2 answers
Beatrice
Student
Parañaque, Metro Manila, Philippines
2
Questions
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How do scientists start projects without grants?
How do scientists receive grants? #science #physics
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2 answers
VGG-Consulting (Vesselin Gueorguiev)
International Instructor/Research Scholar in Physics & Mathematics willing to advise on careers in science & engineering
9
Answers
Merced, California
Updated
VGG-Consulting’s Answer
This is a great question Beatrice!
I wish there was a simple answer but getting grants is actually an industry by itself; so, I will try to comment as much as I can by trying to give you the big picture.
Ken has given you somewhat practical answer. However, having to find the right organization that will provide funding would take probably as much research effort as the project itself and its proposal preparation as well.
Usually, the funding would often depend on the scope and magnitude of the project. There are individual and private donors and philanthropist that may fund a project directly. However, the body of your question also states "How do scientists receive grants? " which could be understood as "how to get money from a grant?"
Often for big grants the money flow is controlled by credible institutions like laboratory or university. Thus, before the money get to be spend on the actual science project administrators have to manipulate and control the flow and this adds an overhead expence that almost never goes below 20%, often is around 40% to 60%, and in some cases can go all the way up to 140% and maybe more… Yes, it is shocking! That is because of all the administration involved. A scientist have to study their subject of interest by taking classes and then to practice via working on someone's project. Although the science material and content is independent of the school where one studies, since nowadays the material in the books is essentially the same, how are the students prepared to write proposals and where are the relevant funding sources for their subjects is what makes the difference between a great university and an average one.
In the traditional academic path, an assistant professor will get a start up funding to be able to establish his/her research program by getting external grants from major funding agencies which will often make or break his/her career…
In industry things are somewhat different, since usually the research outcome is a product that can me marketed and thus a profit can be made in the future. Then one can try to plan the different stages and asses their cost… with this in hand then once can try to get investors to fund the project...
hope this gives you some idea on how science could be funded
science physics funding
I wish there was a simple answer but getting grants is actually an industry by itself; so, I will try to comment as much as I can by trying to give you the big picture.
Ken has given you somewhat practical answer. However, having to find the right organization that will provide funding would take probably as much research effort as the project itself and its proposal preparation as well.
Usually, the funding would often depend on the scope and magnitude of the project. There are individual and private donors and philanthropist that may fund a project directly. However, the body of your question also states "How do scientists receive grants? " which could be understood as "how to get money from a grant?"
Often for big grants the money flow is controlled by credible institutions like laboratory or university. Thus, before the money get to be spend on the actual science project administrators have to manipulate and control the flow and this adds an overhead expence that almost never goes below 20%, often is around 40% to 60%, and in some cases can go all the way up to 140% and maybe more… Yes, it is shocking! That is because of all the administration involved. A scientist have to study their subject of interest by taking classes and then to practice via working on someone's project. Although the science material and content is independent of the school where one studies, since nowadays the material in the books is essentially the same, how are the students prepared to write proposals and where are the relevant funding sources for their subjects is what makes the difference between a great university and an average one.
In the traditional academic path, an assistant professor will get a start up funding to be able to establish his/her research program by getting external grants from major funding agencies which will often make or break his/her career…
In industry things are somewhat different, since usually the research outcome is a product that can me marketed and thus a profit can be made in the future. Then one can try to plan the different stages and asses their cost… with this in hand then once can try to get investors to fund the project...
hope this gives you some idea on how science could be funded
science physics funding
Ken Simmons
Assist with Recognizing and Developing Potential
1696
Answers
Cleveland, Ohio
Updated
Ken’s Answer
Hi Beatrice!
You asked a very important question. Here are some examples of sources for funds:
http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/100_places_to_find_funding_your_research/
https://www.sciencepioneers.org/teachers/grants
https://experiment.com/