Developing a Project and Choosing a Funder

Abstract

In the current funding environment, a research proposal for major funding will now typically also need to include information that demonstrates the applicant's knowledge of project management and capacity to manage a significant project over a long period of time. At the same time, whether employed in a research institution or in an advocacy organization, a Principal Investigator (PI) will need to show an understanding of the requirements of the funding body, who the policy or public audiences for the work will be, and how to engage with them. Some funders will expect a proposal to demonstrate institutional compliance with their wider policies on issues like diversity, sustainability or the personal and professional development of early-career researchers hired to work on the team. On a large grant application, the funder may well be concerned with the overall resources and capabilities of the institution to host the project. An applicant may need to argue the value of social science research by showing, for example, how the research advances comparative knowledge on economic, social and cultural issues and provides governments, policy communities and/or advocacy groups with relevant knowledge on important social, economic or political issues relevant to their work. Clearly, this is much easier if the project can be tied to big global policy concerns such as migration or climate change and some inventiveness may be required to establish a connection. The proposal will almost certainly need to include a plan for disseminating findings to those stakeholders, if not, indeed, for involving them from the outset in the design and implementation of the research.