Funding Research without Federal Grants

 At The Lab World Group, we’ve shared multiple resources on how to find federal grant funding and how to apply for research grants – but what happens if you’re looking for alternative funding or are unable to secure one of the ever-shrinking number of federal grants? Believe it or not – there are a number of alternatives for funding your research.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy notes that large donors are stepping in, not only to fill gaps in federal funding, but to also fund research the federal government has deemed too obscure, experimental or uncertain. These private funds often help young scientists who “haven’t yet been able to tap into the federal-grants pipeline,” however, as of 2015 private funding totaled less than $4-billion a year, while federal agencies provided approximately $60-billion.

Rhea Paul, PhD, CCC-SLP, professor and Program Chair in Speech-Language Pathology at Sacred Heart University offers other alternatives for conducting research without funding – particularly for younger researchers. One alternative is to team up with a more experienced researcher or research group as an investigator. This allows the new researcher to begin their research careers while also learning from those successful in securing funding. Another approach is post-doctoral work. “Given the right setting, a post-doc experience offers mentoring about the research process itself, time to get your own line of research off the ground, and the preparation to become an independent researcher.”

Paul also notes that it’s possible to launch one’s own research program without funding. Utilizing students, who are often eager to volunteer and assist with research projects, is one way to collect data while also allowing the researcher to begin their own research right from the jump, rather than focusing on what others are interested in pursuing.