For example, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, Wellcome Trust.
Private foundations and trusts have a tradition of supporting health research, among other issues. Implementation research is a potential area of interest for these entities.
To find a good donor match for your proposal, consider:
- your level of experience;
- the resources/funds you need;
- timing and deadlines;
- your location;
- who is interested in the topic.
Other related resources
- NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER) Grants Guide.
- National Science Foundation (NSF).
- Grants.gov (www.grants.gov): – A portal collecting funding applications information from all United States government agencies.
- Ministries of Health/National Research Councils.
- National Medical Research Councils.
- Foundation Center Directory (Free Library).
- PA Foundation Directory (Free Library).
- GrantsNet – from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
- The Doris Duke Foundation.
Subscription databases like the ones listed below provide information on sources of government and nongovernmental research funding:
- Community of Science (COS).
- InfoEd (Spin/Genius).
- Others (IRIS, Egrants).
Do your searching...
- Go to a library where good internet access is available.
- Talk to your institution’s Office of Research Administration, if you have one.
- Search comprehensive databases such as COS, eRACommons and Spin.
- Set up alerts from your database searches.
- Search US government grant websites such as OER or Grants.gov, or individual agency websites.
- Search association and foundation websites.
- Search specialized research websites such as AuthorAID (http://www.authoraid.info/en/).
- Find out what projects related to your subject area were already funded.
This is a very important aspect of your work. If you have some experience in searching databases, you can proceed, otherwise seek help from a library within or outside your institution. Whatever approach you take, there are basic steps that you have to follow and several things to consider when deciding where to submit your IR proposal for funding matters.
Find out which funding opportunities are offering research calls or requests for proposals (RFP)/ letters of intent (LOI). This is important as often they only call for applications once a year. Therefore, planning ahead and working back from the application deadline is important. If you miss the deadline it could be a year until another competition or opportunity arises. In IR, a 12-month delay is significant.
n addition to regular RFP/LOI invitations, some funding agencies may also be interested in supporting IR in accordance with their health research strategies. In other words, researchers from LMICs could play a proactive role by sending short research proposals for their consideration. Some funding agencies are more interested in commissioning or soliciting health research proposals, based on their mandates and strategies.
You need to ensure a good match between the funding agency and your research project, with regard to research topic, size of grant, geographic region, partners’ eligibility, participating countries, required affiliations etc. Explore research that has already been done on the topic to ensure you are not duplicating existing work. Assess the types of projects the agency has funded in the past, so you can expand or complement these activities. Demonstrate that you have done your homework and are aware of what exists on the topic, identify the gaps and justify what needs to be done and how the findings will benefit the community.
Preparing your application
- Read the instructions for submitting a proposal carefully.
- Refer to pertinent literature.
- State the rationale for the proposed investigation.
- Include clearly presented tables and figures.
- Present an organized, lucid write-up, including as much detail as possible.
- Request pre-review from experienced researchers.
- Use the style and elements required by the funder’s specifications.
When applying for a research grant, take advantage of the resources available to you. Most universities in Europe and North America have an Office of Research with trained staff to assist researchers with large grant applications. This may not be available in institutions and health agencies in LMICs, but there may also be resources available online that can be helpful. It is important to visit the website of the funding agency to which you plan to submit your proposal. They will usually have full instructions on what to do and when to submit your proposal.
You can also explore the possibility of communicating with the project manager in the funding agency to obtain more clarity on the application process. Reviewers will look for clear, innovative and exciting ideas, clarity and brevity of writing and realistic objectives and timelines. They will expect a clear, well-written application that promises outcomes that are useful to the population.
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