Writing For Profit
A POLISHED PRODUCT

Grant-writing network helps grow MU's research enterprise

Scientists and scholars, no matter how well-qualified in their fields, sometimes need help expressing the importance of their research to the funding agencies that they hope might support them.
Working with a professional grant writer can help. That's why, about seven years ago, MU took the lead among major research institutions nationwide in hiring and training a team of grant-writing specialists to help develop the type of high-quality grant proposals that will attract more and better external awards.
To accomplish this task, the Office of Research in 1998 asked Mary Licklider to begin building a professional grant-writer network. Since then, the number of specialists has grown to 10. And they are proving to be a valuable tool, especially in enabling investigators generate proposals for larger awards, says Licklider, now director of the Office of Research's grant-writing and publications office. In fiscal year 2003, for instance, the grant writers supported more than 100 proposals requesting more than $89 million.

"Grant writers have played a role in several of MU's large, multimillion dollar research proposals, such as the recently awarded NIH-funded Swine Genetic Resource Center," says James Coleman, vice provost for research and professor of biological sciences. "These large proposals, often involving many investigators, are facilitated by the tremendous organization and coordination skills of the grant writers."
But there is still much work to be done, Licklider says. MU has a relatively weak history of applying for larger center-type proposals - a look at its research portfolio will show it is disproportionately skewed to smaller awards. "There is quite a bit of irony in that, because if MU has a niche worldwide, it would be the extent of interdisciplinary cross talk that goes on," she says. "It is unusual and productive. You would think we would be doing more center grants for an institution our size, but we weren't. All this interdisciplinary work was happening on single-investigator projects, which they had taken about as far as they could take."

By assuming the management of the proposals' workload, the grant writers have enabled investigators to take on the task of putting together larger proposals. "The grant writers do a tremendous job of melding information from several investigators into a polished, cohesive product," Coleman says. "Having such a polished product is absolutely essential in competing for federal funds as many of the federal programs that fund large, multimillion dollar awards fund less than 10 percent of the proposals that are submitted."

Their help pays off. So far this year, 27 of the 48 proposals submitted with support from grant writers were requests exceeding $500,000.

A major National Institutes of Health grant awarded to the School of Medicine, for example, came as a result of the grant-writer network's expertise, says William Folk, senior associate dean for research and professor of biochemistry. "I can't say enough good things about it," he says. "We are in the midst of working with several multimillion dollar requests that involve faculty from across campus. No way could we hope to be competitive in these without our grant writer and the support she receives from the network."

Still, there are limits to what grant specialists can do. "Grant writing will not make a bad idea fundable," Licklider says. "We support proposals, but if it weren't for the quality and creativity of our faculty none of the proposals would be awarded."

A significant factor in the success of the network lies in the collaboration that the writers offer each other. Grant work can be intense and lonely, Licklider says. To help combat the drawbacks, new grant writers are all housed within the Office of Research for as much of the first year as they need to get used to the position. "Because it is so deadline driven, this has the potential to be a high-burnout field," she says, "but getting to know each other well enough that we are comfortable calling out for help is a piece of the success of the network."

The network ensures that specialists are not left to fend for themselves once they move to their academic areas. Licklider's office provides them ongoing training and mentorship, as well as financial resources. They attend monthly meetings that consist of professional development programs "to keep our own expertise within the network up to snuff," she says.

While hiring a grant writer represents an investment calculated to boost research revenue, Licklider says money is not the main reason units or divisions should consider when contemplating a full-time grant-writer position. "Grant writing is a strategic position," she says. "Even if a given project doesn't get funded, having a grant writer helps a division or department focus on strategic priorities, where to spend time and how much should be devoted to certain areas."

In the best of all possible programs, about 30 percent of the proposals get funded, Licklider says. "So it is not good to write proposals for money only. If writing a proposal allows you to think through things that need to be planned anyway, then you have accomplished something with your time. And oftentimes you can start - as a result of that planning - without the money."

Reprinted from Mizzou Weekly, the faculty/staff newspaper at the University of Missouri-Columbia.