Tips for Creating That Perfect Research Grant Proposal from 2019 AEJMC Senior and Emerging Scholars:
Senior Scholar Daniela Dimitrova, Iowa State University
- This may be obvious but … try to follow the grant application guidelines closely, including section headings, fonts and formatting, as well as page length.
- Clearly state the expected contributions of your research, both theoretical and practical. That will help the reviewers see the significance of your project and answer the “so what” question.
Senior Scholar Lawrence Pintak, Washington State University
- Keep it simple, stupid. A grant proposal is a term paper, not a dissertation. Make it focused and clear. What are the one or two key outcomes?
- Why do you need the money? We all like cash but be very clear exactly how you are going to spend it. Collaborator meetings? Data gathering? Conference presentations? RA support?
- Why should we care? An awful lot of academic research is, well, purely academic. What impact does your research have on the wider world? How does it advance the ball within the field?
Emerging Scholar Jeanine Guidry, Virginia Commonwealth University
- Write a proposal you are passionate about. It’s easier to write and your passion will shine through.
- Collaborate. With people from your own department, other departments, other universities. Your strengths will likely complement each other.
- Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get a grant funded. Rework it, reformat it – and resubmit it.
Emerging Scholars Karen McIntyre, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Meghan Sobel, Regis University
- Make the reviewers’ jobs easy by preparing your application in an organized fashion that makes it easy to read. For example, use subheadings to specifically address required parts of the application, such as “How the project will expand knowledge.” This way the reviewers can easily see how you have addressed each required element of the application.
- Be sure your project is doable. Perhaps our application was successful because we showed that we had already started our project and were therefore confident that we could complete the remaining part in the designated time frame. Setting realistic goals will allow the reviewers to feel more comfortable that you will indeed reach those goals.
Emerging Scholar Lindsay Palmer, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Make sure you respond to each, individual element of the call for proposals. It is so easy to overlook one of the questions that the proposal call asks, or to focus too heavily on one aspect rather than on the others. But your proposal should answer each of the questions raised in the call.
- Make sure you situate your research within the broader context of journalism and mass communication today (or in the past, if you’re doing historical work). You want your topic to be specific and unique, but you also want to make sure that people outside your sub-field can understand why your topic matters, on a “big picture” level.
Emerging Scholar Jason T. Peifer, Indiana University
- A piece of advice I heeded from one of last year’s Emerging Scholar Grant recipients was to take a look at the successful applications of prior awardees. I emailed three past recipients and each graciously shared their application materials. While each application was distinct, in terms of content and style, taken together they proved to be useful for helping me sharpen my vision for how I wanted to propose my project. In short, don’t hesitate to reach out to past recipients.
- Another strategy I prioritized in my application was to explicitly frame the proposal within the broader trajectory of my research. Of course, the application instructions ask for a 200-word bio and a CV, but I aimed to go beyond presenting those basic elements by briefly explaining how my proposal fits within and augments an existing program of research. Given the Emerging Scholars Program’s mission to identify and encourage promising emerging scholars, it’s worth making an argument for why you are “promising” and your work builds on existing research momentum.
- Because the application calls for a letter of support from an immediate supervisor, I also think it’s a good idea to devote some time to helping your supervisor get a strong handle on the scope and vision of the proposal. Avoid the pitfall of requesting the letter of support last minute, which can be a recipe for a vague and uninspiring endorsement. While the proposal itself is most important, an informed and enthusiastic letter of support should only help the application.