Tips for Writing a Good Grant Proposal

According to Simon Peyton Jones and Alan Bundy, writing a good research grant proposal is not easy.

Their article offers a number of. suggestions about what makes a good proposal, and also a list of possible shortcomings in grant proposals.

What follows is a brief outline of the article.
Click here to read more.

APPROACHING A PROPOSAL

The first and most obvious thing to do is to read the advice offered by your funding agency. In the case of EPSRC, the primary funding body for computing science research, there is a "Guide to EPSRC Research Grants".

CRITERIA FOR A GOOD GRANT PROPOSAL

Most funding agencies apply similar criteria (major and secondary criteria) to the evaluation of proposals. It is important to address these criteria directly in your case for support. A proposal which fails to meet them will be rejected regardless of the quality of its source. Otherwise, there is a danger of discriminating unfairly in favor of well-known applicants.

COMMON SHORTCOMINGS, and some of the ways in which proposals often fail to meet these criteria.

http://research.microsoft.com/~simonpj/papers/Proposal.html

Perhaps these suggestions will help someone to write better grant proposals, and hence to be more successful in obtaining funds for research.