TIPS ON WHEN AND HOW TO USE PRELIMINARY DATA
Sometimes preliminary data is essential and sometimes it is not necessary or even harmful. Knowing when and how to use preliminary data is one of the key factors in obtaining fundable priority scores.
If you are going to use preliminary data, be sure that the data is of publication quality. No preliminary data is better than preliminary data with large error bars or data without a statistical evaluation.
Be sure that each figure or table is self contained and that the text clearly refers to the correct figures. This may seem obvious; but I have seen this sink an application on many occasions.
If your application proposes experiments or techniques that your team has never carried out before or used before, then be sure to have preliminary data showing that you can indeed succeed at these tasks. I know this can seem silly, but reviewers are very critical on this point. They know how easy it is to waste 3 months learning even the simplest technique. All it takes is a lack of focus and a little bad luck. We have all done this at some point in our careers. The reviewers want to be sure that such lost time is in the past. They use preliminary data as their indicator.
How you write and present this section can also make the difference between funding and not funding. If you present your data the way you would in a journal article, then you are taking a big chance at having the reviewer miss key points. A grant application is not a scientific article. A grant application is a sales tool. It must indeed be scientific, but its presentation should meet a different standard in order to increase the probability of obtaining funding.
Check out my E-book for more pivotal information on when and how to use preliminary data and how to write the preliminary data section itself.
To access this E-Book, click on this link : High Level SBIR/STTR Grant Writing Techniques.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or go to SBIR-STTRgrantshelp.com.
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As both a reviewer and an applicant in the SBIR/STTR arena, I found the grant writing principles in High Level SBIR/STTR Grant Writing Techniques to be right on the money... my funding success rate is already 70%....I plan on applying these principles in hopes of further improving that funding success rate. Nick Cairns , PhD, President and CSO Combinix, Inc., Mountain View , CA
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I just finished reading it and despite my past success with R01’s I benefited greatly by your key points and clear presentation of vital information and useful ‘hints.’ I found the information useful and will be using it in the preparation of a resubmission. Suffice to say, you justified my expenditure on the book after the 1st read! And, I know that I’ll be using it as a checklist in rewriting my resubmission. Leona Eggert, PhD Professor Emeritia U. Washington, Reconnecting Youth Inc. Seattle WA
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The positive response has been 100%. This is just a taste. Decide for yourselves.
To access this E-Book, click on this link : High Level SBIR/STTR Grant Writing Techniques.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or go to SBIR-STTRgrantshelp.com.
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WHICH FACTORS DETERMINE PRIORITY SCORE?
What is the number one factor in obtaining funding? The number one factor in obtaining funding is the balance between significance of your product, your writing, how you manage the review process itself, your experimental design, your team, and your tools. You want to maximize all of the above.
The intrinsic significance of your product is very important. If you will not improve something by at least an order of magnitude with your product or provide a product for an unmet need, then find another idea. Most applications provide good arguments and data that suggest this kind of significance.
The writing is key. You must present your information such that your ideas get across and the reviewer does not skim over your application. Be honest with yourself about your application. If you have a hard time reading over your own application, then the chances are high that the reviewers will skim over your application. This is one way that key points get missed. This is one of many reasons why you find the reviewers asking for information in their critique that was in the application. Also, make sure that you do not leave out key points that the reviewers will be looking for. This may seem obvious, but 40% of applications are missing such information, which is why they are unscored.
Of all the factors that contribute to your priority score, you have the least amount of control over the review process. However, you still have a great deal of control over this process. You must manage the review process to maximize your chances of success. You can manage the review process quite effectively by understanding all of the steps of the review process and knowing where, when, and how to apply the right kind pressure at each step.
Your experimental design is very important. The design must be logical, scientifically rigorous, and justifiable. All statistical tests must be mentioned.
The tools and the right team are easy enough to assemble. Make sure that you do this.
If you maximize all of these steps, you will always receive a fundable priority score. This is especially true because less than 1% of applicants do maximize these factors and 15% of Phase I applications of funded. 5% of applications have enough of these factors maximized such that they are sure to receive the best priority scores. This leaves a solid 10% of funding slots that are up for grabs by just significantly improving your application. All 15% are available if you maximize all of the above and it is possible to do so if you find the right guide and have the intrinsic significance, the methods, team, and tools to build your product.
If your application is ever unscored for any reason other than lack of intrinsic significance and you paid a fee for guidance, you deserve to have your full fee refunded. Improving applications is that easy, if you know how to do it.
For more tips, click on this link : High Level SBIR/STTR Grant Writing Techniques.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or go to SBIR-STTRgrantshelp.com.
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DISALLOWED APPENDIX MATERIAL IS NOT REMOVED FROM YOUR APPLICATION
Appendix material: your application will not be rejected for including incorrect Appendix material. Now that applications are submitted electronically, the NIH has no way of removing Appendix material and the NIH is unwilling to reject an otherwise correct application due to inclusion of incorrect Appendix material.
Receipt and Referral is not allowed to alter your application, so the application is passed onto reviewers with the Appendix material attached. The SRO (SRA’s new title) will instruct reviewers to not look at the material. Reviewers will almost always look at it anyways. This is a bit of an unfair advantage to people who did not follow the rules, but for the moment there is not much that can be done about it. It is highly unlikely that inclusion of incorrect Appendix material will harm your application.
I would not suggest purposely including such information because I am a follow the rules kind of person. I only tell you this so that you do not panic if you discover that you did in fact include such material.
For more tips, click on this link : High Level SBIR/STTR Grant Writing Techniques.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or go to SBIR-STTRgrantshelp.com.
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SOME TIPS ON LATE AND CORRECTED APPLICATIONS:
The NIH will bend over backwards to accept your late application for up to two weeks beyond the deadline. As long as you can give a plausible reason, they will accept the application. The closer to the original deadline, the more likely they are to accept the application.
Always try to be on time because the NIH is under no obligation to accept your late application. If you are late for some reason, by all means submit anyways and include a letter of explanation. The reviewers will not know that the application was late. Basically, only Receipt and Referral will know this.
You can also change your application up to two weeks after the submission deadline. Simply resubmit it with your corrections and include a letter of explanation. This letter will not go to reviewers; it will only be seen by Receipt and Referral. Make sure the reason is sound.
You can change just about anything in the application, including the Title. Such changes are not unusual, so do not be shy about taking advantage of this opportunity; but remember that your best bet for success in any endeavor is to plan ahead and be on time.
Just as a point of clarification, there is a two day window for correcting an application before the deadline. If you use this two day window, you do not have to provide an explanation. However, you can send in corrections after this two day window for up to two weeks beyond the submission deadline as long as you provide a letter with a plausible reason for why you were late.
In some cases you can make corrections even later than this. Check with your program officer and SRO for help in this matter. Sometimes you can also make changes as part of a Supplementary Material package. But here, you will have to put the change in the context of new information, so it will not be possible to change a title for example (You would be surprised how often this type of change is requested!), but you could send in new preliminary data and as part of that in order to correct errors in the previous preliminary data, just do not put it in terms of a correction.
Most SROs will not allow you to actually correct information in your Supplementary Material package so be careful how you present corrective material, although some SROs will allow corrective material. If you already know the SRO you will already know what kind of Supplementary data will be allowed.
For more tips, click on this link : High Level SBIR/STTR Grant Writing Techniques.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or go to SBIR-STTRgrantshelp.com.
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