1. Writing Competitive Research Funding Applications: Tips and Advice Early-Career Researchers Information Session Friday, 26th October, 2012
Dr Barry Dixon – Research Facilitator (EU & Overseas)
School of Arts & Humanities, School of Humanities & Social Sciences

2. Choose the Right Funding Scheme:
Consult the Guide to Fellowships and Funding (or the School’s Research Funding web- site, once it is up)
Understand the difference between a Fellowship and Project Grant
Be certain that you fulfil the eligibility criteria (usual issues surround your contractual status at Cambridge and how many years post-PhD you are)

3. Collect intelligence on the funder AND on the funding scheme:
Some schemes operate at fixed times of the year, so it is advisable to plan a good deal in advance.
If the funder has a research strategy it is worth spending 30 minutes reading through it to get a general idea of what they are looking for.
What is the reason for the funder having this scheme? What do they say they want this scheme to do?
Is there a theme?
What is the application form like?
What are the section headings?

4. Planning your application: Timing
In most cases you will need 2-3 weeks more than what you think you need.
If the funder does not have a deadline, impose one yourself and try your best to stick to it.
Your timeline will need to include any peer review procedures (faculty/School level), and take into account the schedules of colleagues you approach for comments.
The Research Office will take 3-5 working days to process, check, and approve your application. This is mandatory, so should be carefully observed

5. Writing your application:
Objectives:
What is your central research question and how does this relate to the state-of-the-art?
How will your project affect the field?
Why are you (and, where applicable, your team) in the best position to answer this question?
Are there presuppositions or generally accepted canons that your project will challenge?
Will you use perspectives and approaches that are novel or which come from outside your field?
Will your project engage with non-academic audiences?

6. Methodology:
How will you approach your research question and why is this approach the most suitable?
How will you manage your team members (if applicable), particularly any junior members?
What type of meetings will you hold and when will you hold them (differentiate working group meeting, Advisory Group meetings, workshops, conferences)?
Are there any currently existing national or international networks or associations that you will align your project with?
Are there key fora for disseminating the results of your research (i.e. major international conferences)?
You should be able to offer a yearly (or, if appropriate, monthly) breakdown of the activities and events that you will be using the funder’s money to hold. This breakdown should include certain milestones.

7. Outputs:
Academic outputs include the usual range of journal articles, monographs, and edited books but the main output will be the creation of new knowledge.
If your project is inter-disciplinary, you might consider having the main book co-written.
Outputs can also include the creation of research teams or networks, web-sites and databases. Yet, they might also include radio programmes, position papers, policy briefs, school text-books, or exhibitions. It is worth seeing the wider significance of your project.

8. Who to talk to:
Departmental Administrator: for issues relating to faculty approval and any financial and/or HR related consequences of you getting the grant (new staff, teaching buy-out, etc…). Also for arranging the departmental level review of the application
Research Grant Administrator: for issues relating to costing your project and help creating your budget
Head of Department: for signing off on proposals
Colleagues: for offering comments on drafts of your proposal, with a view to the scientific content. It would of course be particularly useful to have their comments if they have had previous success with the scheme, or indeed (for senior colleagues) if they sit on the funder’s Advisory Panel
School Research Facilitators: for comments on drafts of your proposal, with a view to its structure, content, and suitability for the funder. Also, for submitting proposals to the School’s peer-review process (for AHRC and ESRC only)
Research Operations Office: when you have a final draft of your application you will need to send it to the Research Office for final checks and approval. This will take between 3-5 working days

9. Investigate the differing funders and funding schemes available
For assistance, consult the Guide to Fellowships and Funding and/or talk to colleagues
Decide upon a suitable scheme or schemes and spend time researching both the funder and the funding scheme
For assistance, consult the School Research Facilitators
It is essential at this stage to ensure your eligibility
Take a look at the application form and set out a timeline for completion
Consider teaching commitments, examinations, editor deadlines, and all other activities that will take place within this timeframe
Consider too the procedural deadlines required by your department/faculty and the University's Research Office
Begin an initial draft of your application and contact your Faculty's Departmental and/or Research Grant Administrator
Funders often give guidance on what they want to see addressed in certain sections. Study this intently and cater your draft to this guidance.
Submit drafts of your application for comments/review (keeping in mind any faculty/departmental approval and the Schools' peer-review advisory panel)
Senior colleagues can offer expert advice, as can any peers who have been successful with the scheme in the past.
The School's Research Facilitators can also comment on the structure and cogency of the application, as well as its fit with the funder
Once you have incorporated the feedback, and have received approval from the faculty, submit the full proposal to the University's Research Office
You should allow 3-5 working days for the application to be processed
Once the proposal has been approved by the Research Office, the proposal can be formally submitted
Good luck!