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Writing A Successful GSA Grant Proposal
GSA TODAY | DECEMBER 2015 Paul H. Wetmore, Univ. of South Florida, and Amy Draut East, U.S.
Geological Survey
Each year, GSA funds approximately half of the
proposed graduate student research grants. In addition
to providing our graduate student members with the
means to complete their research, this program gives
them an introduction to the all-important skill of
proposal writing. Here, we provide some suggestions to help the
next generation of scientists develop this skill. To augment this
piece, you can find resources at www.geosociety.org/grants/
ap_tips.htm.
Like all grant proposals, GSA’s has rules that you need to read
and follow if you hope to get funded. Before you begin writing,
read the policies and procedures at www.geosociety.org/grants/
gradgrants.htm. Note the deadline—NO LATE SUBMISSIONS!
Note eligibility, and what items are permitted in your budget.
Your proposal will be evaluated on six factors: how well
you address each of the four sections, your figure, and the
overall writing in your proposal. The four sections ask you to
1. Present the problem, hypotheses, and overall project
objectives;
2. Discuss the scientific and, if appropriate, societal
importance of your project;
3. State your research plan and how it will test your
hypotheses; and
4. Provide an itemized budget with detailed justification for
each item.
The core task of your proposal is to identify a real scientific
question or problem, develop hypotheses, and convince the
reviewers that it is an important problem worthy of funding, that
you have a plan for testing your hypotheses, and that you have
carefully identified the costs involved in conducting your study.
The vast majority of funded studies follow the scientific method
(i.e., problem identification, propose hypotheses, develop/conduct
tests, and evaluate hypotheses based on results). A subordinate
number involve discrete solutions to a problem (e.g., the prob-
ability of an area/facility being inundated by lava as part of a
volcanic hazard assessment). In either case you must clearly relate
why and to whom the results of your study will be important. The
best proposals focus on a scientific problem rather than starting
with a specific field area. The motivation for your study cannot
simply be “because nobody has studied this before.”
Your research plan must describe in detail the steps you will
take to address your question. A common mistake here is the lack
of connection between problems/hypotheses from the first two
sections and the tasks proposed in this section. Your planned
study should test a hypothesis and state clearly how your proposed
research will accomplish this task. This can be as simple as “Since
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the goal of this study is to determine if this fault was active during
the Sevier orogeny or Miocene extension, I will determine U/Pb
zircon ages of intrusions emplaced concomitant with slip on
the fault.”
Show that your work plan is carefully thought out, with
methods that are necessary and sufficient to address the problem.
Provide specific details. If you are mapping: what features, where,
and at what scale? If collecting or analyzing samples: what, how
many, with what methods or equipment? The scope of work also
must be reasonable for the time frame you propose.
In many proposals, the budget section is treated as an after-
thought. Nothing could be further from the truth; one of the
easiest means of being denied funding is to include disallowed
items in your budget. Your budget should be as explicit and real-
istic as possible. Determine the actual costs in detail (e.g., sample
analysis, campsite and vehicle rentals, airfare, and baggage fees)
and provide them on a per-sample/day/night/mile basis. Justify
every item listed in the budget.
Perhaps the most important part of your proposal is your
figure. This is your chance to present a figure that can explain
what would require paragraphs of text. Location maps and photos
of the fossil/mineral/etc. you’ll be working on are great, but is it
the best use of your figure? The strongest proposals tend to use
multi-box figures illustrating the concepts to be tested in their
studies. Design a figure specifically for your study. Be sure your
graphics are clear and high resolution, and use text that is legible
at a normal full-page viewing scale. A well-written caption is very
helpful. Include legends, scale bars, and use colors and annota-
tions that make the figure intuitive to understand.
Finally, take care with the proposal’s language and writing style.
Start paragraphs with strong topic sentences and keep the rest of
the paragraph on topic. Avoid unnecessary technical jargon—the
reviewers are professional earth scientists, but may be outside of
your study’s discipline. Explain and minimize acronyms (three or
fewer). Check and re-check grammar and spelling. Check the
math in your budget. Cite the work of others properly (the
reviewers might have published on your topic!), using the super-
scripted reference numbering system to save space. And make sure
that you have addressed the topic of each section and connected
them logically to each other (problem/hypotheses, importance,
research plan, budget, and justification).
Constructing a solid proposal not only improves your chance of
receiving GSA funds; it also sets the stage for a successful research
plan to generate interesting and useful results that the scientific
community will want to see.
—Good luck!