Many of grant-writing consultant Deborah Kluge's clients have something in common, other than spending long hours slaving over funding proposals. They've had conversations with agency representatives at conferences that are "very encouraging" and that leave them feeling like they have a good chance of being funded if they submit a proposal. When some of these researchers seek Kluge's writing services, they are confident they're getting the grant. They are so sure, in fact, that some don't worry about following all the application directions or not submitting some of the requested information. Months later, many of their projects aren't funded.
Why? The numbers tell the story. The National Institutes of Health received more than 40,000 grant proposals in each of the last three years. In 2006, just 20% of the applications received by the NIH and the National Science Foundation were funded, and NIH projects the same success rate for the ...
