Eligibility is one of the most important factors an applicant should look into as they are searching for funding options. After all, if they don’t fit within the criteria specified by the funder, applicants will be disqualified from the competition even if they submit the perfect application. But there is another very important application criterion […]
Proposal Writing Advice
Proposal Writing Advice
Finding Funding for International Research: A Beginner’s Guidepost
There are myriad awards, some of which are open to both domestic and international students, that allow an applicant to conduct up to a year of research abroad. At Rutgers, our students generally look into these opportunities to conduct a portion of or their entire dissertation research abroad. Like crafting any other application, applying for […]
Grant Writing: A Fundamental Tool for Building Your Scholarly Community
Doctoral students seeking grants and fellowships generally think about funds as the primary reason for applying for extramural awards. At GradFund, we often remind students that applying for grants and fellowships is not merely about acquiring financial support, but also about building an essential skillset that will be beneficial for a student throughout their career. […]
Using GradFund Over the Course of Your Graduate Study (Advice from the Archives)
Advice from the Archives Series Note: Occasionally, we dig into the archives to uncover a post we feel holds relevant and timely information worthy of a repost. If you are interested in learning more about research grants and fellowships to support your graduate study, be sure to visit the GradFund Database. The project I proposed during GradFund’s Summer […]
So You’ve Decided to Apply for Funding: Tips on Planning Your Next Step
As a fellowship advisor, one of the questions that I most frequently encounter at the end of my meetings with students is, “What do I do next?” By asking this question, students are right on point in identifying a crucial piece of knowledge in their interaction with the funding world: It is not just enough […]
The Curse of Knowledge
In order to write an effective funding proposal, it is necessary to translate what you know into something a review audience will be able to understand. This act of translation is often inhibited by the “curse of knowledge,” a phenomenon first identified by economists, and more recently developed by thinkers such as Steven Pinker. In his […]
Expansion and Enrichment – Funders and Your Network
Photo by Dina Lydia on Unsplash One of the most important professional development activities in academia is networking – building professional relationships within and without one’s chosen field. This includes academic collaborations and institutional contacts for the purpose of research and administrative purposes. To the various funders of external grants and fellowships, these contacts and […]
Asserting Your Narratives – A Defense of Narcissus
We’ve discussed how the personal statements matter as much as the research statements for STEM applicants. But we haven’t really discuss what to include or how to approach your various narratives. From a content perspective, narratives are an exercise in self-reflection and projection. If you were looking into the proverbial pool at your own academic and professional […]
Writing Grant Proposals When Your Research Project Has Changed
Suggestions on writing strong funding applications often emphasize the significance of starting out early. This, in general, is great advice. By making a head start on your applications, you will not only have time to develop your project, but also to get feedback from multiple readers to make your application stronger. But what happens when […]
Revise and Resubmit: Demonstrating Intellectual Growth in Funding Applications
Making a second attempt at a funding competition can seem daunting, especially if you have recently learned that your application was unsuccessful. In my first post on revising and submitting an unsuccessful grant or fellowship application, I addressed the steps applicants should take after receiving a rejection letter and before starting a second attempt. In […]