How to start a grant application

Starting a grant application

When you have any large document to write, it can be easy to put it off, or to open a document and stare at a blank page for a long time.

Here's how to start without hesitation, and it's simple. It's so simple that it seems a bit silly that I am writing this down... however, it works, and a lot of people don't do it, and hence they get stuck.

Make the page not blank by starting off writing down your headings.

Everything that you write down helps you to refine your ideas, and once you have started putting things down on the page, your brain works away at it.

So stop sitting there thinking, and actually start a document with some words on the page.


Here are some sensible headings for a grant document to start your thinking.


1. Statement of Need/Significance

The most crucial piece of any grant proposal -- why should they be interested in giving you money?
What are you doing that benefits society and other human beings?
Why does this matter?

2. Timelines and Personnel

How long is it going to take?
Who do you need to help you?

3. Budgets

How much is it going to cost?
What equipment or infrastructure do you need?

4. Goal/Hypothesis

Now you can start talking about the details of your research.

If you get 1. Statement of Need/Significance right, then the rest will follow. If you do not have an elegant and solid explanation of why you do what you do, though, there's no point to writing the rest.

So write down your notes for the first bit, and then sleep on it, for weeks, if you like!