AAAS Website Helps Scientists Find Research Funding

In research science, as in life, every answer leads to more questions. Scientists rely on this branching, non-linear phenomenon to help them solve the biological and medical riddles of the universe. However, this chaos can be frustrating, disorienting and scary for scientists seeking answers to one specific question: "Where can I find funding for my research?"

There is an answer. Over the last four years, 140,000 scientists have signed on to "GrantsNet.org" in their quest for funds. GrantsNet is a searchable, continuously updated database of funding opportunities for "early-career" scientists, meaning undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and junior faculty. This online resource was launched in 1998 as a collaborative effort between the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and AAAS. The objective was to improve access to information on grants for biomedical research. GrantsNet.org is hosted and maintained by AAAS through Science's Next Wave, an online career development resource for scientists who are just starting out in their careers.

Timothy Coetzee, the Director of Research Training Programs at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society explains his dynamic relationship with GrantsNet.org. "When I was a postdoc, I used GrantsNet to research funding opportunities. Now as a grants administrator and a funder, I see it as a way to reach a new audience. We're always interested in pulling in people with varied skills and experiences. GrantsNet gives us a way to do that."

While many of the 1200 programs from 450 different funding institutions pertain to the biomedical sciences, the scope of GrantsNet has widened considerably during its 4-year history. In the fall of 2000, for example, GrantsNet added a new database of grant opportunities for undergraduate research and simultaneously redesigned the entire site, adding features that make it even easier to use. And recently, GrantsNet secured funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to devote a new component of the site to minority scientists-and not just those interested in boimedicine.

"We were able to leverage the existing GrantsNet infrastructure to provide important information to new audiences." says Crispin Taylor, editor of Science's Next Wave.

—Daniel Kane

17 June 2002

For more information, read about GrantsNet's Growing Impact