Proposal Preparation Resources
Quick Reference Guide
A Guide to the Grants Process at Purdue University
This booklet, created by Research Development staff, includes timely, useful information about
resources and processes relating to funding and administering research
grants at Purdue. Each chapter also includes tables, side bars and
highlighted text areas detailing Purdue-specific information such as
websites, e-mail addresses, personnel contacts and important notes.
Click here to download the full guide. 
A quick-view Visual Guide to the Grants Process at Purdue is also available here.
Citable Purdue Institutional Description
At times, a funding agency will request an institutional description as part of the proposal submission. You may use this general Purdue text in its entirety or use select paragraphs as appropriate to your project. Please include the suggested citation to avoid plagiarism issues associated with boilerplate material.
Purdue General Institutional Description Text 
Self-Help Tools for Proposal Preparation
This series provides step-wise guidance, samples, and/or tailorable text for some of the non-research-related requirements of a proposal submission. *Note: These links are only accessible from the purdue.edu domain.
- Tool # 1: Management Plan Self-Assessment
- Tool # 2: Annotated Letters of Individual or Institutional Commitment
- Tool # 3: Postdoctoral Mentoring Plan Template
- Tool # 4: Dos and Don'ts of Creating an Education Plan *Coming Soon*
- Tool # 5: Increasing the Diversity Component of Your Proposal *Coming Soon*
- Tool # 6: How do I Best Communicate with a Funding Agency Program Officer/Director? *Coming Soon*
We welcome your feedback on the above documents. Please feel free to contact us with questions, comments, or suggestions.
Data Management Plans
All NSF proposals that request funding to support postdoctoral researchers must also contain a Postdoc Mentoring Plan. The resources below may be helpful in completing this requirement.
- Purdue's Research Repository (PURR) - this site contains step-by-step instructions for completing the data management plan requirements.
- HUBzeroTM - this resource is available to Purdue researchers for storing research data. The website also offers citable boilerplate text that can be inserted into the DMP (NOTE: this link can only be accessed from a @purdue.edu domain).
- NSF Data Management Plan (DMP) Includes NSF Data Sharing Policy, DMP Requirements by Directorate, Office, Division, Program or Unit; and DMP and Sharing faqs.
- Brunt, James. "How to Write a Data Management Plan for a National Science Foundation (NSF) Proposal." Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) (February 18, 2011). This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation.
- Other resources
Multiple PD/PI Leadership Plan
All DHHS applications that propose multiple PD/PIs must include a Multiple PD/PI Leadership Plan. The resource below may be helpful in completing this requirement.
- Multiple PD/PI Leadership Plan Samples as provided by NIH
Sample Proposals
The link below lists sample proposals available through the OVPR. Please contact Mary Ryker at mlryker@purdue.edu or 49-49322 to arrange to view or receive copies of funded proposals.
Sample Proposals by Agency and Program
Proposal Writing Guides
So much grant-writing advice exists that a comprehensive bibliography is impossible. However, the books and electronic resources listed below are recent and concise and, therefore, make good starting points.
Grants.gov
- Find and Apply User Guide, Ver. 4.0, last modified October 9, 2010. Use this guide to find step-by-step instructions on Finding Grant Opportunities using a basic search, browse by category, browse by agency or advanced search. There are also instructions on how to sign-up for an e-mail subscription to receive e-mail alerts about new Grant Opportunities, as well as how to apply, download, complete and track an application.
Department of Energy
USDA
NASA
- NASA Guidebook, January 2013
National Institutes of Health
- NIH Grant Application Basics
- SF424 Application Guide and Electronic Submission Information, includes links to the SF424 Application Guide along with format pages for NIH Biosketches, Targeted/Planned Enrollment Tables, and other Data Tables.
- NIH Grant Writing Tips Sheets, This includes links to individual NIH Institutes' guides and tip sheets.
- Grants Tutorials from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, including links to many topics, such as: "How to Write an Application Involving Research Animals," "NIAID Human Subjects Application and Grant Handbook," and Sample Annotated R01 and R21 Applications.
- NIH Quick Guide for Grant Applications, Last modified September 2010. The 12-page guide is organized according to the major sections of the SF 424 (or PHS398) Grant Application Instructions.
- NIH All About Grants Podcasts, These short podcasts provide insights on grant topics including current topics at the agency, how to prepare a successful grant application, how application reviews work, and more.
- NIH Mock Review Panel Video
- Writing a Successful Career (K) Application, as presented at the April 2012 NIH Regional Conference.
- Preparing an NIH Institutional Training Grant Application, as presented at the April 2012 NIH Regional Conference.
National Science Foundation
- NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPP) This guide provides specific NSF requirements for proposal preparation, including such issues as font choice, margins, and biosketches, as well as definitions and a list of acronyms.
- NSF Guide for Proposal Writing, This 23-page booklet contains general advice for proposal writers. It is distinct from the agency’s policies and procedures guide listed above.
- NSF User-Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation, This 2010 handbook is meant as a basic guide for those who need to learn more about the evaluation process within a project funded by NSF.
Foundations
- The Foundation Center Offers a wide-range of proposal training opportunities via audio, video, workshops, or webinars, many at no cost and/or multilingual.