A scientist's life is exciting but demanding. You have chosen a profession that gives you the opportunity to discover things that no one has ever known, but expects you to devote immense effort to the pursuit of that knowledge. Besides your work in the lab and the library, you are expected to publish the results of your work regularly, to help train the next generation of scientists, and to obtain some of the resources that enable you to do your work.

The aim of this book is to help you with the latter task, by introducing you to the world of research funding.

A great deal of money is available to support scientific research in the United States, and a cultural system has evolved to manage its distribution. The system is no more complex than other cultural systems in our society, but it does have its own norms, traditions, and procedures, which those who wish to participate in it must learn. Scientists need to become familiar with the research funding culture to enjoy the fullest opportunity to achieve their goals. This volume is a guidebook to that culture.

If you are just beginning your scientific career as a recently minted Ph.D. in some field of science and have started to think about making your first application for research funding from some external source, this book is addressed primarily to you.