Philip E. Bourne*, Leo M. Chalupa

Citation: Bourne PE, Chalupa LM (2006) Ten Simple Rules for Getting Grants. PLoS Comput Biol 2(2): e12. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020012

Published: February 24, 2006

http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020012

Copyright: © 2006 Bourne and Chalupa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bourne@sdsc.edu

Philip E. Bourne is a professor in the Department of Pharmacology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America, and is Editor-in-Chief of PLoS Computational Biology. Leo M. Chalupa is a professor and chair in the Section of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America.

Rule 1: Be Novel, but Not Too Novel

Rule 2: Include the Appropriate Background and Preliminary Data as Required

Rule 3: Find the Appropriate Funding Mechanism, Read the Associated Request for Applications Very Carefully, and Respond Specifically to the Request

Rule 4: Follow the Guidelines for Submission Very Carefully and Comply

Rule 5: Obey the Three Cs—Concise, Clear, and Complete

Rule 6: Remember, Reviewers Are People, Too

Rule 7: Timing and Internal Review Are Important

Rule 8: Know Your Grant Administrator at the Institution Funding Your Grant

Rule 9: Become a Grant Reviewer Early in Your Career

Rule 10: Accept Rejection and Deal with It Appropriately