1. “How to write good proposals” (re HSSPFS) CHU Hung-lam The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

2.  Write to convince and instill confidence – serious and substantive and coherent  Clear and lucid – informed and logical, clearly thought through – to the understanding even of non-experts

3.  Show relevance of the project to a line of inquiry, its relationship to major issues in a field  Identify the research issues at stake, articulate their significance, explain the need to research them  Focus on a theme and delineate the boundary – keep the research under control

4.  Show the project’s originality – promise something new but not totally new, relate it to your past or evolving research  Show your ability to conduct and research and deliver the results

5.  Explain and justify your research and work plans, including the research and the write-up  What part(s) will be done by you and when  What part(s) will be done by others (RA or collaborator) and when  Show the connection, interconnectedness and integrity of teamwork  (HSSPFS) Present justification for the need of your project to be done here and now

6.  Follow the guidelines of the applications – e.g., observe the word counts, use bullet-points for presentation of aims and proposed output  Be honest to yourself – don’t let the editor dominate your language and idea in the proposal; let your track record reflect, inform and count for it.

7.  For historical studies (and for literature and social sciences studies?): don’t think that basic research (data and textual research) are too basic to be fundable; rather, show your way and ability to gather and exploit the source materials for a solution to the research issues involved  For philosophical studies: questions better be “big” (especially when no empirical data need to be gathered and exploited) to justify the “time” you need for the argument

8.  aim and need of the research must be clear  issues to tackle must be specific  work plan must be realistic  output proposed must be quantifiable  language must be unpretentious