2. Structure of the workshop
Session: Overview to securing research
funding
• Networking/Sharing grant writing
experiences
• Where to apply - finding the right partner
• Researcher success stories
Sam and Brian give their experiences
4. Group Discussion
• What is your experience of grant writing?
• What are the challenges of grant writing?
5. PhD student
Types of grant funding available
Collaborative/multi-centre
Project grants
Fellowships Studentship
Small pilot grants Programme grants
Travel grants Public engagement
grants
Co-Applicant status is also important
6. PhD student
Grant Success
Field of Research + Funding Body
7. Finding the right funding partner
• Research Councils
• Other sources of government funding
• Charities and Trusts
• European organisations e.g. European
Commission
• International organisations e.g. NIH
• Professional bodies
• Commercial sources
• Private donations
*
8. Research income by funding
source
Total ~ £252.7million
Higher Education Funding
Council for England (HEFCE)
grants
1
2
UK Research Councils
3
UK charities 4
5
Government departments
6
7
UK industry and commerce
Overseas
Other sources
Aug 07 – July 08
9. Investigate funding sources
thoroughly
Check funder websites for:
• Politics & funding strategy
• Appropriateness to your field
• Competitiveness
• Success rate
11. Faculty Funding Schemes
Providing funding for high quality
research leading to external funding.
• Stepping Stone Scheme – MHS
• Simon and Hallsworth Funds – Hums
• Small Grant Award - FLS (March – May).
13. Other external funding search
engines
www.researchresearch.com
• Funding alerts
• Guidance
• Jobs
http://www.rdinfo.org.uk/
• Funding support for health and social care research (NIHR)
• Training, funding and advice
14. Research Success Stories
• Sam
Clinical Research Fellow – Psychological Sciences
• Brian
• Senior Research Fellow – Clinical and Laboratory
Sciences
15. Starting to prepare…
Why do you want to do this research?
(You need to convince your reviewers and the panel that
it’s worth doing and why you are the person to do it)
Bear in mind the assessment criteria and
audiences (use referee and panel prompts as a
guide, see websites)
Read all the guidance notes (don’t fall at the first
hurdle)
16. A tool for staying focused:
key message statement
5.
• A simple concise statement
– summarises what you will show
– their broader implications
– what is novel about your grant
• Must be realistic and well supported
17. Starting to prepare your grant
Key message
Introduction
Decide what research Potential
Methods
results
you are going to do
Discussion
18. Can you do the project?
Technical
expertise and Resources
knowledge
Collaborators JUSTIFICATION Facilities
Co-applicants Equipment
Time
Consumables
19. Research proposal
Background – any preliminary work
Hypothesis
Experimental design and methods
Timetable and milestones
Task 1
Task 2
Task 3
Task 4
21. Easy to Read Grants
• At the end of each section
– statement of outcomes
– How to achieve them
6.
22. Lay Abstract
7.
• Impact of your work – usually the first
thing read
• Remember a 12yr old should be able to
understand it
• It needs to be punchy – depending on the
funding body they may want to use it for
publicity
23. Assessment Criteria
Primary criteria = overall quality of
proposals
Other factors may be taken into account
where relevant:
Multidisciplinarity Collaborations
Newly appointed Adventure
academics
24. Research Quality: Ranking
Definition Grade
Outstanding 10
9
Good
8
7
6
5
Adequate 4
3
Unsatisfactory 2
1
25. Good Proposals…
Are about excellent research
And……..
• Demonstrate the capability of applicants
• Are clear about the ideas & work plan (what will be done
when & how the parts relate)
• Show novelty/added value
• Justify resources!
• Cite all key publications
26. And finally……..
Remember this before
you resubmit
“There is no amount of work that will turn
a bad idea into a good grant, but…
There are many ways to disguise a good
one.” Remember
this when
writing your
proposal
William Raub, Past Deputy
Director, NIH
