By Ellie Kincaid
In the sunroom of the Omni La Mansión del Rio dining room, ScienceWriters2016 attendees filled both tables designated for the lunch discussion on NASW Idea Grants.
At the table with Melissa Lutz Blouin, chair of NASW’s Grants Committee, lunch began with a discussion of how to treat jellyfish stings before turning to the purpose of Idea Grants.
Proposals must benefit the community of science writers, not just one or two people, Blouin said. The grants are also not about growing audiences for science communication. The committee doesn’t typically fund projects like websites, which take maintenance and may only serve the community for a short time. Rather, Blouin likens the grants to seed money for projects with long term benefit, some of which may attract future funding from other sources. “We really want it to be an originator of ideas,” Blouin said.
The Grants Committee is accepting proposals for the grants, this year renamed the Peggy Girshman Idea Grants, until Dec. 15, 2016. Submission instructions are available in an article on the NASW website. As the committee members consider applications, they may contact applicants with questions, especially about proposed budgets. The committee will notify successful applicants of their awards on March 1, 2017. Awarded funds will be given out before June 30.
This year, the committee has $25,000 available to award, less than in previous years. The funds come from the Author’s Coalition, and have decreased because proceeds from copyrighted material photocopied overseas don’t go as far with a strong dollar, and digitally copying material is not yet treated in the same manner as photocopying.
Members brainstorming proposals at lunch discussed the value of regional workshops to enhance local science writing communities and focus on issues specific to the region, the need for social media training, and the possibility of archiving audio recordings of the ScienceWriters workshops.
In the past, Idea Grants have funded regional workshops, a summit on women in science writing, programs supporting diversity, and production of a guide to science blogging. The Open Notebook is a prime example of a project funded with an Idea Grant that is still benefitting science writers. All funded projects are listed on the Idea Grants information page of the NASW website, along with links to a few successful proposals.
In essence, writing a proposal for an Idea Grant is not so different from something science writers often do: pitching stories. A successful pitch will make the committee think, “These people clearly know what they’re doing,” Blouin said. “They just need a little extra money.”
