Roadmap for developing a research funding proposal

Applying for external research funding is often seen as a daunting and competitive endeavour, but the potential benefits far outweigh the challenges. 

Research funding can:  

• Give you access to resources you wouldn’t normally have, enabling you to deliver a larger-scale project eg money for research assistants, access to large datasets, support for events with stakeholders, travel for fieldwork and conferences etc  

• Encourage you to expand your network and conduct novel, frontier research  

• Help you achieve high-quality research outputs – research has shown positive correlation between research funding and publication quality as well as quantity  

• Help with your career progression and promotion as funding is often an important component of research expectations. 

However, we understand that applying for external research funding can be time-consuming, and there is no guarantee of a successful outcome. There are still many reasons to engage with the process though. 

• The need to articulate your research question, design and expected beneficiaries forces you to think critically and clarify your ideas. This process can help refine your research direction and highlight any potential problems in your approach, allowing you to address these issues before starting the project. 

• Crafting a research funding application hones your grant-writing skills. You learn to present your ideas in a succinct and engaging way. Being able to write for different audiences and in different formats is a useful skill to have as a researcher. 

• Feedback from reviewers can provide valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses of your proposal. 

• The application process often involves connecting with potential collaborators and experts in your field. Engaging with others during the application process helps you expand your network and can lead to additional opportunities for future projects. 

As part of our “improving research culture through addressing inequality in research funding” project, we – Dr Charlotte Stephenson, Jo Garrick, Thitikan Khamwan, Sarah Shaw, Professor Yingqi (Annie) Wei and myself – conducted a series of questionnaires and interviewed over 20 colleagues in Leeds University Business School to find out what their experience of applying, or thinking of applying, for research funding was.  

We then created a guide, based on the findings, which includes the recurring opportunities and barriers that were mentioned, as well as an overview of each stage of the funding development journey. You can view this guide here.  

This is just one output from our recent project, aiming to reduce inequalities in the research funding landscape, which you can find out more about in our previous blog post. 

Read on to find out about the different stages of applying for research funding. We recommend that Leeds University Business School colleagues read the guide in full to access further resources, hear about the opportunities and barriers colleagues identified, and learn about training and development opportunities here at Leeds. 

Developing ideas for a potential project 

The first stage in developing a research funding proposal is coming up with an idea that you want to develop into something tangible and deliverable. This may be an idea based on a gap you’ve identified in the current literature or perhaps it is the next step from your previous research. 

Your idea may be based on a response to a funding call or something that you want to develop in response to a question or problem posed by governments, a Non-Governmental Organisation, or a charity, for example. It may be something that has been identified through a conversation with business practitioners that relates to a need to address a knowledge gap within their organisation. 

The Faculty Research and Innovation Office (FRIO) at the Business School offers a range of internal research support schemes. This includes the Challenge Fund (funding to support the preparation of large-scale, collaborative grant applications) and the Small Research Grant Scheme (funding to support activities that may include preparing an external research funding application).  

You may find other schemes helpful for your research funding development activities, even if this is not the primary objective of the support scheme - for example, the International Visiting Staff Fund supports the costs associated with inviting international visiting researchers to the Business School. Such visitors could become collaborators as part of your research funding application.  

We appreciate it can be a substantial leap for colleagues to go from no previous external funding experience to holding an external award, so these internal schemes not only provide resources to strengthen developing external applications, but they also give the award holders an idea of what it’s like to manage and utilise awarded funds in a set period.  

The internal schemes give an opportunity for academics to write a small-scale application, thinking about how they can articulate their ideas in a clear way and identify what resources are needed to undertake the work. 

Identifying collaborators 

Developing a funding application, whether it is for a grant or a fellowship, isn’t done in isolation. You will work with many different people, both as part of the project and also when developing the application.  

Depending on the nature of the project, you will need to consider working with academics from within the Business School, academics from other disciplines and/or universities, industry partners, charitable organisations, government bodies, technicians, professional staff (e.g. staff in the pre and post-award, communications, impact, and HR teams) etc. 

Identifying calls and funding opportunities 

Having an idea for a research project is a great starting point, but you need to make sure your proposed topic aligns with funding calls and funders’ priorities. There are plenty of national and international opportunities, and different funding bodies have different research priorities.  

It can be a little overwhelming, but the FRIO can help you find the right funding call to match your proposed research.  

It is also important to check the eligibility criteria of the funding call before applying, both for you as an individual (e.g. if the funding is only available for staff on open-ended contracts or those who’ve won a particular award before) and also the institution (e.g. only universities from certain countries can apply). In some instances, there are calls where only a certain number of applications can be submitted by each university.  

You will need to pay careful attention to any deadlines set by the funder and/or the University. 

Drafting and developing an application 

What you need to include in the funding application varies depending on the funding call. Funders provide advice on how to complete their applications so a good place to start is the funder’s website and application platform.  

Work with the FRIO to develop the application. Allow plenty of time (you will need to factor in feedback from colleagues, developing an accurate budget, seeking the required approvals etc.) and keep referring back to the funder’s objectives.  

You should also get in touch with your Head of Department to let them know you’re developing an application so they are aware of the potential impact on workload allocations in the future, should the application be successful. They may also be able to provide feedback directly or help you identify suitable people to approach for feedback. 

Costing your project 

All budgets must be costed through the FRIO and approved prior to submission. The FRIO will be able to help you understand what the funder will and won’t fund, as every funding call is different. For example, will the funder cover a percentage of your and your project team’s time? Some funders will only cover teaching replacement, whilst others don’t offer any funding at all for existing staff time. The funder will always include this information in their funding call guidance.  

You should start planning your project costings early in the application process and get in touch with the FRIO as soon as possible, especially if your project team involves people from other faculties or outside the University of Leeds. 

Reviewing and refining your application 

Your application will go through a number of reviews and edits. Allow plenty of time for these revisions. Getting feedback from different colleagues with experience of successfully applying for external research funding will strengthen your application. We recommend identifying a mentor and asking them for feedback, for example someone with experience of successfully applying for research funding from the same funder you are completing an application for.  

There is also the Faculty Peer Review College (FPRC) for researchers applying for research funding of more than £75k. The FPRC members include: senior academic staff; academic staff who have previously successfully attracted external funding; academic staff who sit, or have recently sat, on external funding panels e.g. Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Peer Review College; members of the FRIO.  

Sometimes the University has an institutional process for particular funding schemes (e.g. ESRC new investigator grant and ESRC research grant) so allow plenty of time for this. When the application and project costing has gone through the revisions and been finalised, your Head of Department will be asked for their approval. 

Next steps for reducing inequalities in research culture 

We are pleased to report that we are continuing our commitment to improving research culture, having obtained funding from Research England under the Enhancing Research Culture funding stream, to further develop this work. We will be sharing updates from our second project - developing an inclusive research culture through improving research support practices – shortly. 

If you have used our roadmap for developing a research funding proposal and found it useful, or have any other feedback, we would love to hear from you. Please contact us via research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk.