Dr Barry Dixon – Research Facilitator (EU & Overseas)

1. Writing Competitive Research Funding Applications: Tips and AdviceEarly-Career Researchers Information SessionFriday, 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