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How to Apply for Grants and Research Funding as a
Researcher of the World Institute for Scientific Exploration (WISE)

Almost all funding organizations, whether they are government agencies such as the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health, corporations, private foundations, or some other type of funding organization, require the recipient of a grant to be a nonprofit organization. As a result, individuals who are not on the faculties of colleges, universities, or associated with some other nonprofit institution, are essentially barred from receiving grants.

Because of this limitation on individuals, the World Institute for Scientific Exploration (WISE) is making itself available to all WISE directors and researchers as a nonprofit organization through which you can apply for and receive the grants you seek for your research projects. This is a benefit available only to members of WISE. You can apply for WISE membership by simply going to the application page and filling out the short Membership Application form. Please review all the WISE membership benefits you will receive by being a WISE member, in addition to being able to apply for grants.

Basic Steps in the Grants and Funding Process

1. Identify the subject area of the research you intend to conduct and prepare a well-designed research project
2. Identify grant-making and funding agencies and organizations  that have funded your subject area of research in the past, and are, therefore, more likely to fund the research project you intend to conduct
3. Go to the websites of those agencies and organizations and download their grant applications and other grant requirements. (Some grant-making organizations require a summarized grant proposal to be submitted for approval first before you are allowed to submit the much more detailed grant application.)
4. Complete the grant application, filling in the name of the World Institute for Scientific Exploration (WISE) in the appropriate places when asked for the name of the institution you are associated with and other related questions
5. Submit the application to the grant-making organization, which may or may not request additional information from you or your research colleagues
6. Receive the grant funds through the World World Institute for Scientific Exploration, which then forwards the funds to you
7. Conduct the funded research, use the highest standards of research protocol possible, and provide periodic progress reports to WISE and the funding agency
8. Publish the findings of your research project in one of WISE’s associated journals, or some other journal following the highest standards of scientific writing possible

Resources on Grant-making Agencies and Funding Sources

1. Foundation Center—Find Funders page:
   http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/
   This website is one of the very best sources of information and guidance for identifying grant makers and funding sources nationwide, including foundations, corporations, government agencies, and all other funding sources.
2. National Institutes of Health (NIH)
   http://grants.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm
   This is one of the major sources of biomedical research in the US and the world. One of its stand-alone institutes is the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), http://nccam.nih.gov/, which funds millions of dollars of alternative medicine research each year. Also, within the National Cancer Institute (NCI), there is a little-known agency called the Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM), http://www.cancer.gov/cam/, which also funds alternative medicine research specifically directed at treating cancer.
3. National Science Foundation (NSF)
   http://www.nsf.gov/funding/
   This is one of the major sources of scientific funding in the US, and its website provides all the information you may need to apply to the NSF for funding.
4. ARPA-E, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy  http://www.arpa-e.energy.gov
   This agency is part of the US Department of Energy and was established to promote and fund research and development of very advanced energy technologies.
5. BARDA, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority http://www.phe.gov/about/barda/Pages/default.aspx
   BARDA is part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and funds very innovative research and novel technology in the biomedical field.
6. National Endowment of the Arts  http://www.nea.gov/grants/index.html
7. Grants Online
   http://www.grantsonline.org.uk/
   This is one of the most extensive and up-to-date sources of information on grants and funding opportunities in the European Union, UK Government, National Lottery and UK Grant Making Trusts.