Four More Tips for SBIR/STTR Grant Applicants

January 31st, 2012

On the last day of 2011, President Obama rang in the new year by signing the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 (NDAA) HR.1540 into law. This bill gave the SBIR/STTR program a much-needed (OK, huge) breath of fresh air, extending the program into the second half of 2017.

Grant money

Image - Flickr/Creative Commons

The April 5 deadline for the NIH Omnibus solicitation is approaching, so now is the time to start thinking about preparing your application. As a follow-up to a post last year on Five Tips for First-Time SBIR/STTR Grant Applicants, I have compiled four more tips that you should consider when assembling your application. Read the rest of this entry »

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Five Essential Self-editing Tips for People Who Don’t Like Self-editing

December 4th, 2011
Editing tips

Courtesy: net_efekt

How many times have you been giving an important presentation and seen glaring errors on the big screen that you swear weren’t there before? Or read one of your emails and cringed because you didn’t give it a once-over before sending? Here, guest blogger (and veteran copywriter) Dan O’Sullivan gives us a few tips on self-editing.

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Like it or not, most of us have to spend at least part of our workday writing. You may be carefully crafting a presentation you’ve been asked to give or just dashing off a few emails over morning coffee.

If whatever it is you’re writing is important — and you don’t have the luxury of an editor watching your back — then you have to spend some time self-editing.

“But I’m not an editor,” I can hear you whine. “I hated English in high school, and I majored in biology in college,” you mutter as the sweat begins dripping down your brow. “If it involves anything more than running Spellcheck, I don’t think I can take it!” you scream.

It’s okay. Relax. You may never be a professional-level editor, but you can at least do a pretty good job. Start by following these five tips. And while you’re at it, always take a few minutes to read your writing aloud. That step alone will help you catch the most embarrassing errors. Read the rest of this entry »

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Six Resources for SBIR/STTR Grant Applicants and Grantees

October 31st, 2011

Are you new to SBIRs? Need help navigating the application process? Or do you want to stay up-to-date on the latest SBIR/STTR news? In this blog post, I describe some of the resources available to SBIR/STTR applicants and grantees. Read the rest of this entry »

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Should Your Grant be an SBIR or STTR?

September 30th, 2011

Can a U.S. research institution, such as a University, apply for an STTR? Or if a small business is collaborating with a University, do they have to apply for an STTR? Or can they write an SBIR?

If you’re wondering whether the grant you’d like to write is an SBIR or STTR, here are some facts to help you decide. Read the rest of this entry »

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Perplexed by Homonyms?

July 31st, 2011

Homonyms… wow- now there’s a word I haven’t heard since grade school! Loosely defined, it means “similar-sounding words that mean different things”.

As a follow up to my “Three Tricks for Tricky Word Choices” post, I thought I’d expand on the topic to clarify four groups of homonyms that can be confusing. As a scientist – and not an English major – you may knowingly (or unknowingly) misuse these words when writing your next manuscript or grant. Read the rest of this entry »

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Is your SBIR Grant Proposal Innovative?

May 25th, 2011

“Innovation” is all the buzz these days. It has even made it’s way up to The Oval Office with the launch of Startup America. And recently, the NIH and other granting institutions finally jumped on the innovation bandwagon and made this a point that needs to be specifically addressed in your SBIR grant application. Not surprising: after all, it is the “I” in SBIR!

Many clients of The Isis Group struggle with this section of their SBIR/STTR grant application. This section deserves extra attention, and not only because it is part of your overall score. In a sense, you are really selling yourself, your institution, your know-how and your idea. How does a scientist put on a sales hat and write a compelling innovation section? Here are some tips. Read the rest of this entry »

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Search and Destroy: Eliminate Wordy Phrases From Your Manuscript in an Instant

April 14th, 2011

The editors at The Isis Group often joke that we should put together a list of phrases used by scientists that should automatically be eliminated from every manuscript or grant that we edit. Well… here is a first draft of that list.

Most of these examples arise from excessive wordiness or the use of unnecessary phrases. Our advice: use the search function in your word processing program, find these phrases, and hit that delete or replace button. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted in Grant Writing, Journal Article, Manuscript, SBIR grants, Scientific Writing, STTR grants | 6 Comments »

Touch Their Hearts; Get Their Money – Four Tips to Telling a Grant-Winning Story

February 11th, 2011

Anna Goldsmith

Time and again, we hear how important it is to tell a good story when giving a presentation. Here, guest blogger Anna Goldsmith, an exceptionally creative and witty copywriter and successful entrepreneur, gives us geeky scientists a few tips on how to pull this off. Enjoy!

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So you’ve invented something. Something big. Something that’s going to absolutely and forever change how doctors/scientists/researchers/the human race does Y. (I don’t know what you invented. I’m not a scientist. I’m a writer.) You even managed to get an audience with Company Z who has the resources to turn X into a reality.
Great: What now?

What is it going to take to turn your dream into a reality…
And more staff and equipment to call your own? It doesn’t take a degree. Your competitors have that. (Come on, you didn’t think you were the only one after Company Z’s money, did you?) It doesn’t take a great idea — that’s a given if you got the meeting. What separates you from your competitors is your ability to make Company Z care about your idea. And that means you have to tell a good story. Panicking? Don’t. You probably know a lot more about the art of storytelling than you think: especially if you are a parent.

Here are four tips that will have them eating out of the palm of your hand or better yet, reaching for their wallet: Read the rest of this entry »

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The Who, What, Where, When, How and Why of a Specific Aim

January 28th, 2011

The Specific Aims section is one of the most important parts of your SBIR/STTR grant application. You can bet that the reviewer will read this section and refer back to it numerous times while reading your grant.

The SF424 Guide to SBIR/STTR grants states that the applicant must define the specific objectives of the research covered in the application, the hypothesis being tested, and the technological innovation. Additionally, one must “define the proposed product, process or service to ultimately be developed” (and this is italicized in the instructions- be sure to do this). Milestones must be defined and are used in the evaluation process. This section usually consists of a set of summary paragraphs and a list of Specific Aims (usually 2-4 in a six-month Phase I SBIR/STTR grant). This section is limited to one page, so it is important to be succinct.

So the question is: How can a researcher write a few concise statements describing the experiments that will be performed to develop the proposed product?

Here is a tip: for each Specific Aim, simply identify the Who, What, Where, When, How and Why. Read the rest of this entry »

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Three Tricks for Tricky Word Choices

November 30th, 2010

There are several examples of words that are misused, resulting in one of the top sources of confusion for scientists when writing a manuscript or grant. And many times, the scientist doesn’t even know that he or she is confused! Here are some of the most common misunderstandings I have observed when editing manuscripts and grants, and tricks that scientists can use to easily sort it out. Read the rest of this entry »

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