Computer Aids Help Find And Manage Research Grants

Biological researchers scrambling for grant support once had to pore over small-print listings in the library and spend hours making query calls to public and private organizations in order to locate agencies amenable to funding their projects. But now, with the advent of the computer age, they can search for potential funders while sitting at their desks--even at 3:00 A.M., if it suits them. Moreover, the tasks of preparing proposals for those funders, once identified, and of managing the money, once won, have also been eased by computers. According to Martha Verchot, education coordinator at the Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences, University of Alabama, Birmingham, a number of databases and other resources can help in identifying potential funders. Some of these are available over the Internet free of charge, and some are commercial products provided in different formats. Among these are the following: The Sponsored Programs Information Network (SPIN) is a database of funding sources in both CD-ROM and online formats available from InfoEd Inc., Albany, N.Y. A companion software system called Sponsored Programs Administrative System (SPAS) includes several grant-tracking functions. For information, call (800) 727-6427. The Illinois Researcher Information System (IRIS) is a funding-opportunities database developed by the Research Services Office of the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign. It is available by subscription and searchable online, with a one-month trial subscription available. For information, call (217) 333-0284. Dialog Information Services Inc., Palo Alto, Calif., provides several online databases to aid in locating grants, including Foundation Directory (Dialog File 26) and Foundation Grants Index (Dialog File 27). For information, call Dialog at (800) 334-2564 or the Foundation Center at (800) 424-9836. BRS Colleague, from BRS Information Technologies in McLean, Va., offers several grant-information databases that give descriptions of current and past research funding by the Public Health Service. For information, call (800) 289- 4277. The National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation provide free information about their grants programs directly via the Internet. The NIH server includes the file "NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts," and the NSF server includes a collection of project abstracts, funding bulletins, and requests for proposals. Use the gopher command to reach nih.edu and stis.nsf.gov, respectively. FEDIX, a free online service from Federal Information Exchange Inc. (FIE), Gaithersburg, Md., includes information from a number of federal agencies, including the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Office of Naval Research, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. FEDIX is accessible via the Internet by using the gopher command to reach fedix.fie.com (port 70) or the telnet command to reach fedix.fie.com. To request user guides, call FIE at (301) 975-0103. --F.H. Powerful electronic tools have been enlisted in each of these areas, helping to streamline the grants process from front to back. Online and CD-ROM databases of funders, computerized grant-proposal forms for various government agencies, and research grant-accounting software are among the new computer aids now available. One of the fastest-growing uses of computers in the grants process, for example, is in identifying likely sources of research support. "We are definitely seeing an increase in the number of scientists using computer resources to locate possible grant funding," says Martha Verchot, education coordinator at the Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences, University of Alabama, Birmingham. Administrators at Alabama and other universities have encouraged this development in just the past few years by placing commercial databases on campus-wide networks, Verchot says, so that researchers and other end users can access grant information directly. One of the more useful of these databases, she says, is the Sponsored Programs Information Network (SPIN), produced by InfoEd Inc., Albany, N.Y., although several others are also available (see story on page 18). Verchot cautions, however, that scientists accustomed to bibliographic searches sometimes have to readjust their search strategies when hunting for potential grant funding. At her institution, the librarians conduct training classes on the available databases and will also perform librarian- mediated searches. "The end goal of funding searching differs from bibliographic searching," Verchot says. "Too many faculty and researchers approach grant searching expecting to input five to 10 [specific] keywords and find a single perfect match, rather than entering three to four broader keywords and finding the 10 or so possibilities they might want to pursue further. In their quest for that one perfect match they frequently get zero and become discouraged." Another stage of the grants cycle for which computers are becoming invaluable is keeping precise track of expenses, once the hard-won money is in hand. The need to budget carefully is greater today than ever before, given the fact of tighter research funds in almost every area of science. "Researchers want to get on with doing research and don't want to have to spend time with accounting problems," says Kendric C. Smith, a retired professor of radiation oncology at Stanford University in California and president of KCS Software, also in Stanford. "But you need to know where you're at on your commitments and balances." As a professor, Smith developed a research grant-accounting program called Grant Tracker, now marketed through his company, to keep closer track of his department's grant money. Most universities provide their researchers with budgetary statements on a monthly basis, he says, but this is often inadequate, especially toward the end of the grant cycle. SUPPLIERS OF COMPUTER AIDS FOR FINDING, PREPARING, AND MANAGING GRANTS The following companies and institutions offer computer products to help with different aspects of the research grants process. Please contact the organizations directly or use our Reader Service Card for more information concerning specific products. Academic Research Information Systems 2940 16th St. Suite 314 San Francisco, Calif. 94103 (415) 558-8133 Fax: (415) 558-8135 Circle No. 146 on Reader Service Card Blackbaud 4401 Belle Oaks Dr. Charleston, S.C. 29405-8530 (800) 443-9441 Fax: (803) 740-5410 Circle No. 147 on Reader Service Card Dialog Information Services 3460 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, Calif. 94304 (415) 858-2700 Fax: (415) 858-7069 Circle No. 148 on Reader Service Card Envisage Inc. 5111-6 Baymeadows Rd. Suite 315 Jacksonville, Fla. 32217 (904) 739-0060 Fax: (904) 731-1993 Circle No. 149 on Reader Service Card The Fund Raising School 550 W. North St. Suite 301 Indianapolis, Ind. 46202 (800) 962-6692 Fax: (317) 684-8900 Circle No. 150 on Reader Service Card Illinois Research Information System Research Services Office 128 Observatory University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Ill. 61801 (217) 333-0284 Fax: (217) 333-7011 Circle No. 151 on Reader Service Card InfoEd Inc. 453 New Karner Rd. Albany, N.Y. 12205 (518) 464-0691 Fax: (518) 464-0695 Circle No. 152 on Reader Service Card Integrated Solutions 1761 Steward Ave. New Hyde Park, N.Y. 11040 (516) 437-2456 Fax: (516) 358-9474 Circle No. 153 on Reader Service Card Legi-Slate Inc. 777 N. Capitol St. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 898-2311 Fax: (202) 898-3030 Circle No. 154 on Reader Service Card KCS Software 927 Mears Court Stanford, Calif. 94305-1041 (415) 493-7210 Fax: (415) 493-7210 Circle No. 124 on Reader Service Card MBS-Fame 6680 Beta Dr. Cleveland, Ohio 44143 (800) 682-2479 Fax: (216) 461-7038 Circle No. 155 on Reader Service Card Niles & Associates Inc. 2000 Hearst St. Berkeley, Calif. 94709 (510) 655-6666 Fax: (510) 649-8179 Circle No. 139 on Reader Service Card The Oryx Press 4041 North Central Rd. Phoenix, Ariz. 85012 (602) 265-2651 Fax: (602) 265-6250 Circle No. 156 on Reader Service Card RAMS Inc. 555 Quince Orchard Rd. Suite 200 Gaithersburg, Md. 20878 (301) 963-5226 Fax: (301) 975-0109 Circle No. 157 on Reader Service Card Research Information Systems Inc. Camino Corporate Center 2355 Camino Vida Roble Carlsbad, Calif. 92009-1572 (619) 438-5526 Fax: (619) 438-5573 Circle No. 158 on Reader Service Card Thayer School of Engineering Dartmouth College 8000 Cummings Hall Hanover, N.H. 03755 (603) 646-2455 Fax: (603) 646-3856 Circle No. 159 on Reader Service Card "If you don't know where you're at, you can underspend by $100,000 or overspend by $100,000," Smith says. "If you underspend, it means you're probably not getting all the work done that you should be getting done toward your grant, and therefore you lose some competitive edge with other people. And, of course, overspending is a disaster." Helping to efficiently identify potential funders is the goal of several growing grant-information databases. InfoEd's SPIN database, for example, now lists more than 6,000 funding opportunities, and offers the database in several formats, depending on client preference. One important component of the SPIN database, says Sandra Carrk, manager of funding information services at InfoEd, is its carefully developed set of keywords. SPIN incorporates a standardized keyword thesaurus that is also used by agencies of the federal government, Carrk says, including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy (DOE). "We use that thesaurus, but have modified it," Carrk says. "We've added our own terms to it, also. Right now, the thesaurus has over 2,800 terms, and we're always adding to it as new disciplines come up." SPIN is available online with two subscription options, either $500 per year plus $10 per search or $3,500 per year for unlimited searches. The database is also available as a diskette subscription to be run on the user's local microcomputer system, with three options. The cost of quarterly updates is $1,195 per year, monthly updates are $1,995, and biweekly updates are $2,995. In addition, diskette subscribers are able to search the online version of the database for $10 per search, when needed. According to Carrk, about 75 percent of SPIN users are monthly diskette subscribers. InfoEd also offers the Sponsored Programs Administrative System (SPAS) with several components useful in the grants process. One maintains profiles of faculty members, for example. Carrk says that, when SPIN and SPAS are used together, available funding opportunities can be proactively matched to faculty interests. "You can also find scientists who may want to collaborate with each other, because they have the same interests," Carrk says. Dialog Information Services of Palo Alto, Calif., also provides a pair of online databases useful for locating potential funding opportunities. One is the Foundation Directory (Dialog File 26), and the other is the Foundation Grants Index (Dialog File 27), both produced by the Foundation Center, New York. The Foundation Directory contains in- formation about more than 27,000 United States private foundations and 250 community foundations--the most complete such list available, according to Phyllis M. Andrews, formerly manager of Dialog services for the center and now an independent information professional. Andrews details how to develop effective search strategies for these databases in her article "Grant information online" (Database, 16[2]:38-44, April 1993). The Chronicle Guide to Grants is a new database of more than 10,000 foundation and corporate grant listings produced by the staffs of the Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Chronicle of Higher Education, both published in Washington, D.C. The database is available in either diskette or CD-ROM format, with updates shipped every other month. An annual subscription costs $295 for the diskette version and $395 for the CD-ROM version. Computerized grant forms, in both word-processor and spread- sheet formats, have been developed to speed the task of preparing proposals to the government. Specific forms for proposal submissions to the Public Health Service (including NIH), NSF, and DOE are among those available on diskettes. Two providers of such forms are Envisage Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., and the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H. The basic reason that researchers or their staffers need to use research grant-accounting software, according to KCS Software's Kendric Smith, is that university accounting reports always lag well behind actual spending. Researchers who expect these university reports to keep them up to date on their grants spending are making a mistake, Smith says. "It would be comparable to running your own personal checking account without ever keeping track of the checks that you write," Smith says, "and just trying to rely on the statement that the bank sends you." Smith says that programs such as his Grant Tracker are designed specifically to meet the needs of grant accounting. The researcher or responsible staff member begins by entering the amount of the award and such fixed-cost information as salary data on project personnel. Expected raises and cost-of-living increases can be programmed to take effect at future dates. Then, as the work goes forward, expenditures for supplies and equipment are recorded. "It automatically calculates your commitments and balances," Smith says. "And you can subdivide your expenses by various categories, so that you know how you're spending your money, whether it's on petri dishes, chemicals, or tissue-culture media. That can help you plan your budget for next year." Version 5.0 of Grant Tracker, released this month, is available for Windows, DOS, and Macintosh for $399. Although business accounting programs such as Lotus 1-2-3 from Lotus Development Corp., Cambridge, Mass., and Excel from Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash., are capable of many of the same functions, they must be specially programmed to do so, Smith says, which can be a very time-consuming process. Julie Bond, an office administrator in the division of clinical pharmacology at Stanford, agrees that the business- oriented software can be unnecessarily difficult to use when compared with programs specifically written to keep track of research grants. For about eight years, she has used a program called Grant Manager from Niles & Associates, Berkeley, Calif., to account for more than $3 million in about 40 different gift and grant funds. These range from relatively small and simple gift accounts to several large, complex NIH grants for AIDS-related research. Bond uses Grant Manager in conjunction with another program from Niles called Personnel Manager. The two programs work together to track and forecast equipment, supplies, and personnel expenditures, she says. Among other uses, Grant Manager speeds reordering of supplies, because it keeps a catalog of previous orders for reference. "It will also track indirect costs, which are becoming more of an issue now," Bond says, referring to institutional overhead expenses reimbursed by the federal government on grants they award. "Basically, you're given a set amount in indirect costs. If you go over, you're not going to get any more, but if you go under, you can convert those to direct dollars--although those direct dollars will then accrue indirect costs, also, so you have to be careful of what you're doing." The one complaint that Bond has with Grant Manager is its inability to interface with the Stanford University network. The company has assured her that it is hard at work on a Windows version, which it expects to release sometime this year. A Windows version of Grant Manager would allow her to move information back and forth between her records and the Stanford system without rekeying. "Once they get it into Windows," Bond says, "that will make it an even more useful and effective tool than it is now." Grant Manager costs $425 and is currently available for either DOS or Macintosh. Personnel Manager also costs $425, but is available only for DOS. The two may be purchased together--for DOS only--for $750. Another grant-accounting package, called Grant Accountant, is available from Research Information Systems in Carlsbad, Calif. Grant Accountant costs $495 and is available for DOS only. Like its competitors, Grant Accountant helps researchers fill the gap between actual expenditures, including salaries, and the monthly statements provided by the university. As the money available to support research becomes tighter, Bond says, the importance of such grant- accounting programs also grows. "In this day of funding crunch, you need to be able to track every single penny," Bond says.

Computer Aids Help Find And Manage Research Grants

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