• Ask as many people as possible about how to find funding opportunities: faculty mentor, graduate/postdoc mentor, department chair, colleagues, Office of Sponsored Research, Foundation Relations Office.
• Get on e-mailing lists for funding announcements!
  • NIH
  • NSF
  • Listservs appropriate to your field
  • Various multi-disciplinary grants mailing lists
• Be a detective! Find out what agencies have funded your colleagues and persons in comparable positions at other schools. Some people have this information on their websites or CV.
• Take 30-60 minutes to search for a few keywords in the gigantic database emailed by Jim Coleman (and others) every month or every other month.
• If there is a funding opportunity that you are interested in, ask the Deans’ offices (Bart or Rachel) to find out who else at Rice has been funded by this agency. Talk to this person, get a copy of their funded award, get any inside information that you can!
• It is a good idea to contact the funding agency to see how your idea aligns with their funding priorities. Have a short abstract ready with your tentative specific aims BEFORE you contact them.
• Send versions of the same project to multiple funding agencies, but tailor scope of project as appropriate.
• Apply for any and all internal/local (Rice, TMC, Houston) funding opportunities you can find. Take these applications seriously and don’t put them together at the last minute. Great way to get preliminary data and a preliminary draft of your next major proposal.
• Make a spreadsheet of opportunities and deadlines.
• APPLY. You won’t get the grants you don’t apply for. NIH and NSF review panels are impressed by young investigators with multiple pending grants – it shows that the applicant is seriously aggressive about securing funding.

Funding Agencies to Consider (not a comprehensive list)

1. NIH (www.nih.gov)
   • R03 “small grant” mechanism. Review panels can be a tad easier on these applications.
   • R21 for exploratory/developmental research. Less preliminary data needed.
   • R01 – primary investigator-initiated mechanism. Substantial preliminary data needed.
   • Director’s New Innovator Awards and Pioneer Awards
   • STAY ABREAST of what different institutes consider “Young Investigator” status
2. NSF (www.nsf.gov)
   • will be covered in more detail in a later panel
   • apply for both CAREER and regular research grants (not with the same project)
   • if you get NSF funding, apply for any and all supplements!
3. Military-related funding
   • Review the current BAA (Broad Agency Announcement) for these agencies to learn about funding priorities/areas and contact persons
4. DOD Congr. Directed Medical Research Programs (cdmrp.army.mil/Funding/default.htm)
5. DOE (http://www.sc.doe.gov/grants/grants.html#Funding%20Opportunity%20Announcements)
6. DARPA (http://www.darpa.mil/BAA/)
7. Army Research Lab (http://www.arl.army.mil/www/default.cfm?Action=6&Page=8)
8. ONR (http://www.onr.navy.mil/02/BAA/)
9. Air Force (http://www.wpafb.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=8127)
10. Welch Foundation (http://www.welch1.org/)
    • note internal deadlines
    • lots of people have this funding at Rice, get input and feedback!
11. Oak Ridge Associated Universities Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award
    • http://www.orau.org/consortium/programs/powe/powe-awards.htm
    • Internal competition first
12. Human Frontier Science Program (www.hfsp.org)
    • Early Career and non-EC grants, also travel fellowships
13. HHMI (www.hhmi.org)
    • Early Career and non-EC professorships/research awards
    • Fund the person, not the project
    • Learn more from Foundation Relations Office
    • Calls for applicants not every year
14. Packard Foundation
    • http://www.packard.org/genericDetails.aspx?RootCatID=3&CategoryID=152
    • Internal competition first
15. Sloan Foundation (http://www.sloan.org/programs/scitech_fellowships.shtml)
16. Dreyfus Foundation (http://www.dreyfus.org/)
    • Teacher-Scholar Awards
    • New Faculty and Faculty start-up awards
    • Internal competition first
17. Pew Scholar (http://www.futurehealth.ucsf.edu/pewscholar.html)
    • Nominated by university
18. Searle Scholar (http://www.searlescholars.net/)
    • Nominated by university
19. Beckman Foundation (http://www.beckman-foundation.com/byi.html)
    • Very short application (4 pages)
20. Coulter Foundation (http://www.whcf.org/)
    • Heavy, heavy focus on commercialization development
21. Keck Foundation (http://www.wmkeck.org/programs/scholars.html)
    • Nominated by university
22. Partnership for Cures
    • http://www.4cures.org/sitecontent/Research-Funding-Opportunities-2Y2C-Initiative/
    • formerly Culpeper Biomedical Pilot Initiative
23. Burroughs Wellcome Award (http://www.bwfund.org/page.php?mode=privateview&pageID=1)
    • variety of biomedical funding priorities
    • variety of eligible career stages
24. Field-specific agencies
    • Ask around to find out what is appropriate for your field
    • Apply to field-specific agencies in addition to NIH/NSF
    • Here are Jane’s for example:
      • American Heart Association – local and regional (can submit “same” project to both)
      • March of Dimes
      • American Federation for Aging Research
      • National Heart Foundation
      • Mizutani Foundation for Glycoscience
      • Children’s Heart Foundation
      • Alternatives Research and Development Foundation
      • Pfizer
      • International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation