Finding the Golden Ticket: How to get your Research Funded

1. Finding the Golden Ticket: How to get your Research Funded Sue White Professor of Social Work University of Lancaster

2. Why do you want to do funded research? • Because I have great idea and I need time, or to employ researchers to help me to do it • Because my institution tells me I have to • What is in it for you/your Dept/your colleagues/the world?

3. Becoming an Academic • Don’t get it right just get it written! • Believe in what you do. Only chase money of it’s what you want to research – be inventive, read the specifications properly, ‘tweak’ your ideas and use appropriate language – this can be hard in target driven departments • Get your social science right – good intentions don’t attract money • Don’t be frightened of approaching major funding bodies like ESRC (ignore the scare stories!) –go for modest sums they will take the risk if your idea is good and theory/methods sound • Be wary of negative senior/junior categorizations – they can sap confidence • Go to conferences and give papers

4. Become a referee One excellent way to learn more about what makes a successful application is to review and referee proposals. But remember, be constructive and think about your growing discipline – the ESRC don’t reject applications WE DO!

5. There are three main aspects to any research proposal: • The profile of the researcher – why you/your team? • The academic case for the research – what is interesting, important and timely about your research idea and why are you the person to do it; • Justification for resources needed and the costs of these - estimating the research time, equipment, and so on that you would need to complete the project successfully, and drawing up a budget.

6. Background of the applicant Do you or your team possess: • Relevant experience and expertise • A successful track record in similar research If the answer is ‘no’ then – why are you bidding? If you still want to bid – find a friend! Don’t waste time on futile bids

7. Making the Academic Case • Know your potential funding bodies • Understand their priorities and requirements. • Different organisations have different criteria for awarding grants. • There are often deadlines for applications. • Some funding bodies offer support for research under particular programmes or research areas, others are responsive to any proposal they receive.

8. Which funding body? • Is the sponsor likely to offer funding at a sufficient level, and for long enough? If the sponsor will only provide partial funding, can the balance of funding and facilities you require be made available from other sources? • Can you meet the application deadlines and are you certain of the application procedures? • What is the likelihood of success? • Will you have freedom to publish? Govt Depts and Dodgy democracy! • Who will have ownership of the results? • How far are you prepared to tailor your research to a sponsor’s requirements?

9. Collaboration • Collaboration within and outside your institution can strengthen your bid • Make sure you are clear about management and accountability within the team.

10. Discuss your Research Proposal • Advice from colleagues who have previously made successful applications and/or who have experience of refereeing proposals • You may be able to consult a “bank” of previous record applications to help you to frame your proposal. • Useful to present an outline of your research proposal in an informal seminar, to get reaction from colleagues at an early stage.

11. Methods and Analysis Be clear and detailed – many proposals manage to convince they are relevant and sexy, but don’t detail the methods and form of analysis – read successful proposals

12. Ethics Ditto – there are fairly stock phrases used by ethics committees – find somewhere to store a bank of them e.g. data storage is an increasingly important matter. Make sure you know which external premissions you’ll need e.g. NHS RECs, RGF.

13. Costings • You can get help with these from your institution • FEC – friend or foe?

14. Audience • Provide a ‘summary’ in plain English – use a semi-journalistic style in opening paragraphs to grab attention – it must be memorable! • Do not assume specialist knowledge – BUT DON’T DUMB DOWN • You must convince both the expert referee and the less expert committee member that you have an exciting and feasible idea. • Overstate, rather than understate, your point or question - add the conditions and caveats later • Make sure the project will complement and not duplicate other people's efforts – so search the literature and cite it!

15. Referees • You can nominate, but they won’t necessarily approach your referee • Make sure the person you nominate is well respected (don’t be shy!), generous, professionally secure, that you’ve spoken to them or sent a draft and you trust them – professional jealousy should not be under-estimated!

16. Assessment Criteria • Does the applicant meet the eligibility criteria? • Does the proposal provide a good fit with the aims of the scheme? • Does the subject matter fall within the funding institution’s remit? • Does the proposal adopt an appropriate methodology? • How significant and important is the project and what contribution will it make? • Are there precise aims and objectives • Does the proposal address all the evaluation criteria if they are provided? • Is the timetable realistic? • Is the proposal good value for money? • Are there appropriate plans for dissemination? • Does the applicant have enough demonstrated experience and knowledge to conduct the research successfully?