About the Book

This compact resource analyzes and demystifies the processes of applying for, competing for, and getting funding for research. Neither a cookbook nor a template, it encourages readers to apply the critical thinking and attention to detail they use in their investigations to the pursuit of the grant. Chapters delve into choosing among funding options, project planning and writing, filling out the materials in the application packet, and troubleshooting for problems at various steps of the journey. Along the way, the authors also explore common myths of grantsmanship and alert readers to hidden pitfalls that can get an otherwise good submission rejected.

Among the core skill areas covered:

- Using strategic thinking throughout the application process

- Understanding the major grant mechanisms

- Navigating the grant timeline, including the peer review and the vetting process

- Writing the effective project description

- Following up if the project is not funded or funding is deferred

- Building a career grant by grant

Brimming with expert knowledge, Grantsmanship for New Investigators ably balances motivation with realism. The authors' deep understanding and experience of how funding agencies arrive at judgments will inspire readers to present their research in the most convincing manner.

About the Author: Over the span of more than four decades, both Tom Hilton and Carl Leukefeld have worked as bench and field researchers as well as federal grant and contract administrators at various federal agencies including the world's largest grantor, the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Tom's career has focused on applied research and grants administration in mostly nonacademic roles, whereas over half of Carl's career as a public health researcher has been spent in academic settings. Thomas F. Hilton, PhD, is a retired Navy captain and a retired Industrial/Organizational psychologist. While a pre- and postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Behavioral Research, Tom's work involved drafting applications and conducting both grant and contract research projects for the Departments of Defense, Transportation, and Health and Human Services. Projects also involved county, state, and private sector organizations. In 1979, Tom joined the psychiatry faculty at Southwestern Medical School where he started a small lab evaluating public health services after winning his first grant from a private foundation. In 1982, Tom was recalled to active Navy duty to lead research projects in shipboard and hospital health services delivery systems and later oversaw Navy's applied personnel and training research programs at the Pentagon. Spanning much of his Navy career, Tom served on Office of Naval Research grant and contract review panels. In 1992, Tom became the founding manager of a Federal Aviation Administration laboratory studying employee development, process improvement, and personnel selection. Coincident with that role, he also completed a three-year detail to the White House Office of Reinventing Government until 2000, when he retired from the Navy and joined the National Institute on Drug Abuse at NIH. Tom served on the NIH extramural faculty training new grant administrators, sat on the NIH advisory group for grants administration systems, and was appointed science officer for a 9-year research project supporting all 28 NIH institutes and centers. Over the years, Tom has attended hundreds of grant proposal reviews either as observer or panel member, and has served as administrator for many of the grants and contracts that were funded. He has 56 refereed publications and has presented over 80 papers, symposia, and professional development workshops.
Carl G. Leukefeld, DSW, is Professor of Behavioral Science and Psychiatry as well as Chair of the Department of Behavioral Science and founding Director of the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. He is also the Bell Alcohol and Addictions Endowed Chair. He came to the University of Kentucky in 1990 to establish the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), where he held administrative and research positions including grant and contract planning and developing requests for applications and proposals, grant reviews, developing grant review summary statements, and research project administration. He was also the Chief Health Services Officer of the United States Public Health Service. Carl's external grant support experience includes funded grants from NIH, NSF, as well as contracts from States, community organizations, and industry. Carl has also served as a reviewer and consulting journal editor, ad hoc grant reviewer for federal agencies like the CDC and NIH, and has been a standing member of National Institutes of Health initial review groups - sometimes referred to as study sections. In addition to workshops and courses on grant preparation, he has taught undergraduate, graduate, and medical students. His publications include over 350 articles, chapters, books, and monographs.