Abstracts

An abstract is a section separate from the narrative of a grant proposal. The abstract summarizes the most important information from each major section of the narrative. The abstract typically precedes the narrative and is often made available to the public separately from the narrative. Reviewers will likely read the abstract before the narrative, so it plays an important role in helping them form favorable impressions about you and your credibility, and in attracting their interest about your research topic and its significance and novelty.

Different funding agencies name the abstract differently. For example, NIH refers to its abstract as the Project Summary. The Michael J. Fox Foundation refers to the abstract as the Grant Abstract, and the Society of Family Planning calls it a Project Abstract. NSF refers to a similar section as the Project Summary but cautions that the NSF Project Summary “should not be an abstract.” However, as discussed in Chapter 7.1.2, for all practical purposes the NSF Project Summary is an abstract. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also calls its abstract a Project Summary. Regardless what a funding agency calls its summary to the narrative, in this book it is called an abstract.