Monthly Grant Tip: Where to Find Sample Grant Applications

If you’re new to grant writing, or if you’re applying to an unfamiliar grant format, access to funded grant applications can significantly speed up the process and reassure you that you’re “on the right track” with respect to application structure and tone. But where to find good (ie, funded) sample applications?

1. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) website contains a very helpful section on grant application preparation, including >30 annotated funded grant applications for various NIH grant types, many with corresponding reviews. These applications are publicly accessible and downloadable as PDFs.
2. NC TraCS maintains the TraCS Template Application Resource (TraCSTAR), an archive of funded applications by UNC investigators. TraCSTAR contains applications/reviews for a number of NIH grant types, some foundations, and TraCS pilot grants. A UNC ONYEN is required to search the archive, and the grants themselves can be obtained through the TraCSTAR request system. We are constantly adding new applications, so if you don’t see what you need, contact TraCS Proposal Development to see if we can assist.
3. The National Cancer Institute makes a number of successful dissemination and implementation (D&I) applications available online.
4. This site’s a bit hit or miss, so no guarantees. However, it contains a number of fairly recent funded NSF applications.

If you can’t find an example of a grant type, one option that I have found to be quite productive is to search databases for grant awardees through NIH RePORTER, NSF Awards Search or the UNC System Sponsored Programs Reporting Portal for suitable funded grants, then email the PI, explain who you are and ask if you could see a copy of their grant application. The worst that can happen is that they decline but, in my experience, people are quite generous and understanding in this respect. If they agree, reassure them that you will use their grant as a guide only, that you will not share it, and that you’ll delete it when you’re done.

For assistance in all aspects of your grant writing endeavors, please contact NC TraCS Proposal Development.