The Grant Writing and Crowdfunding Guide prepares you, the young investigator, to step up to the challenge of funding your own research. And what a challenge. Writing a successful grant demands much more than a first-class inquisitive scientific mind. As you will soon discover, raw talent may keep you from drowning in the new world of grants, but staying afloat and learning how to swim are two very different things. This book presents the best strategies you should adopt prior to taking the grant plunge. It will help you draft a reasonable budget plan, assemble a winning grant team, write a stellar pre-proposal, and reassure the funding agencies that the financial risk they take by investing in you will produce great returns. The book also helps you write a grant title, abstract, and a specific aims section that highlight the significance, impact, and innovativeness of your project. It presents specific tools to catch problems early and avoid rejection. It even covers a source of funding you likely have never considered: the public. Crowdfunding not only helps you collect preliminary data within weeks, but also lets you share your passion with people who want to see you succeed.

New investigators are usually lost when attempting to write their first grant application. They need a compass to run through the grant maze. This book is that compass. It supplements the work of your mentor, and reviews the practices of your grantor and grant reviewers. Examples are taken from two of the largest grantors in the world, NIH and NSF, and their practices are applicable to other science funding agencies worldwide.

Better to be young and funded than old and unfunded.