.g. @TUM: •  Especially within informaIon science, physics, medicine, research and educaIon is becoming increasingly internaIonalized •  For German universiIes: high incenIve to cooperate internaIonally (e.g. hire leading scienIsts from the US, organize student exchange, oﬀer double-‐degree programmes, iniIate collaboraIve research center) 5 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Consequences Where to raise funds for •  innovaIve research ideas •  which also combine training and educaIon elements •  which ideally include internaIonalizaIon aspects à The good news: for researchers there are quite a lot of possibilites to obtain external funding, especially in natural science, medicine, informaIon science and engineering 6 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Funding Opportuni=es: From a German perspecIve fund can be raised on several levels: à  NaIonal level à  European level à  InternaIonal level 7 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Germany •  81,7 million people •  German GDP: 2,57 trillion •  German research and development spending: •  2011: 61 bn € (2,4% GDP) •  Funding sources: •  NaIonal Government funding (BMBF, BMWi) •  Research Agencies (e.g. DFG) •  FoundaIons (e.g. Alexander von Humboldt FoundaIon, Volkswagen FoundaIon) •  Industry collaboraIons (e.g. GE, Siemens, Philips) 8 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Na=onal Funding possibili=es: DFG Funding Basics •  One of the big German research funding agencies •  Income Sources: Co-‐ﬁnancing through Federal State and Federal Governments and donors •  2011 spending: 2,457 bn € ParIcipaIon open to •  Qualiﬁed researchers (as a rule, those holding a doctorate) from all disciplines working at German research insItuIons (e.g. universiIes as well as insItutes such as Max Planck InsItute/Helmholtz InsItute) •  Researchers working at insItuIons which serve purely commercial purposes or those who are not permiQed to publish ﬁndings in a generally accessible form are not eligible to apply. 9 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health DFG Funding Basics What is funded •  Individual Research Grants •  Coordinated Programmes •  Excellence IniIaIve •  Research Infrastructure •  ScienIﬁc Prizes •  InternaIonal CooperaIon Proposal structure •  Proposal Data and ObligaIons •  Project DescripIon (State of the Art and Preliminary Work, ObjecIve and Work Programme, Bibliography, Requested Modules/Funds, Project Requirements, AddiIonal InformaIon) •  Appendices 10 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health DFG Funding Basics – How to ﬁnd a call Many DFG-‐Programmes: no calls, no deadline; always to be handed in; For forms and Guidelines please check this link: hQp://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/programmes/index.jsp Special Programmes/CollaboraIons: open calls e.g. German-‐Israeli Project CooperaIon e.g. Brazilian-‐German CollaboraIon in Global Chance Research hQp://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/announcements_proposals/index.html 11 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health The European Union •  500 Million people – 27 countries •  EU budget 2011: 141 billion •  EU research budget: •  2007-‐2013: € 53 billion (2007-‐2012) •  2014-‐2020 (Horizon 2020): € 80 billion •  à 2% of EU GDP (objecIve is 3%) 12 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EU – 7th Framework Programme: Basics •  EU's main instrument for funding research •  Over €80 billion to be spent from 2014 unIl 2020 •  ParIcipaIon open to a wide range of organisaIons and individuals within the EU and associated states: •  research groups at universiIes or research insItutes; •  companies intending to innovate; •  SMEs (small and medium-‐sized enterprises) or their groupings; •  public administraIon; •  researchers (from early-‐stage to experienced); •  insItuIons running research infrastructures; •  etc. 13 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EU – 7th Framework Programme: Speciﬁc Programmes http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7 14 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EU – 7th Framework Programme: How to ﬁnd a call? •  Overview of upcoming calls in People – Marie Curie •  Published and updated regularly •  http://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/apply-now/open-calls/index_en.htm Call identitifier Call title Publication date Deadline FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG Career Integration Grants (CIG) - deadline: 1st cut-off 07/03/2013 and 2nd cut-off 18/09/2013 Researchers' Night 2013 18 October 2012 18 September 2013 02 October 2012 08 January 2013 Marie Curie IndustryAcademia Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP) Marie Curie Initial Training Networks (ITN) 02 October 2012 16 January 2013 10 July 2012 22 November 2012 FP7-PEOPLE-2013-COFUND MARIE CURIE CO-FUNDING OF REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES (COFUND) 10 July 2012 05 December 2012 FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IRSES Marie Curie International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) 10 July 2012 17 January 2013 FP7-PEOPLE-2013-NIGHT FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IAPP FP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN 15 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Links EU •  •  •  •  •  •  www.ec.europa.eu/ www.cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ www.ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/ hQp://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/pdf/fp7-‐inbrief_en.pdf hQp://ec.europa.eu/budget/library/publicaIons/ﬁnancial_pub/pack_rules_funds_en.pdf hQp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh_Framework_Programme DFG •  •  •  •  hQp://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/index.jsp hQp://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/programmes/index.html hQp://www.dfg.de/en/research_funding/forms_guidelines/index.html hQp://www.dfg.de/formulare/54_01/54_01_en.pdf 16 US Funding Agencies •  NaIonal Science FoundaIon (NSF) •  NaIonal InsItutes of Health (NIH) •  DoD –  DARPA –  AFOSR, ARO, ONR •  AHRQ, CDC, NIST, FDA …. •  + FoundaIons, Industry, Philanthropy NSF •  FY 2013 Budget Request: $7.4B •  CISE: $710 M •  Funds basic research •  Broad poruolio of programs •  Cannot fund research of “mission” agencies NSF S tats Snapshot of FY 2011 Activities CISE Research Budget $636M Number of Proposals 5,973 Number of Awards 1,369 Success Rate ~20% Average Award Size $182K Number of Panels Held Number of People Supported 247 14,488 CISE Senior Researchers 6,812 Other Professionals 605 Postdoctoral Associates 371 Graduate Students 4,882 Undergraduate Students 1,818 NSF InternaIonal Awards •  Supplements to individual grants •  InternaIonal Research Experiences for Students (IRES) •  Partnerships in InternaIonal Research and EducaIon (PIRE) (4M/5 yrs) http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=OISE NIH •  •  •  •  •  •  27 InsItutes and Centers Mission to improve health and save lives 31B budget Supports 300k researchers Much more problem moIvated than NSF Reviews are completely separate from funding program –  Choose panel wisely! DoD •  DARPA – about 3B –  Big changes in model over Ime –  Tends to be more “poliIcal” –  Internal review; PD has more laItude •  AFOSR, ONR, ARO –  Smaller budgets –  Likewise more focused programs –  Internal review; PD has much more laItude Geyng Funding: Really Just Three QuesIons •  What •  Why •  How Really Just Three QuesIons •  What –  –  –  –  … is the fundamental problem? … is your idea? … is its relaIonship to the ﬁeld? … is its novelty? •  Why –  … is it important? –  … is it likely to succeed? –  … will anyone care? •  How –  … are you planning on aQacking the problem? –  … are you planning on disseminaIng the results? But, One Other Crucial QuesIon WHO? What is Good NSF Proposal? •  •  •  •  •  Novel Broad appeal Broad impact Excites panel with its ideas Convinces them the science can be done How to Write a Bad NSF Proposal •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  Be too focused on an applied problem Be incremental Don’t place the work in the ﬁeld Focus on details to the detriment of the whole Don’t have a plan Don’t put any pictures in the proposal …. We will show an example of a recent “good” proposal How to Write a Good NIH Proposal •  •  •  •  •  Be focused on an applied problem in medicine Be incremental (low risk) Focus on details (concrete) Clear plan of execuIon Good team that covers all bases How to Write a Bad NIH Proposal •  •  •  •  •  No impact in medicine Have no prior results Speak about the problem generally Be unrealisIc about how long the work will take. Scope poorly relaIve to invesIgators •  … we will show an example of a recently funded NIH proposal A Word on CollaboraIon •  More and more proposals involve mulIple invesIgators •  Things that are hard –  There is never enough money -‐-‐-‐ you have to split it –  It’s hard to not write “in pieces” – but it won’t get funded –  Once you have it, there is much more overhead •  But -‐-‐-‐ you can do things you couldn’t otherwise do TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Proposal Wri=ng: General Remarks •  Structure and style of a proposal depends on the funding source •  OYen templates and/or electronic submission system provided •  Typical overall procedure: Text part and online ﬁnancial and partner informaIon submiQed through a web-‐based submission system 31 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EXAMPLE 1 -‐ DFG Coordinated Programmes – Na=onal and Interna=onal Research Training Groups How is it funded no calls, no deadline; always to be handed in Main Objec=ves Fund innovaIve (internaIonal) research topics which are complimented with an innovaIve training programme. Support high level internaIonal research exchange from a very early level on Establish ways to aQract talented young researcher to come to Germany Establish ways to aQract German researchers who are working abroad to come back 32 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health DFG Research Training Proposal: Proposal Structure A. General Informa=on B. Research Programme C. Qualiﬁca=on Programme and Supervision Strategy D. Environment of the Research Training Group E. Obliga=on F./G. Appendix I / II 33 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health DFG Research Training Proposal: Proposal Structure A. General Informa=on •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  University/universiIes submiyng the proposal Designated spokesperson A list of the parIcipaIng researchers and their insItute aﬃliaIon. If applicable: Include informaIon on associated researchers from the same university/universiIes or non-‐university research insItuIons. Number of posiIons or fellowships for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to be funded through RTG funds. AnIcipated number of doctoral and postdoctoral researchers parIcipaIng with funding from other sources. For InternaIonal Research Training Groups: AnIcipated number of doctoral and post-‐doctoral researchers parIcipaIng at the partner insItuIon. The key goals, especially of the research and qualiﬁcaIon programmes, outlined in a clear and concise summary not exceeding 30 lines (2,000 to 2,500 characters incl. spaces). 34 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health DFG Research Training Proposal: Proposal Structure B. Research Programme •  •  •  •  Description of the core research idea or main topic. A draft of the research programme. Please note that research programmes are expected to yield excellent topics for theses (potential topics for theses or projects should be exemplified, but not described in detail). Innovativeness of the research programme with respect to the current state of relevant international research and feasibility/ plausibility of the innovative approaches. For International Research Training Groups: Statement on the anticipated added value. 35 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health DFG Research Training Proposal: Proposal Structure C. Qualiﬁca=on Programme and Supervision Strategy •  A draft of the qualification programme based on the research programme. •  A short description of the supervision strategy. 36 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health DFG Research Training Proposal: Proposal Structure D.  Environment of the Research Training Group •  A module for structured doctoral training may be applied for. The goal is to increase efficiency by bundling funding for closely related research projects. •  If the draft proposal is linked to an existing or expired Research Training Group, please explain what experiences have been applied to the new proposal, what new research objectives have been included, and what changes have been made to the researcher team. 37 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health DFG Research Training Proposal: Proposal Structure E. Obliga=on •  By submitting the proposal, the applying university and the participating researchers agree to adhere to the rules of good scientific practice. 38 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health DFG Research Training Proposal: Proposal Structure F. Appendix I: Publica=ons and References for the Research Programme 1.  List of published preliminary research relevant to the research programme 2. Addi=onal references on the state of the art (op=onal) G. Appendix II: Research Profiles of the Participating Researchers 39 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health DFG Interna=onal Research and Training Proposal: CHECKLIST •  Have you convincingly outlined the scien=ﬁc excellence? •  Do the internal and external partners have the appropriate equipment for contribuIng to this excellence? •  Have you outlined the uniqueness of the training structure (what is novel compared to earlier funded programmes)? •  Have you demonstrated the added value for seyng up an internaIonal programme? •  Have you described the management structure? •  Is it matched to the complexity and scale of the project? 40 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EU Research and Training Proposal: Proposal Structure SUMMARY (1/2 page) SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL QUALITY (10 pages) TRAINING (10 pages) IMPLEMENTATION (8 pages) IMPACT (4 pages) 41 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EU Research and Training Proposal: Summary •  Very important, ﬁrst impression of the content and quality of the whole proposal •  Needs to be aQracIve, eye catcher , teaser •  Needs to convince the evaluators that the proposal is worth reading and will lead to scienIﬁc or technological progress •  Should also menIon impact aspects, possible applicaIons, products, societal beneﬁts, etc. 42 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EU Research and Training Proposal: Scien=ﬁc and Technical Quality •  State clearly •  Why the proposed work is a progress in the state-‐of-‐the-‐art •  Detail how this progress will be achieved •  Compare your approach to other promising ones, explain advantages and diﬀerences •  Be a bit self-‐criIcal (scienIﬁcally!), but not too much •  Provide tangible and demonstrable results 43 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EU Research and Training Proposal: Scien=ﬁc and Technical Quality CHECKLIST •  Have you explained the concept of the project? •  Have you clearly idenIﬁed your objecIves? •  Are your objecIves achievable within your project? •  Have you addressed the state-‐of-‐the-‐art? •  Is your improvement or innovaIon clear? •  •  •  •  Have you clearly described your aims and methodology? Have you described your overall strategy of the work plan? Have you used GanQ Charts ? Are the work packages explained? 44 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EU Research and Training Proposal: IMPLEMENTATION •  Describe the partners, their competences, experiences, and responsibiliIes •  Describe the complementary capabiliIes of the partners and why this consorIum as a whole is strong •  Provide the required ﬁnancial and administraIve informaIon •  Describe the overall organisaIon of the project 45 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EU Research and Training Proposal: IMPLEMENTATION CHECKLIST •  Have you described individual parIcipants? •  Have you explained the consorIum structure? •  Do you have the appropriate personnel / is it well balanced? •  Have you described the management structure? •  Do you have an informaIon management strategy? •  Do you have a knowledge management strategy? •  Its it matched to the complexity and scale of the project? •  Have you idenIﬁed the role of the co-‐ordinator? •  Can you demonstrate relevant management experience? •  Do partners have the appropriate equipment? 46 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EU Research and Training Proposal: IMPACT •  Very important, oYen underesImated •  Basic message: Why is (a signiﬁcant amount of) public money spent in a way which is of beneﬁt to a larger group of people •  Examples: leading to novel products, increasing security, impoving the quality of life, advancing novel training possibiliIes, contribuIng to new research •  In medical applicaIons possibly more obvious than in other areas of research •  AddiIonal aspect: supporIng small innovaIve spin-‐oﬀs to enable them to prepare product development 47 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EU Research and Training Proposal: IMPACT CHECKLIST •  Have you described how your project will contribute to the expected impacts in the Work Programme? •  Does the project have suitably ambiIous goals? •  Can you illustrate a contribuIon to economic compeIIveness? •  Can you illustrate impact on quality of life? •  Can you illustrate the eﬀect of shaping research in the ﬁeld? •  Have you elaborated on your disseminaIon strategy? •  What about exploitaIon of results and knowledge management? 48 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EU Research and Training Proposal: EVALUATION •  Four Criteria •  ScienIﬁc and/or technological Excellence •  Excellence in Training •  Eﬃciency of the ImplementaIon •  Expected Impact •  Each criterion is given a score between 0 and 5 •  All proposals are ranked according to their total scores and other criteria •  Funding is possible if the total score is ≥ 10 and each individual score is ≥ 3 •  Typically, there are more proposals which can in principle be funded than the available budget allows to fund •  Funding is top-‐down on the ranked list unIl the budget is depleted 49 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health EU Research and Training Proposal: EVALUATION •  AddiIonal aspects: ethical and safety issues, as well as gender&diversity issue such as •  Does the proposal involve children? •  Does the proposal involve Human GeneIc Material? •  Does the proposal involve research on animals? •  Does the proposal involve tracking the locaIon or observaIon of people? •  Does the proposal involve researchers working in a “unsafe” environment? •  How does your working environment ensure that enough women are represented? 50 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Research Proposal Wri=ng: Hints •  Read the call text and related background informaIon carefully! •  Understand the issuer s objecIves and address them •  MenIon recent relevant communicaIons issued from the funding agenfy (e.g. White Papers from EU, recommendaIon from DFG, etc.) •  Be aware of the outcome of previous programmes and the nature of ongoing projects •  Understand the funding schemes •  Know what the evaluator is looking for (read evaluaIon criteria in work programme) 51 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Research Proposal Wri=ng: Hints •  Ensure that ALL aspects are addressed (science, management, integraIon, training, technology transfer, disseminaIon….) •  Follow the guidelines and the templates •  Address ethical, safety, regulatory and gender issues 52 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Research Proposal Wri=ng: Don’ts •  •  •  •  •  •  •  DON T underesImate the competence of evaluators DON T add partners just to have some from other countries DON T be over-‐ambiIous DON T be focused on the technical part only DON T forget that there are 3 equally weighIng evaluaIon criteria DON T think: Let s just try to submit something, we might be lucky DON T submit the proposal too close to the deadline (electronic systems may be overloaded) 53 TUM Graduate School of Information Science in Health Thank you very much for your ahen=on! Contact: Dr. Ursula Mühle ursula.muehle@tum.de hQps://gsish.tum.edu hQps://gsish.tum.edu