Identify sources of funding that match your capabilities and areas of research expertise.
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When responding to a programmatic initiative, discuss the project you plan to submit with
the scientific research director of the funding agency.
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Read and follow all instructions carefully. This may sound obvious, but is
frequently overlooked.
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Begin writing your grant early enough to have a draft completed at least one month
before the deadline.
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Ask other successful investigators, or hire an editing service to proofread your grant
and provide feedback. Be sure to give them plenty of time to do so without the
need to rush through.
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Make sure your grant is grammatically correct. This not only helps the reviewer
stay focused on the science, it reduces the chances of a misunderstanding of your goals
and procedures.
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Do not overestimate the reviewers. Be sure to define all assumptions and limitations.
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Write clear, focused aims and methods. A useful strategy is to have one or two
aims that are clearly feasible and rather direct extensions of your preliminary data, and
one or two that get higher marks for imagination and innovativeness.
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Create a reasonable budget. You will be penalized for a budget that is unreasonably
high or low.
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Be reasonable about the amount of work the project entails. "Unfocused" and
"over-ambitious" are study section criticisms that commonly move applications out of the
funding range.
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Don't get discouraged if your initial application misses the pay line. As money
has become tighter, resubmission has become a necessary fact of life.
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