CompellingGrantProposals
Howtowritethemandgetthem
accepted
Beforewritingacompellingproposal
1. Whereisitgoing?
2. Whoistheaudience?
3. Doesitfittheopportunityorcallforproposals
a. Readtherules
b. lookatabstractsofproposalsacceptedbythat
programlastfewyears)
c. Talktotheprogrammanagerifneeded.
d. Ifpossiblesitontheselectionpaneltheyearbefore
youapply.
Whatisaproposal?
Aproposalisahighlystructuredrigorousargument
(Dalcanton,cosmicvarianceblog)
Whatareyoutryingtoconvincepeopleof?
(1)Thisscience/projectisworthdoing
(2)Itisfeasible,i.e.itcanbedone
(3)Whatyouproposeistheoptimalwaytodoit
(4)You(andyourteam)arethebestpeopletodoit.
Startwithaskeletonofideas
• Strengths
– Whichstrengthsarestrongerthanothers
• Weaknesses
– Howdoyouaddressorshoreuptheweaknesses
Sendthistocollaboratorsandhaveadiscussion.
Donotwaittohaveaperfect(15page?)proposalbefore
sendingitthedaybeforetheproposalisdue.
Areyoustillexcitedabouttheidea?Arethey?
Writetheproposalnow(ordon’t).
Down-selecttothemostcompelling
idea(s).
Startingapointislikepickingaroom-mate.You
aregoingto*live*withthatchoiceforatleasta
fewyears.Makesuremost(ifnotall)aspectsare
compatible.
Knowyouraudience:
(1) Thisscience/projectisworthdoing
Thisneedstoconvincepeoplenot inyoursubfield.
(2)Itisfeasible,i.e.itcanbedone
Thisshouldbedirectedattechnicalexpertsinyoursubfield
(3)Whatyouproposeistheoptimalwaytodoit
Thisshouldbedirectedatexpertsinyoursubfield
(4)You(andyourteam)arethebestpeopletodoit.
Thisisdirectedatbothsubfieldandoutsiders
Assumethisaboutyourreviewers
1. Theyhavealotofworktodointooshortatime(the
proseshouldflowwell).
2. Theyaremiddleagedandwearreadingglasses(pay
attentiontofontsizesandfigurelabels).
3. Theydon’tknoweverything,butwouldnotliketobe
remindedofthat(escheworexplainacronyms).
4. TheyhaveADHD(oratleastshortattentionspans)--makeiteasytofollow,andrepeate majorpoints.
5. TheyhaveOCD(orcangethungupondetailsthatyou
mightnotconsiderimportant)--- giveenoughdetails
Gobeyondwritinggoodproposals
writeagreatone.
TellacompellingStory.
Makeiteasytofollow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6_eqxh-Qok
Makeitmemorable(fortherightreasons)
Howtogetproposalsaccepted?
• Idon’tknowhowtodothat.Except…
Writepapers
Writegoodpapers
Knowthebroadercontextofyourwork
Beknownforyourwork– gotoconferences,talktopeople.
Collaboratewithpeoplewhocomplementyourstrengths.
Takefeedback,esp.–ve feedback.Youdon’thavetoaccept
oragreewithallofitbutdothinkaboutit.
– Tryagainafterincorporatingfeedback.
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Beyondproposals:
Ifwecannotgetleaderstobegoodpeoplewe
needtogoodpeopletobeleaders.
Whatiscommonhere?
Thepowerofagoodstory.