Writing research proposals starts with developing a detailed understanding of the needs and issues associated with the idea you have.

With virtually every source of research funding being highly competitive, it is no longer acceptable to simply say we have a great idea and can we have some funding to find out if it will work.

So before you start writing your research proposal you need to:

• Understand, evidence and quantify what economic and societal benefit will occur if you successfully develop the idea you have.
• Identify all the possible solutions that could be used to overcome the current market based problem and know why they will and won’t work.
• Know why the solution you are proposing is the most likely, cost effective way of delivering a solution. This includes being able to quantify the technical limitations of your proposed solution.

Writing Research Proposals – Where to Start

The first step in writing research proposals is to map out your rationale for why this is a good project, specifically items 1-3 above.

Writing Research Proposals – Technical Objectives

The next step in writing research proposals is to develop a set of quantified technical objectives that you need to achieve in order for your solution to work. These technical objectives will become the specific objectives of elements of the work you propose.

Writing Research Proposals – The Work Programme

Your rationale for the project must have quantified the current technical performance. You also have a set of technical objectives that you need to achieve in order for your idea to work. Your work programme exists exclusively to advance the state of the art from the current limitation to the objectives needed.

The work programme should be described in a series of work packages (logical lumps of work which can be assigned to a researcher or organisation) which deal with the key technical challenges. Four to seven is typically appropriate.

Each work package should have objectives (these should be the technical objectives) a description of what you will do and deliverables (the physical tangible things that you will provide that can be evidenced as existing and measured to know if they were good enough).

Writing Research Proposals – Experience and Expertise

In writing your research proposal you have now shown you have a good idea and a clear plan for developing it. The final step is to show that the people involved and their organisations have the right experience and skills. This means describing the experience and capabilities which are relevant to the project... not everything the person or company has done.

Writing Research Proposals – Dissemination

Most funding bodies will also want a dissemination plan that shows how the science will be shared with the scientific community and how the results will be commercially exploited.

Writing Research Proposals – The Challenge

The challenge with writing research proposals, whether it is to EU Framework Programme, UK Science Research Councils or national government departments such as TSB or DEFRA, is that it takes a blend of skills and expertise, specifically excellent technical and commercial knowledge, that rarely reside in a single individual. We offer services to help our clients overcome these challenges, specifically we can help in three ways:

1. Providing a proposal manager to help co-ordinate input from the parties involved
2. Developing the commercial rationale for the research project proposed
3. Providing technical and commercial experts to write the research proposal for you

If you would like to see how we could help you to write your research proposal(s) then please contact us.