At the risk of starting another war with Dr. Pedro, the veterinarian, we
should clarify some definitions concerning non-profit research, grants, and
contracts.
 
1. In the U.S., most Research Grants REQUIRE Publication and Dissemination
of Results - they do not impose a gag on the investigator.  Failure to
publish in Peer-Reviewed Journals will bring one's research to an end in a
hurry.  Most academic and national laboratory research falls into this
category.
 
2. Research Contracts - a funding mechanism more commonly used by the
private sector, may impose proprietary claims.  If they paid for it, they
want all products and rights.  An example might be if a
Producer/Distributor of a miticide such as Formic Acid paid a Lab to
produce a gel-substrate that could be used to dispense a miticide in hive.
 
3. Academic and Government Bee Research Facilities are Non-Profit
Organizations. At the University, our Grants and Contracts are mainly
Cost-Reimbursed.  We are closely audited on all projects, and must account
for each and every purchase and expense, regardless of how small or large.
 
4.  Grants and Contracts do involve a lot of red-tape.  Most are highly
competitive (you have to convince the folks with the money that you have a
better idea or can do a better job), closely monitored (for the quality of
the work as well as the expenditures), and expect a lot, including
publication.
 
With the odds often 1 in 8 or lower of getting any money, it takes a lot of
work to go after competitively awarded funding.  The typical grant proposal
is 10-25 pages long, without resumes, budgets, etc.  They are announced in
the Business Commerce Daily or similar venue.  You often have less than 60
days to respond.  You have to write up your ideas, reference pertinent
literature, provide a solid experimental design (detail the approach), lay
out a work plan (the steps needed to accomplish the work), provide a
milestone schedule (when critical tasks are completed), agree to provide a
final, annual (and often quarterly progress) reports, indicate the results
and benefits expected, and describe your qualifications, as well as
describing your facilities and equipment.
 
Some sponsors also require Written Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Plans as well as Safety Plans.
 
Budgets can be ugly.  Some sponsors require time and effort broken out by
individual by day.  Many require itemizations of all proposed purchases.
All rates have fixed limits (such as travel costs for lodging, food, etc.)
and must conform to guidelines. You also have to submit certifications
covering a variety of issues from a drug-free work environment to proper
auditing and purchasing.
 
We have been writing competitive proposals for over 20 years.  Short
proposals require at least a day to write.  Most proposals take on- and
off- hard work over at least a couple of weeks.  Large project proposals
become marathons - with no assurance that you will get any return for the
effort.  Our state-wide research and education proposals run to 200 pages,
and most have to be prepared annually.
 
I encourage every beekeeper to help promote and sponsor critical research.
But if you send your check, you have a right to expect a full accounting of
what you paid for (how was the money spent, what was the research, what are
the results?).  There are many good researchers in this world who would be
more than glad to have some support for a bit of equipment, or a student.
And many are non-profit.
 
Cheers
 
J.J. Bromenshenk