Grant Writing, tips, do's and don'ts for (potential) researchers

1. Grant
Wri)ng
Jan
Buitelaar
Talk
at
Karakter,
March
17th,
2015

5. Type
of
grants
• Small
–
large
-­‐
really
big
grants
• Personal
grants
– Talent
NWO
– Rubicon/Veni/Vidi/Vici
– ERC
star)ng
/
advanced
• Consor)um
grants
– e.g.
Horizon2010
– NIH,
ZonMW-­‐TOP

6. Recommenda)ons
• Plan
Ahead
• Make
it
perfect
• Seek
Support
• Keep
trying

7. Read
the
call
!!
• Analyse
the
call
word
by
word
• Close
reading
• Talk
to
others
• Call
grant
officers
(if
possible,
if
allowed)
• Check
eligibility
criteria

8. The
call:
TACTICS

9. Read
and
prepare
• Read
examples
of
successful
applica)ons
• Analyse
them
carefully
• Iden)fy
what
has
been
granted
in
the
past
• Talk
to
successful
applicants
• The
more
personal
contacts
you
make,
the
be]er
for
you

10. Seek
your
collaboraters
carefully
• Complementary
exper)se
–
learning
from
others
!
• Iden)fy
your
compe)tors
and
consider
to
invite
them
to
collaborate
!
• “If
you
cannot
beat
them,
join
them
…”
• Collabora)on
is
some)mes
easy,
but
can
also
be
very
difficult
• Gender
balance
/
country
balance

12. Basics
• You
need
a
really
good
idea
!
• Propose
feasible
research

16. Content
• Theory
guided
research
• Mix
of
conceptual
improvements
/
accuracy
and
relevant
data
collec)on
• Propose
detailed
and
realis)c
research
• Infra-­‐structure
!
• List
/
sell
your
achievements
!
• Pilot
studies

17. Why
?
• Why
now
??
• Why
you
??
(Why
this
team
??)

21. Visualize
!

22. Visualize
!

23. Visualize
!

25. Impact
• Society
• Health
care
diagnosis
?
Treatment
?
• Pa)ents
?
Families
?
• Professional
rou)nes
/
guidelines
?
• Valorisa)on
?
Industry
?
SME
?
• Realis)c
)me
plan
?

26. Dissemina)on
• Of
course:
papers,
lectures,
thesis,
symposia
• But
also:
reach
out
to
general
public,
media
• Website
• Papers
in
Dutch
journals

27. Implementa)on
• Work
with
stakeholders
• Assess
opinions/agtudes
of
professionals,
pa)ents,
colleagues,
experts
• Assess
all
sorts
of
prac)cal
problems
• Explore
/
measure
budget
issues
and/or
cost
effec)veness
• Explore
poten)al
resistances,
barrieres

29. The
wri)ng
itself
• Is
for
the
most
part
just
a
ma]er
of
technique
!

30. The
wri)ng
itself
• Buzz
words:
Use
the
same
terms
in
your
proposal
that
are
used
in
the
call
• Less
is
More!
• A
catchy
Name
/
Title
/
Acronym
!
• Good
wri)ng
should
be
easy
to
read
and
understand
• No
sentences
longer
than
2
lines

31. The
wri)ng
itself
• Abstract
should
have
it
all,
should
be
perfect
• Tell
very
concretely
and
specifically
what
you
propose
to
do,
and
why
!
• Make
it
fun
!
• Show
yourself
aware
of
previous
work
/
projects
• Sustainability
is
a
big
issue
• Present
clearcut
deliverables
and
milestones

32. Reply
to
reviewers’
comments
• Stay
friendly
• Convince
the
commi]ee
(not
the
reviewers)
• Be
fair
• If
you
have
been
misunderstood,
say
so
• Short
and
focused