Tips on Getting Grants(Sharing a Life Time of Rejection)

Mary GilhoolyExecutive Director

Brunel Institute for Ageing Studies

British Society of Gerontology

Pre-conference Early Career Workshop

‘Writing Successful Research Proposals in Ageing Studies’

Brunel University

July 5, 2010

General Information

Get used to rejections

• 9/10 of your grant applications, possibly more, will be rejected– A really thick skin is needed in this game

• If it irritates you to spend a lot of time writing a grant, only to have it rejected.......

• Learn how to write grants quickly!

Get used to negative feedback

• Feedback, no matter how offensive, helps you to learn what makes for a good grant.– Ignore it at your peril

• Never take it personally– Do not assume that reviewers are idiots

Ask yourself...Do you love writing grants?

If not, you have four choices• Learn to love grant writing• Get chummy with people who do• Find ways to do research and publish without a

grant– Become an epidemiologist– Use secondary data sets that are freely available

• Get another job

Find a chum who likes writing grants

“Coat-tailing” is a great way to – learn how to write successful grants– learn how to manage a grant when successful– learn how to successfully network– learn how to maximize your publication rate

Specific Information

Put someone famous as PI on your grant applications

• Maybe not famous, but someone more experienced or with a track record in the field

Ensure a very strong team• Funding bodies are risk aversive• They need to know that experienced people

are on the team1. Why? So that when things go wrong, there will be

someone on the team who knows what to do

2. There is nothing that will kill a grant application faster than having referees say they have never heard of any of the applicants.

If applying to a ‘programme’

• Pay attention to the guidance– This will mean using precious space addressing

issues that you think are unimportant

• Find out the background to the programme

Write simply

• For 10 year olds• Like a journalist• Assume that the reviewers have about 30

minutes to read your application• Assume the reviewer is tired and grumpy• Always write less rather than more– A long literature review will so bore the reviewer

that he or she may never bother with the important bits

Problem size will not get YOU a grant

• No matter how important (or big) the problem, you still have to persuade the funding body to give funding to you (and your team) rather than someone else.

Use research questions

• Not objectives

• Referees like questions– And using questions will (or should) force you

to ask the question of whether or not your proposed methods can answer the questions

Emphasize methods

• Most grant applications fall down over methods– Poor description of sampling– Inadequate description of analysis– Study overambitious

Be concrete• Clear ‘deliverables’• When describing dissemination plans name

the journals to be targeted• When describing management structures

name the chair of your advisory committee, numbers of members, etc

• List who on the team is to be responsible for what

• Use diagrammes

Big grants with work packages

• Ensure there is a management and knowledge transfer WP (this is where you can roll in the big guns.

• Ensure there is some kind of theoretical underpinning linking the WPs together– No matter how flimsy

Be original

• Not too far out, but certainly different

• Put different topics or areas of research together– Decision making and elder abuse

Tips on Career Success

Career Success:

• Neurotic /Pathological wish to succeed.

• Willingness to work 12 hour days

• Sacrifice family and friends

• Marry a man/woman who is prepared to put his/her career on hold so you can progress your career

• If you are a woman have no children or at best one.

• Change jobs often – promotion is much easier if you apply for a promoted post.

• Be nice to everyone – no matter how annoyed you might be, try and be jolly.

• Learn from your mistakes• Think long-term, i.e. at least 7 years• Have a vision/learn about the ‘vision thing’. • Take up opportunities that arise. • Network continuously• Share – your time, your ideas.

If all goes well you will

• Get grants

• Publish a lot

• Become famous

• Do lots of radio interviews

• Frequently appear on television

Thank You

Tips on Getting Grantsand Career Success

Mary GilhoolyExecutive Director

Brunel Institute for Ageing Studies

British Society of Gerontology

Pre-conference Early Career Workshop

‘Writing Successful Research Proposals in Ageing Studies’

Brunel University

July 5, 2010