Some tips for research grants

Reflections on some successes and many failures

I recently gave a session on research funding and grants, so thought I’d share the key advice here in case it’s useful to others.

Let’s start with some data. Or rather, some failures. It can be hard for early career researchers to get insights into the grant process, so below is a tally of all the research grants I’ve applied for as a principle or co-investigator in the past decade (I finished up my PhD in 2012). These included two major fellowships (funded by MRC and Wellcome), as well as a number of collaborative grants (e.g. funded by NIH, CDC, NIHR, UKRI…)

This is just a handful of applications from one researcher’s perspective, but hopefully it illustrates that: a) it takes lots of failures to get some successes; and b) a bundle of failures may come at the start.

So here are some of my modest tips for improving chances when it comes to research funding (which include lessons from both the green and red bars above).

If you don’t apply, your chance of getting the grant is 0%

It sounds obvious: if you don’t apply for something you won’t get it. However, I’ve talked with many, many people starting out who say they’re planning to apply for something very soon, or have something drafted but haven’t submitted it yet.

Ultimately, until you identify a grant call, get the application written, and submit it, your chances of winning the grant are 0%. So the first task is to get going and give yourself a non-zero chance.

Address the ‘So what?’ question

When writing a grant application, it’s tempting to just write down a list of things you’re planning to do. But someone reading it will then often think ‘so what?’ What will happen if you collect that data, do those experiments, develop those methods? What will you discover? How will it make the world better?

Make it clear why your work matters, and what will happen if you do it successfully.

Do what’s best, not what’s easiest

You’ll probably have some favourite research methods, and perhaps a collaborator that you particularly like working with. But are those methods the best possible way of tackling the new question you’re interested in? And is that collaborator the only source of expertise you’ll need to deliver a highly successful project?

If necessary, get outside your comfort zone: seek out additional skills and experience, identify additional data sources, expand your methodological options. Make it the best possible project, not just the easiest one.

Don’t overpromise or underfund

An implausibly long list of promised deliverables on an application might feel impressive, but it can turn an exciting project into an unmanagable burden – and raise red flags for anyone reviewing the application. So make sure your promised outcomes are ambitioust unrealistic.

After all, good research takes resources. Staff time to collect and analyse data. Reagents to run experiments. Computational resources for statistical inference. Travel for conferences and collaborative visits. Expertise to turn methods into software tools or training materials. Aim to be efficient, but avoid scrimping that would pose a risk to the project’s success.

Get feedback

It’s very difficult to write a good application in a silo, so seek out advice from those who can help. Funders can provide information about whether your proposal falls within remit with a competitive budget. Collaborators can give input on the scientific questions and approaches. Departmental research offices may have insights into the current funding landscape. Senior colleagues may be able to share examples of previous successful applications.

I’ve never regretted sourcing feedback early from trusted sources when it comes to drafting grants – but I’ve often regretted not doing this.

Try and try again

Even apparently well funded research teams will have racked up numerous rejections over time. So don’t let failure put you off. I’ll do a follow up post with more on some tactics I’ve come up with to handle rejections, but in the meantime, here’s quote. As Churchill reportedly* once said: ‘Success is the ability to move from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm.’

(*but probably didn’t)