Proposal writing is a challenging exercise which requires skill. A researcher acquires and deploys the skill of writing good proposals, and ultimately contemporary world. These issues are examined in this short essay.

The essay takes particular cognisance of the cogent aspects of proposal writing, such as the curriculum vitae/resume of collaborators, participating agencies, letters of support, references and appendices. It forms part of the basic features of a research proposal and attempts a qualitative content analysis of their presentation.

The line of argument in this paper harps on the notion that grants are incontrovertibly won with good proposals that are generated by a synthesis of ideas and disciplinary peculiarity. The following are essential basics of proposal writing.

Introduction

Writing and winning grant-oriented proposals require some expertise and basic consideration of how the key components of the research proposal should be presented.

Many research proposals fail not because the topics the writers examined were not researchable, but for the fact that they failed to package aspects of the proposal to conform to the basic expectations of funding agencies.

Experience has shown that one cannot treat any aspect of the research proposal as insignificant; thus, every component must be given professional attention.

Paying due attention to details and the mode of presentation is indeed central to winning a grant-oriented proposal. From experience and reflection, it has been established that the style of proposal is not funding agencies/organisations.

The Guidelines

Where guidelines are provided it is who are writing unsolicited proposals, it is necessary to give an overview of what a typical grant-oriented proposal should look like. Essentially, the issues raised in this paper concern both solicited and unsolicited proposals.

The aim is to provide young and middle-level scholars with a template of the basic features of a research proposal which meets international standards and can thus guarantee their success while competing for grants in the future.

Curriculum Vitae or Resume of Collaborators

What is the importance of the curriculum vitae, and what are the basic things to include in the document when writing a grant-oriented proposal?

The curriculum vitae constitutes an important part of a grant-oriented proposal. It is both your reference and a referee which serves the purpose of providing the assessors with basic information about your education and work history.

The Curriculum Vitae

To posit that the curriculum vitae is a performance indicator is to underscore its apparent capacity to tell our viewer, evaluator and or assessor in a grant agency about your basic achievements and promise.

Apart from serving as an applicant’s spokesperson, the document is also a forerunner of referees’ letters and can be used to compare the objectivity of letters of support written by referees. The information in a curriculum vitae submitted in support of a proposal should be brief and concise.

Funding agencies deal with a lot of applications and have little time to examine bulky submissions (most even stipulate the maximum number of pages for the entire application). Thus, it is advisable to keep the document succinct.

Applicants who submit a comprehensive curriculum vitae compiled to impress the assessors of applications may eventually get disqualified.

A comprehensive curriculum vitae is only suitable for a job application and not for seeking a grant-oriented proposal. The data show the applicant’s competence in the proposed project/area of study. Being applied for. The format of the curriculum vitae should also conform to the style indicated by the donor(s).

The Basic Information

The basic information to include comprises your age, salary (This is optional, some agencies require the information while some do not), office address and email, education history, gender, professional experience, list of 5 most recent publications and 5 most significant publications.

It should be noted that not all organisations/agencies would ask you to indicate your age; however, where it is requested, one should endeavour to provide the information.

Similarly, when you are asked to indicate your annual salary, be very open about the information you provide, as the salary scale of academics and even government officials is within the reach of funding agencies and making false declarations will invariably mar the chances of your application scaling through the selection process.

The Gender Issues

The issue of gender is also paramount in seeking a grant-oriented proposal given the global drive for gender equity, the promotion of equal opportunity for the sexes, and the international keen interest in the inclusion and representation of women in developmental programmes and projects.

Some agencies require that you have both male and female researchers in collaborative research, while others specifically request female applicants.

Indicating the gender of applicants will assist the grant body in determining how many males and females are in the collaborating group or whether a particular gender has been excluded or grossly underrepresented in the research team.

The policy, orientation and interest of the funding agency will ultimately determine the peculiarity of applicants and applications sought.

The orientation

One should also be guided by the number of publications to include in the curriculum vitae. Typically, two categories of publications are required: the most recent publications, which give the assessors an indication that the researcher is still active, and publications that are also germane to the current project.

The latter category must be listed because it foregrounds the researchers’ competence in the proposed project.

Most organisations usually require that researchers list 5 items for each of the two categories. Applicants are expected to list only publications that are already in print and can be easily verified.

There are indeed stiff and stern penalties for making false claims in submissions, including blacklisting, censoring, withdrawal of subsequent grant instalments, and exclusion from benefiting in future projects.

Participating Agencies

Another point of consideration in putting together a grant-oriented proposal is the agencies’ participation. Grant organisations want to know if the researchers’ home institutions will contribute to the project or not. You don’t need to have the support of your institution for the project; it is,s, however, helpful in encouraging donors to commit their funds to a project.

The agencies

Agencies are easily convinced when there is a participatory gesture from the applicants’ institutions. If one has such support, it should be stated from the outset.

There are projects which involve the participation of more than one department. In such a situation, the identity and level of participation of the stakeholders in the project should be spelt out.

Some grant bodies even request that collaborating agencies, groups and individuals indicate the amount of time each agency, group and researcher will devote to the project.

Letters of Support

Applicants are expected to seek reference letters from their superiors and or established colleagues in support of their applications. Senior academics and or researchers, especially those in positions of responsibility such as Heads of Units/Departments, Directors of organisations.

Reference Letters

Deans and Heads of institutions usually provide letters of support. Reference letters are clinically examined; thus, care should be taken in writing one or even in seeking out who should write such correspondence.

If one is unsure about the competence of an applicant, it is better to decline a request to write a reference letter for such a person.

The use of non-declarative expressions such as ‘the candidate is normally not found wanting…’ and “the applicant seems capable of achieving good results…” in a letter of support is not a particularly good recommendation from a referee and will negatively impact the entire proposal.

References

This is an important aspect of proposal writing, which provides information on the sources you have consulted and those on which your research will rely. It allows you to refer to other researchers’ work without necessarily reviewing their work in detail. The reference list also provides data on which subsequent research can build.

You can refer other researchers to the list to expand their view on the subject and relevant issues. Give some thought to the selection and organisation of materials in this section, as the reference list gives your work credibility.

Importance of Reference

Without references, readers will not be able to tell whether the information that you present is credible, and they will not be able to find it for themselves. It also validates the currency and topicality of your research. It is also very important for you to cross-check entries for errors and spelling mistakes.

There is no use having a well-written proposal and ending it with a bad reference list full of blunders. Funding agencies are not likely to overlook such avoidable mistakes. For them, it is a signal that you cannot process and produce a good report. What reference style is ideal? Reference styles vary from one project to another and from one discipline to another. Your references should either:

• Confoto with the guidelines provided by the lead researcher or the
• Be guided by disciplinary considerations:

Reference Styles

One of the most common reference styles used for research reports in the sciences is the Author-year system outlined by the American Language Association (MLA) style sheet, typically used by researchers in the humanities. It is an Author-page system. Models of the two can be obtained from publications and even on the internet. However, an example of the MLA is supplied here for ease of reference.

(Please refer to the example provided below for details.).Unless otherwise indicated by the funding agencies, applicants should conform to the appropriate style guide for his/her discipline. The information to include on your reference list comprises:

• Author’s name or author’s names
• Title of the document
• Identification information:

Conclusion

For books, you need to indicate the city, state, or country of publication, the publisher’s name, and the year of publication. The editor’s name, chapter title and author, and page numbers of the chapter should also be listed if applicable.

For journal articles or technical papers, provide the name of the journal, volume and issue number, date of issue, and page numbers of referenced articles.

Reports: report number, name and location of issuing organisation, date of issue.

Correspondence: name and location of issuing organisation, name and location of receiving organisation, letter’s date. You can read more related posts on our research page of the site.