Proposal Development for Engineering Research

SDSU Resources

• Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORASP) - Proposal Development Resources (internal to SDSU).
• Office of Grants and Contracts - Budget Development (internal to SDSU).

Additional links below provide access to a variety of guides, manuals and samples that will help you develop targeted, compelling grant proposals.

General Grant Writing

• The Art of Grantsmanship by Jacob Kraicer.
• The Grant Proposal, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Grant Writing for Engineers.
• Handbook for Proposal Writers and Project Directors, Eastern Michigan University.

National Science Foundation

• The revised NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) went into effect on Jan. 30, 2017. It provides guidance for the preparation and submission of proposals to NSF.
• A Guide for Proposal Writing, NSF Division of Undergraduate Education.
• Twelve Steps to a Winning Research Proposal by George Hazelrigg, NSF program officer.

National Institutes of Health

• All About Grants Tutorials, NIH research project grant.
• NIH Grant Writing Tips Sheets.
• NIH Grant Review Process Videos.
• When preparing your NIH proposal, be sure to study the guidelines in the SF 424 Application Guide.
• Check out this one-page guide on how to address rigor and reproducibility in your NIH application. It is also available as a PDF in the document library to the right.

Private Foundations

• The Foundation Center Proposal Writing Short Course, also available as an audiobook.
• The Grantsmanship Center.
• National Network of Grantmakers: NNG Common Grant Application - This common grant application form is accepted by a number of foundations. It can also be useful in organizing the information needed in a project proposal.

Budgets

• Budget Development and Guidance, Appalachian State University
• Budget Justifications, Northern Illinois University
• NSF Budget and Budget Justification guidance, NSF

Writing Style Guides

• The Department Of Energy's Style Guide features formatting, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and language guidelines.
• American Scientist published "The Science of Scientific Writing," which encourages writers to keep reader expectations in mind.