Writing a successful grant application is much more than stating that the idea and selected approach to the research is good and should be funded. You need to convince the reviewer of this. It is your responsibility to PROVE that your idea and approach is good and is worthy of funding. A reviewer may have up to 10 proposals to read, compare and evaluate so what can you do to make your application stand out, easy to read and make a good initial impact on a reviewer?
DO:
1. PREPARE EARLY
Proposals written at the last minute, although they may have very good ideas, are often sloppy, do not address the all the criteria and are invariably in a more precarious position than one that has been very well thought out.
2. READ ALL GUIDELINES
Not adhering to the rules and regulations could eliminate your application from the competition or will annoy a reviewer and hence affect the evaluation. Keep within word limits, and budget values.
3. FOLLOW THE CRITERIA
Reviewers carry out evaluations against a list of CRITERIA, if this list is available make sure that you address each of the criteria throughout the application. Remember that it is often the NON-technical sections that are used to separate proposals with the same ranking. Pay as much attention to these as you would the technical sections.
Make sure you have the required partners and experience for the programme. Is an industrial partner required or an advantage?
4. BE CLEAR AND CONCISE
Applications should be clearly and concisely written in a logical manner. Think about the structure give some time to planning it out. Avoid sloppiness, bad grammar and spelling as this will not impress a reviewer.
The abstract is very important. It is your opportunity to make a good first impression of the proposal. Make it succinct and clear and non-technical.
5. WRITE WITH REVIEWER IN MIND
Write the proposal with the view that the reviewer might not be an expert in your specific field but a generalist in the area. A reviewer should be able to get a good grasp of the proposal in a single reading.
6. BE REALISTIC
- About the research. Think about how you will present your rationale and what approaches you will use. Back up your ideas with fact/evidence and make sure you have the most up to date references quoted. Also make sure the references you quote are well cited this will show the importance of the work.
- About your experience. Select your own references for your CV carefully, use first author references in good peer reviewed journals. When listing older references select those that have been well cited.
7. SELL YOURSELF
- For papers in press ask the journal if you can put a draft copy on your own website for personal use and put the website link in your CV.
- When given the option to select potential referees, select these very carefully. It is not enough to select the most prominent in their field. Select those that you work in a similar vein to your own research, they are more likely to be supportive.
8. USE THE EXPERTISE AVAILABLE
- Give your application to a colleague to see what they think. Successful grant holders will have experience with proposal applications.
- The Research Development Office can assist you with all of the non-technical sections.
- The Commercialisation Office can help with all aspects of intellectual property, tech
9. RE-USE YOUR INFORMATION
Use your idea to apply for several programmes at the same time. Make sure that you tailor it for each programme.
DO NOT:
1. GO OVER WORD and PAGE LIMITS
2. IGNORE THE RULES AND REGULATIONS
3. LEAVE OUT NON-TECHNICAL SECTIONS - THESE CAN BE CRITICAL
4. IGNORE GRAMMAR AND SPELLING - SLOPPINESS IS NOT WELL-RECEIVED
5. BE TOO AMBITIONS - MAKE YOUR APPLICATION ACHIEVABLE
6. MAKE UNSUBSTANTIATED STATEMENTS
Finally the most important thing to remember when applying for grant is DO NOT GIVE UP if you are not successful, use the reviewers' comments to amend and alter your proposal. BE PERSISTANT!