Applying for a grant: first time

My advisors encouraged me to seek this grant from Nokia. In the end, I did not receive the grant, but I figured this post could still be useful to someone sometime. The grant would finance my dissertation project and I would have used it mostly for conference travel.

The application process itself was fairly pleasant. They have an online form with multiple pages, which you could fill out in any order with saves in between. I worked on mine bit by bit for about two weeks (total working time about a day, max).

The main steps were:

• Personal information
• Description of research area
• My dissertation project schedule/plan
• Financial matters; what the grant would be used for
• Attachments (CV, studies completed, diplomas)
• Supervisor statements

For the research description, I wrote a bit over 400 words, and 250 for thesis schedule with plans for each year until 2023. On the financial plan I was concise and to the point. The attachments required making up to date versions, which took some effort, but ought to be usable generally as well.

The supervisor statements I am grateful for. We had a meeting about my current research and progress, and refined the research plan for the future as well. My supervisors then had a fresh understanding to base their statements on.

What makes a good application? I would not say I am qualified to answer as the more seasoned academics have thousand times my experience. So with a spoonful of salt:

1. Have a narrative in the application. While in practice the future is uncertain, it makes the application confident to present clear steps for the entire project.
2. Sell your research in the context of the field and in terms someone not specialized will appreciate.
3. Strong supervisor statements, from persons with reputation. While I don’t know the exact text both my supervisors sent, from our exchanges I know they will strongly recommend me to the foundation. I would assume this is the most important step.

Lessons were learnt during the entire process. I can feel for those who have to write grant applications as their day job, but in this occasional way it was useful. The effort was not a waste at all, even if I did not win the scholarship. The application “forced” me to articulate my research plan for the thesis in a more structured way, and clarified the schedule for both the dissertation and postgraduate studies.

What I could have done to win the scholarship? In terms of what I think makes a good application, I am sure the number 3 was not the issue. So that leaves 1. and 2. and perhaps “random chance”. I do not like attributing things to random chance, so the lesson must be to write better. I discussed the application text with others for feedback. While the feedback was positive, our English lecturer from a course I’m taking mentioned some ways to improve my writing. The language in grant applications is different from the language in academic papers, and I believe my text was too boring for a general reader, failing point 2 from above. Next time, I’ll keep in mind that grant applications are not written for a reader specialized in my field.