1. Effective writing for bids and grants
Rochelle Sibley
Academic Writing Programme
11th June 2013

2. Outline of the session 9:00-10:00 Common concerns and dealing with
content
10:00-10:30 Jonathan Tritter – What makes a successful
bid?
10:30-10:50 Coffee break
10:50-12:30 Writing style and reviewing examples
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

3. Session aims
To discuss your individual experiences with and concerns about bid and grant writing.
To investigate best practice tips for ‘pitching’ your project successfully.
To develop checklists of questions to ask whilst editing your draft.
To define and address important stylistic issues associated with writing for bids and grants.
To provide an opportunity for peer review feedback on your latest bid or grant draft.
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

4. Initial questions
What have been your experiences with bid and grant writing up to now?
What particular concerns do you have about the process?
What do you think is the most challenging aspect of writing bids and grants?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

5. Issues with writing bids and grants
What makes a bid or grant unsuccessful?
It doesn’t outline the contribution to the field clearly enough.
It doesn’t give clear enough outcomes.
It doesn’t include measurable progress indicators.
It doesn’t follow the funding body’s guidelines.
It is too vague about the costs and how the budget will be used.
It doesn’t create enough impact.
The project does not engage with current ‘hot topics’ in the field.
What other reasons have people heard for a bid or grant being rejected?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

6. The funding body POV What are the funding body’s main concerns?
Will this project be delivered on schedule?
Will the projected outcomes be realised?
Will the project make an important contribution to the field?
Will the project be a credit to the stakeholders?
Address these issues with:
A clear and realistic timetable of progress
A detailed outline of impact and associated activities
The use of key words that link to current ‘hot topics’
A considered explanation of how your project extends and develops existing research in your field.
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

7. Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick
BREAK

8. Pitching your bid or grant
What questions do you need to ask to pitch the content of your project effectively?
Which funding body is best for your project?
What are the funding body’s current themes – how does your research fit into one of these?
What are your keywords – are they emphasised enough?
What is your project adding to the field?
How long will it take to achieve the outcomes of the project?
Who is going to benefit from your project – is there enough impact?
Who do you need on board to achieve the project’s aims?
Why are these the best people for the project?
What other questions might be relevant?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

9. Generating impact How can a project create impact?
Academic publications
Professional/practitioner publications
Conferences
Digital resources
Popular media
Engaging with the public through events
Open access events to share outcomes
What additional impact could your project generate?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

10. Style checklist for bids and grants
What does a well written bid or grant look like?
Concise and clear use of language at all times
Follows the funding body’s guidelines
Aware of the range of possible readers (specialist and non-specialist)
Consistent use of grammar and capitalisation
Key questions:
Who is your audience – what specialist terminology can you include without defining or clarifying it further?
How simply can you express your project’s aims without skipping key details?
Who is writing this – one person or more than one?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

11. Editing for clarity What makes a piece of writing clear?
Have you been consistent in your phrasing and use of terminology?
Does every single word actively contribute something to your bid or grant?
Have you been aware of sentence structure (balancing variation with simplicity of expression)?
Useful strategies:
Reread your work out loud
Ask a critical friend outside your field to read it
If this bid or grant has been written collaboratively, make sure it has been edited to standardise phrasing and grammar throughout.
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

12. Group activity
Read the relevant section of funding bid and then discuss in groups:
What does the content of this section contribute to the success of the bid?
What does the style of this section contribute to the success of the bid?
You might also want to consider what you could adapt from this model for bids in your own discipline.
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

13. Feedback and questions
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick
Feedback and questions