how research grants work

Most people likely know that research costs money. Whether it's diabetes research, engineering research, social sciences, or whatever — research costs money. Sometimes lots of it! The equipment used to perform research can also often cost lost of money. So where does all this money come from? And where does it go?

There are several potential sources of research support. This can sometimes come from industry sources, such as pharmaceutical companies. We've had a bit of this, on and off, over the years. Often, for academic research (which is what we do here), the money comes from either federal or provincial governments, or from relevant health charities, in the form of research grants. Some of the relevant ones for our work include the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Diabetes Canada, JDRF, and the National Institutes of Health in the USA. Now, I'm not going to talk about the 'research funding environment' in Canada —  it's been stagnant for years and you can read about that here (*update April: a glimmer of hope in this year's budget). Instead, I'll tell you a bit about the process, partly because I'm going through it now, trying to get our work on insulin secretion refunded (the subject of this post).

An Idea and Preliminary Data
Perhaps the most important part of putting a research grant together, not surprisingly, is the idea. Much of the work we do up-front involves deciding what question or idea is worth our time. This involves reading and understanding the research literature (hopefully both new and old work), and identifying research gaps. This can include input from patient partners as well, and there is a growing and important role for patient groups in deciding on key questions that researchers should tackle. You can find information on becoming involved here.

It's often not enough to have a great idea, though. Before writing a grant proposal, researchers often must collect preliminary data to support their idea. This data might come from initial experiments, showing that the proposed research is feasible and has the potential to be impactful. These can sometimes be funded by what are called 'Pilot Project' grants which are often local competitions designed to help researchers gather preliminary data. For example, the Alberta Diabetes Institute runs a pilot project program.

Writing and Submitting the Grant Proposal
With an idea and some preliminary support for what you want to do, then comes the writing! For me, this can often be the painful part, and I'll often agonize for days or weeks over some little details. Knowing what you want to do and why you want to do it is all well and good, but it means nothing if you can't convey that in a convincing way! A grant proposal typically includes sections like an introduction, research objectives, methodology, expected outcomes, and a detailed budget. It's important to write a compelling story that highlights the significance and originality of the proposed work, making a strong case for why it should be funded.

Proposals then usually need to be signed-off by the University, then submitted through specific online portals. Some of these portals and online systems have quite the reputation, although they are not all that bad — the kind of things I imagine others run into in different kinds of jobs. Once you do manage to click the 'submit' button, the grant is out of your hands! I recommend not looking at it again, for fear of finding typos!

The Grant Review Process
Once submitted, proposals go through a peer review process where experts in the field evaluate quality, feasibility, and potential impact. The process is slightly different between organizations, but the principle is the same. Usually, a grant is reviewed by two or three reviewers who provide written critiques and scoring based on some predefined criteria. At a meeting, which can be online or in-person, the grant reviewers discuss their criticisms and scores amongst each other and with the larger review committee. A lay reviewer may also be involved. Typically, a final score is arrived at and this is used to rank the grants.

A fact of life is that relatively few grant proposals will get funded. In a recent Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant competition, only 17% of proposals were funded. Mine was not among them! Does that mean I wasted my time? Not at all — reviewers provide detailed feedback, highlighting strengths and suggesting areas for improvement. This feedback is really important for improving research and helping researchers refine their ideas for the next time around.

Revision and Resubmission :(
These days, it's really tough to get a grant funded the first time around. Using the feedback from reviewers, proposals can be revised in an attempt to address any concerns or gaps identified. This may involve clarifying the research plan, enhancing the methodology, or perhaps even performing additional preliminary experiments. Once revisions are made, the proposal can be resubmitted, often (hopefully!) with an improved chance of success. This is what I'm doing right now — I'm working on a grant to resubmit and making lots of changes; dropping a genetically-engineered mouse from the proposed studies and focusing on some more fundamental issues related to how insulin is controlled.

Obtaining the Grant and Managing the Funds
Congratulations! Receiving a grant is a significant milestone for any research team, marking the beginning (or continuation of) a funded project and the potential for important discoveries. You can find our current funding sources listed here. Lots of paperwork may be involved in actually getting access to that money, and typically lots of boxes need to be ticked (applications for research ethics approvals, safety approvals, etc.). Grant management involves careful planning and adherence to the budget and, depending on the granting organization, lots of reporting to ensure that funds are allocated correctly for salaries, equipment, supplies, and other research-related expenses.

What the Grant Pays For
In the grant competition I mentioned above (the one I wasn't successful in), the average value of awards were about $1M Canadian dollars over four to five years, each supporting all kinds of biomedical research in Canada. That's a lot money — let's say about $150-200K per year (it varies by funding organization, of course).

What does this pay for? Grants often cover the salaries of researchers, technicians, and other essential staff who contribute to the project, ensuring that the team has the necessary human resources to carry out the research. Funds are used to purchase essential materials and consumables needed for experiments and data collection, which are critical for conducting the research. Grants can also cover travel expenses for researchers to attend conferences, collaborate with other scientists, and share their findings with the broader scientific community. Finally, grant funds support the publication of research results in scientific journals and other platforms, ensuring that new knowledge is shared with the scientific community and the public, advancing the field and fostering further research. In general, a grant of ~$200K yearly might pay the salaries for one technician and one student, plus the other stuff listed above.

​Patrick