How to Write a Winning Grant Proposal: An Expert Guide

Writing a grant proposal can seem like a daunting and daunting task. There is no question that competition is extreme and grant success rates are low today. Although we cannot guarantee that you will get funding, this article is intended to provide some general ideas and tips, using a grant proposal for a new medical device as an example, that may make your writing easier and increase the chances of your project. is selected

Before you start writing your grant proposal, In the case of education, there are a few key "ingredients" to keep in mind:

1. Find a call for proposals

There is a wide range of funding bodies and opportunities depending on your field of work, country and type of organization. You must identify the call that best suits the need or problem that your project intends to address, and carefully verify that your team meets all eligibility and admissibility requirements. Identify the keywords of the call, which you will also need to mention several times throughout your proposal. To have up-to-date information on open proposals, you should keep an eye on the websites, social networks and/or newsletters of the funding agencies, and share this information with your colleagues and collaborators.

2. The "right" team

A majority of the calls for funding do not accept individual applicants, but require the creation of a consortium. Many grant-awarding agencies are especially interested in fostering international and multidisciplinary collaborations and public-private partnerships that include academic institutions, businesses, and other organizations. Even before identifying a suitable call for proposals, you will need to have the 'right' team of partners with different capacities, staff, infrastructure and skills to carry out the different tasks that your project proposes.

Having the "right" team means not only finding partners who are interested in your proposal, who have a strong reputation or a good publication list, but also finding like-minded people who are collaborative and genuinely committed to contributing to the success of the project. . The last problem you would like to face is if one of your consortium partners does not respond to your emails and phone calls asking for an essential document the day before the deadline. Writing a grant proposal is time-intensive and intense, so having a good professional (and human) connection with all of your collaborators is always a good starting point. Working with a freelance grant writing can help ensure that you have the right experience and skills that can help you secure funding.

3. Effective communication

In a large international consortium, where partners may be separated by hundreds or thousands of kilometers and several time zones, having dynamic and fluid communication will facilitate the preparation of the proposal. In most cases, communication will be based on the use of digital tools, such as emails, video conferences or phone calls. Fortunately, we have many alternatives - the "classic" Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom and others - so you have to make good use of them to achieve effective communication with all interested parties.

4. Extremely methodical organization

Sooner rather than later you will be dealing with an immense amount of documentation ranging from bibliographic references and non-disclosure agreements to grant forms, clinical protocols, annexes, and much more. Not only that, but you will have to deal with all the successive versions that you will be creating and modifying several times along the writing process (including the infamous 'version1.0', 'v1.2.4', 'v2.3.6.8.5 ', 'v2.3.6.8.5_final', 'v2.3.6.8.5_final_definitive', etc.). You need to be exceedingly methodical -even ‘maniac’- in the management of all the information and documentation, and the correct use of digital tools will make a great difference. If your organization is already using a document or project management system, it can be your ally.

Otherwise, you can select the digital tools that best suit your objectives and your organization among the wide range of options available for document, task or project management (some examples with different features include Slack, Trello or lunes.com).

5. Early planning and good time management

The general rule of thumb is that "it's never too early to start writing a grant proposal." Preparing a grant proposal requires a large investment of time and effort with no guarantee of success. Unless your job is specifically to write proposals - and in that case, you may have to prepare more than one simultaneously - you will have to juggle several other tasks at the same time. So the sooner you start planning and writing - preferably a few months before the deadline - the less you'll have to rush at the end. Effective time management will help you avoid those days of coffee-based late-night work right before the deadline. In many cases, you will know in advance that a new call is going to open, so take advantage and start working on it. You will be one step ahead if the consortium has already been created.

Although the final requirements and forms will vary depending on the call, there is some documentation that you can start collecting and preparing in advance. This includes, for example, description of partners, supporting references, market and competitor analysis, ethical approval, impact and innovation of your proposal, organization of work packages and tasks, etc. . You can later adapt this material to the specific proposal. Our final recommendation is to avoid submitting your grant proposal on the same day as the deadline. Website overload, computer errors, the wrong version of one of the documents... All this can cause you to waste a good amount of time and effort on a proposal that is not even considered.

6. An innovative and impressive idea/solution

Last but not least, you will need to identify the need or problem that your project aims to solve and that requires funding. The main objective of your grant proposal will be to convince the funding body that your solution is the most appropriate to overcome that need or problem. The main criteria that the reviewers will use to evaluate your proposal are its innovative character, its impact or importance and its feasibility. But there will be many other factors that will influence the final decision based on the key interest of the agency, for example, the technological merit, the commercialization potential, the proposed approach, the team and the capacities, the adequacy of the budget allocation, the facilities available etc.