This course is suitable for students and professionals in higher education (especially post-graduate students and early-career academics and librarians) who would like to learn the basics of writing a grant proposal to receive funding for an activity or project.
By the end of this course, you will have developed or improved your skills in:
- Carrying out essential preparatory steps before you write a grant proposal, including searching for grant opportunities
- Preparing a suitable CV as a supplement to a grant proposal
- Writing a well-structured grant proposal
- Using an effective writing style in a grant proposal
This course consists of two modules.
Module 1: 'Selling' your research and your skills – Fellowships, small grants and beyond
To get the most out of this module, you should have a PhD or fellowship application, or a small grant that you would like to work on as your progress through the lessons. Don’t worry if you do not have a current application, as your notes from this module will hopefully be of help to you when writing an application in the future.
The lessons from this module should also be useful for applying for all types of grant proposals. The general philosophy underpinning this resource is that you should always look to tailor your application to ‘sell’ both your individual skills and your research ideas to fit the application.
By the end of this module, you will have developed or improved your skills in:
- Evaluating and sourcing information to make a plan for your research proposal prior to beginning to write
- Identifying criteria for inclusion in an effective CV to accompany an application
- Describing methods to help your research proposal stand out positively when reviewed
- Identifying strategies to secure great references
Part 2: Winning funds for research impact – Collaborative proposals and large grants
Building on the previous unit, this module looks at how to plan and apply for larger research grants that are more collaborative and project-based. This module will be useful for both senior researchers who are looking to lead such projects, and less experienced researchers who want to be involved in these projects in the future.
Due to the variation between different funders and programmes, not all the learning from this module will be relevant for all applications, but the philosophies and techniques underpinning the module can be used in other types of proposal or collaboration.
Some participants may find that not all of the material is relevant to grant proposals in their specific field. Nevertheless, we hope that the module will inspire you to collaborate with innovative researchers from other disciplines so you can pool your skills to solve the most pressing development challenges of our age.
By the end of this module, you will have developed or improved your skills in:
- Explaining the role of collaboration in developing strong research proposals
- Identifying strategies for seeking collaborators
- Planning for successful collaborative writing
- Evaluating grant proposals for evidence of significance, innovation, sustainability, and impact
- Describing how to manage successful proposals; and how to move forward with a rejected proposal