Preparing
a Grant
Application

Applying for a grant is a time consuming process. The central idea must be formulated, articulated and refined. Consultation with peers is often required, and the implementation of the idea must be fully thought out and costed. A little politicking may be necessary, and in some cases approval must be sought from the host institution before the application can be submitted. Do not underestimate the lead time required to properly prepare a grant proposal.

Some people will tell you that applying for grants is like the lottery. You win some, you lose some. You will hear stories of people labouring for weeks over a proposal, only to have it rejected, while the proposal they knocked up in a few days delivers the goods. Even if the lottery mentality is true, your objective in dedicating time to proposal writing is to maximize the probability of success.

Other benefits flow from the effort put into preparing the grant application. Grant writing yields a well considered and externally evaluated plan for your future work. It is a requirement that commits you to the planning process, even though your commitment to the letter of the plan may change in time. The effort expended on planning the initial proposal will pay back many times over during execution of the research.

Here is some advice that may increase your success rate in securing the necessary funding for your research.

Formulate a Novel Idea

Decide early whether you have or can formulate a project with a good chance of success -- you need to come up with a good and saleable idea that fits within the broad scope outlined by the granting body. The Australian Research Council advise that to be successful in a competitive atmosphere, where the difference between "just funded" and "just not funded" is slight, it is necessary to generate novel ideas of general importance and interest, and to design exciting approaches to evaluating their success.

Without a good idea, properly articulated and within the scope outlined by the granting body, the proposal will almost certainly fail.

Involve Others in Refining the Idea

Assuming that you are in an active and collegeate research environment, you should meet and refine the idea. Brainstorm. Do not let the urge to get started with writing interfre with the overall planning and development of the central idea. Be responsive to alternate points of view and criticisms -- try not to let defensiveness block the input of good suggestions. Where appropriate, circulate and discuss the proposal in a braoder group -- start with sympathetic colleagues, but then move on to more critical peers.

Read the Guidelines Thoroughly

It is essential that your proposal falls within the bounds of what the granting body is willing to fund. You need to read the guidelines to gain an appreciation of the general aspects of the grants scheme -- how it came about, in what political context, what are the scope and objectives of the scheme, what sort of proposals is the granting body expecting.

Analyse the Selection Criteria

Go through the selection criteria and highlight key statements. Tease out a list of statements, each containing a single idea so that they can be later addressed individually.

Recognise that selection criteria are not always explicitly stated under the heading Selection Criteria, a section which sometimes serves principally as a guide to structuring the application. Go through the entire guidelines and highlight any statement relevant to the selection committee's perceptions of a successful application.

Recognize that selection committees often have hidden selection criteria -- I am not sure why this comes about, but I suspect it is because of the difficulties of formulating selection criteria in the absence of knowledge of the field of applicants, or it may be that the commitee wishes subconciously to retain flexibility in its decisions. New Scientist (November 13, 1993) acknowledges that there are typically two types of applicant -- those with and those without contacts in the granting body. The former group receives additional information on the selection process and criteria that will be applied in practice.

If you do not have such contacts, you can partially overcome the deficiency by obtaining documents outlining feedback given to institutions or individual applicants on previous rounds. Obtain written statements or attend talks given by the committee chairperson. Check to see if the guidelines have changed since last year. If they have, it is for a reason, and the regions of the document changed may provide insight into the committee's priorities.

Address the Selection Criteria

Brainstorm with other members of the team on how the proposed project meets, and can be improved to meet the selection criteria. Focus on outcomes, because these are usually more concrete and measurable. You will be surprised what a group of people can come up with on points of strength of a proposal with respect to the selection criteria.

Write the Application

Carefully structure the application so that its performance can be clearly gauged against the selection criteria. Follow strictly the guidelins on format and structure provided by the granting body. Remember, the committee may have hundreds of applications to consider and a quick assessment of whether your proposal gets by the first cut, usually based on a spreadsheet of applications versus selection criteria, is all that you can expect. Make the assessment as painless as possible for the selection panel. Be sure to use a copy of the application form, so as not to neglect some key piece of information.

Circulate the draft for comment by central players and, if possible, one or two applicants who were successful in previous rounds.

Redraft the application and put the draft aside for a couple of weeks.

Mock Assessment

Stand back from the application. Put yourself in the position of the selection committee.

• Is the application free of specialist jargon, and readily understandable by a non-expert committee -- know your audience. If there is a general panel and an expert panel, this task is made all that more difficult -- you must address the information requirements of both without losing the comprehension of either.
• How does the application perform against the selection criteria, both explicit and implicit?
• What are the weaknesses of the application, and have they been addressed to minimize their impact on the likely success of the application?
• Does the application exude vitality and energy? Can it be seen from the style and tone of the application that the proponents are fully committed to and excited by the prospects of undertaking the project? Has the work started? A start on the project is a good indication of committment.
• Is the budget fully justified and are all items listed acceptable to the granting body? It is not sufficient to justify an item by indicating its cost. You must demonstrate how the item is essential to satisfactory progress in meeting the project objectives.

Additional Considerations

Are there any general statements by government that indicate the importance of the broad field of endeavour in government thinking? Are there any statements made by your host institution that establish the importance of the boad field of endeavour in the institution's plans and directions, and the institution's committment to support research of the kind proposed?

Submission

Redraft and submit the proposal.