Research grants are an indispensable source of funding for researchers. This makes grant writing an important professional skill. But persuading others that your work is worth supporting can be tricky. To do that, you need to be able to write a winning grant proposal. This is the only means of securing funding through the variety of research grants offered by government departments, corporations, and foundations.

All grant proposals go through a competitive peer-review process, which evaluates the significance, innovation, and approach of your project. The peer-review process provides an overall impact score on the likelihood that your project will create significant progress in the field. To receive a grant, you must demonstrate an organized and logical research plan, based on realistic goals and focused, measurable aims that are easy for reviewers to support in front of grant committees. It is essential to convince reviewers and funding bodies of your capacity and competence to carry out a proposed project, backed by the required resources and institutional support. Remember, a meritorious project can be rejected for a grant because it is presented poorly, and vice versa.

Here are some important points to remember while writing your grant proposal:

Do your research

Do an extensive search on the available grants and note differences in the types of projects financed by various funding bodies. Government agencies and private bodies have different objectives and priorities, so work out which grants are a good fit, and which aren’t. Talk to funders and find out about the success rates of past proposals. Also talk to people who have already been awarded the grant, as they may have the best insights.

Highlight the impact of your research