Funding, experiments, and papers
What is funding?
In order to begin your experiment, you must obtain funding. Funding in the scientific realm is money that is used to back the research being carried out. This funding may pay for lab equipment and materials, travel expenses, access to documents, and more.
Where does funding come from?
Funding for research can come from a variety of places. In some instances, the researcher may provide funding out of pocket, but in most cases, the funding must be brought in from another source. Most often, this happens through grants or fellowships.
But what are grants and fellowships? How can I get one?
Grants can be defined as funds, mostly from the government or large corporations and foundations, that are given to an individual or group to complete a project. Grants are very good tools for scientist because they do not have to be paid back. But obtaining a grant does take a fair bit of work. The vast majority of grant applications require "grant writing." In this process, you will need to create a proposal for your experiment that details what you want to accomplish. While each specific grant may have a different process, below is a basic guide of what you need to know when writing a grant application.
During an interview with Dr. Campos, M.D. explained how the hardest part of this cycle was the funding because when you have to apply to get a grant the process is long and tedious. She quoted " You are not only completing with your fellow researchers but the rest of the world for the slim chance you are accepted from the funding agency."
In order to begin your experiment, you must obtain funding. Funding in the scientific realm is money that is used to back the research being carried out. This funding may pay for lab equipment and materials, travel expenses, access to documents, and more.
Where does funding come from?
Funding for research can come from a variety of places. In some instances, the researcher may provide funding out of pocket, but in most cases, the funding must be brought in from another source. Most often, this happens through grants or fellowships.
But what are grants and fellowships? How can I get one?
Grants can be defined as funds, mostly from the government or large corporations and foundations, that are given to an individual or group to complete a project. Grants are very good tools for scientist because they do not have to be paid back. But obtaining a grant does take a fair bit of work. The vast majority of grant applications require "grant writing." In this process, you will need to create a proposal for your experiment that details what you want to accomplish. While each specific grant may have a different process, below is a basic guide of what you need to know when writing a grant application.
During an interview with Dr. Campos, M.D. explained how the hardest part of this cycle was the funding because when you have to apply to get a grant the process is long and tedious. She quoted " You are not only completing with your fellow researchers but the rest of the world for the slim chance you are accepted from the funding agency."
Benoit Jacquet is a professor in the College of Sciences at North Carolina State University. He specializes in physiology and neurobiology. He has done a lot of research regarding stem cells in the brain. Here he talks about how to get funding today (Research in the Scientific Community).
So you've got funding. Now what?
After you have submitted your grant applications and have received enough money, you can then carry out your experiment! Take careful notes, because you'll be writing on your experiments soon enough. Once you finish your research, you will need to write a paper on what you have done, which will hopefully be published in a reputable journal. Before writing, it is important to have your work reviewed by a reputable expert of your field. The Lancet, a scientific journal, sets these criteria for their papers. They require, "all industry-sponsored studies have the data analysed by an independent academic biostatistician or researcher who has full access to all study data, and that the results of this analysis must be the results reported in the article." (DeAngelis, Fontanarosa).
After you have submitted your grant applications and have received enough money, you can then carry out your experiment! Take careful notes, because you'll be writing on your experiments soon enough. Once you finish your research, you will need to write a paper on what you have done, which will hopefully be published in a reputable journal. Before writing, it is important to have your work reviewed by a reputable expert of your field. The Lancet, a scientific journal, sets these criteria for their papers. They require, "all industry-sponsored studies have the data analysed by an independent academic biostatistician or researcher who has full access to all study data, and that the results of this analysis must be the results reported in the article." (DeAngelis, Fontanarosa).