Proposal Writing: CTL Grant

Kristen Korberg; ORS; Jan.9, 2014

Proposal Development

• Means of Communication

• Plan

• Contract

Three Main Functions:

Developing the Proposal

1. What is the question?

2. Where/How to look?

3. What is the best way to standardise, quantify, and

record observations?

*properly answering these questions remains the most

common obstacle to the development of adequate

proposals.

Research Question; Objective/Goal

Methodology Budget ($/Time)

Theoretical Framework Literature Review

CTL Grant Proposal

• Free-form, maximum five pages

• Should be written in non technical terms and clearly understood by scholars with varied areas of expertise (also public release). Undergraduate level.

• 8 “Elements” –use these as ‘signposts’ to assist reviewers with their evaluation

Start your proposal with your research question!

• Research goals- be reasonable, given time frame- link

goals to your research question

• Rationale- why its important, how does it support

Okanagan strategic research plan?

• Quality of Researcher/Team- equipped to handle

research?

• Methodology- enough detail for reviewers to determine

feasibility given timeframe, budget

• Evaluation- how will you know you have achieved goals,

success?

• IP- Any copyright or intellectual property issues? (you

might be working with a community or industry partner)

• Timeline for development and implementation, plans for

continued support. 24 months. Crucially linked with

methodology and budget.

Consider:- Research Ethics; initially and ongoing- Personnel- 12 month progress report

• Dissemination plan, outputs: plan for communicating research results to relevant audiences

Literature Review- Rationale

1. ensures you are not re-inventing the wheel

2. gives credit to those who have laid the ground work for

your research

3. demonstrates your knowledge of the research problem

4. demonstrates your understanding of the theoretical and

research issues related to your question

5. shows your ability to evaluate relevant literature

information

• Functions: “They say…I say…”

Literature Review

6. indicates your ability to integrate and synthesise the

existing literature

7. provides new theoretical insights or develops new model

as the conceptual framework for your research

8. convinces the reader that your proposed research will

make a significant and substantial contribution to the

literature (resolving an important theoretical issue or filling a

major *gap in the literature…try hedging a bit: ‘relatively

little has been done’

• Functions:

Literature Review

• Lacking organisation and structure

• Lacking focus, unity and coherence

• Being repetitive and verbose

• Failing to cite influential papers

• Failing to keep up with recent developments

• Citing irrelevant or trivial references

• Depending too much on secondary sources

Common problems with literature reviews:

Methodology

1.Identify key independent and dependent variables of your

experiment, or state the phenomena you wish to study

2. State your hypothesis or theory

3. Set the delimitation or boundaries of your research to

provide a clear focus

4. Provide any definitions of key concepts.

Budget

• Be as realistic, as accurate, as possible. Do not pad budget. Results in items that are not well justified which ultimately gives the impression of a casually constructed proposal

• Eligibility of expenses, travel, wages, etc. • Use web to research costs. • Plan carefully; the CTL funds are released in two

phases. • *You must adhere to your approved budget. You cannot

use $ for other purposes without written consent from CTL

How much? Amount of financial support required to accomplish objectives

Quality is crucial

This means standard mechanics as well as the adequacy of

expression. There is no excuse for either to be less than

perfect.

It also means you have to follow the instructions!

If the proponent seeking funding does not take the time to produce a properly written document, then why should they be trusted to be any more careful and prudent in producing research?

Style and Mechanics

• Clear. Avoid jargon, acronyms (if you must use expand in each

section), historical references highly specific to discipline.

• Avoid trendy or ‘in’ words, colloquial expressions/slang

• Avoid using expressions like vis a vis or en toto unless absolutely

confident about usage.

• White Space- break up long paragraphs, use bullets, headings, etc.

Think of your evaluation committee reading many applications and

wanting them to look favourably on yours.

• Parrot grant instructions- incorporate the key words for your

headings, etc. Grants are scored with these headings.

Style and Mechanics

• Use ‘positive’ sentences, in the active tense.

• Write as if you are funded already, that your collaborators are on

board, and money is in the bank

• Don’t use tenuous, vague statements.

• Use ‘will’- avoid ‘would’, ‘should’, ‘could’, ‘shall’, ‘may’ :

• eg: ‘The research described here will be conducted with the

infrastructure requested in this proposal’ instead of ‘..if we obtain

funding’ or ‘…the trials should provide results’

Style and Mechanics

Collaborators: same idea- eg. “Preliminary discussions with

‘X’ suggest they may consider joining the study.”

Try: ‘Discussions with X indicate they will join the study’ : This

is a stronger statement, but still not written in stone

Style and Mechanics

Active/Passive Voice

Avoid wherever possible the passive voice which deadens

text, hampers, delays, removes energy, inhibits flow

Avoid passive verbs that hide the agent of action: was, were

eg. ‘The ball was thrown by Bill’ vs. ‘Bill threw the ball’.

Style and Mechanics

Avoid static verbs that lack movement:

am, is, are, be, being, been, have, do, did, does, could,

should, would,

Overused verbs: get, went, put

Style and Mechanics

• Replace with more precise, active verbs:

eg. achieve, allow, believe, direct, discuss, show,

signal, know, coach, reveal, manage, modify,

compare, clarify, validate, verify, inform, inspire,

investigate, state, exhibit, support, distinguish,

restore, implement, test, synthesize, intend,

introduce

Do

• Convey enthusiasm. Your research is important and

interesting.

• Have colleagues, friends review your work.

• Do read application forms closely. Sometimes a key word

can cause you to miss the rest of the instructions in a

sentence.

• Use signposts and headings suggested by funding agency-

often used to score grants

• Do ask questions. CTL or ORS staff are there/here to help.

Do

• Remember your evaluation committee

• Write for an undergraduate audience- common mistake is

to write your proposal ‘packed with facts for super-experts’

• Give yourself lots of time- don’t forget to allow time for

proofreading, signatures, internal deadlines.