How to write good research proposals

Ioana Ispas

Advisor for Bioethics ,Genomics and Health

National Agency for Scientific Research (ANCS)

Romania

Content

• Structure of research proposal

• Content of research proposal

• Practical exercises

• Few tips for being funded !

Task 1: Read carefully the call for proposals !

• Aims:

• - to understand which are the research topics

• - to discover which partners you might need and eligibility criteria

- to discover which are the budget limitations

- to understand the template for proposal

- to know the evaluation criteria

- keep in mind the deadline !

You might need at least 2 months for setting up a good proposal !

Task 1: Exercise 1

-Read the call for proposals and identify :

- if you are eligible for call

- budget per project

- minimum number of partners

- where and how you will send the proposal

- deadline

- make your own consortium. Which are your partners?

Task 2: Thinking at research topics...

• Aim: to establish the concept draft for the proposal having in mind the research topic

• How: a) read and analyse the content of research topic and identify the tasks

• b) covers all the aspects mentioned in research topic but certainly not all of the topics in one proposal !

• c) think at the impact of your research

• Expected results : 1) abstract of the proposal 2) identification of partners ;3) budget .

Task 2: Exercise 2

-Read the call for proposals and identify :

- the topic suitable for you

- the methodology used

- the expected results

- additional expertise needed

- budget

Task 2: Exercise 3

• -Look at the HIVERA call from exercise 2 and analyse the abstract indicating whether is suitable or not for the call HIVERA Call for Proposals 2011 for “European Research Projects on HIV/AIDS”

• - Mention at least 3 reasons for your choice.

Task 3: identify whether you are eligible for this call

• Aim: to establish whether you are entitled to submit a proposal or to be part of the consortium

• How : 1) read the call for proposal s; 2) discuss with your national contact point if something is unclear

• It is a very important aspect , otherwise you might not be funded but you worked hardly for this proposal !

Task 4: Which is the budget for funding research ?

• Aim: to identify how much money you may request for your proposal .

• How : 1) read the call for proposal s; 2) identify whether your national research agency put money for this call , the budget and the estimation of the costs /project if is mentioned.

• It is a very important aspect, otherwise you might not be eligible if you propose a budget which is over the national research agency budget !

Task 5: Look at the template for research proposal !

• Aim: to put your research idea in an unique format which makes easy the evaluation

• How : 1) read the guidelines for applicants; 2) discuss with your national contact point if something is unclear

• It is a very important aspect, you always should use the template format and fulfil all requirements !

Task 6: Template for research proposal -content

Proposal title and acronym

Name and full affiliation of the project coordinator

Duration of the project

Total costs

Scientific summary (1/2 page)

Keywords (3-5 words )

Background and present state of art in the research field

Task 7: Template for research proposal –content

Work plan ( maxim 15 pages)

a. General description: aims, methodology ,involvement of participants clearly defining their roles (maxim 4 pages)

b. Work package description (max 2 pages/WP) :aims, duration, methodology, participants , work load in person months)

c. Time plan as GANNT chart, project coordination and management , references.

Task 8: Template for research proposal -content

-scientific justification of the budget

-added value of the project proposal

-exploitation and dissemination results

-description of patents or IPR rights

-description of ongoing projects relevant for this topic

-ethical aspects

-CVs – but not very exhaustive !

WP description: milestones and deliverables

• Milestones: control points where decisions are needed with regard to the next stage of the project

• Deliverable :a verifiable output of the project. Normally, each work package will produce one or more deliverables during its lifetime. Deliverables are often written reports but can also take another form, for example the completion of a prototype etc.

Task Deliverables Milestones

M1

Setting up SHAB

Establish the international

evaluation panel for all candidatures

Defining mandate, composition and list of SHAB members.

M2

Designing conditions for partnership

? 1) Questionnaire 2) SWOT analysis

M3

Industrial cooperation

Sustainability plan

?

Task 8: Exercise 4

-Establish for the abstract from exercise 3 the structure in WPs and choose one WP for fulfilling the requirements mentioned in the template.

Look carefully at the evaluation criteria

• Scientific quality of the proposal (innovative potential, novelty, originality, international competitiveness.

• Methodological scientific soundness of the proposal .

• Relevance to health sciences applications, impact on relevant field of research .

• Scientific expertise of the consortium /record of the application/team, transnational added value of the consortium .

• Quality of the organization and coordination .

• Scoring system :0-5 (3-good, 4-very good, 5- excellent)

Have you maximized your chances?

• Look carefully at the evaluation criteria!

• Ask one of your experienced colleagues to assess your proposal based on the evaluation criteria .

• If you need further advice , feel free to inform you NCP about intention to submit a proposal .

Few tips for being funded !

• Write clear your objectives, how do you plan to achieve its and which deliverables you have .

• Describe the methodology very clear and indicate the reference papers for all methods .

• Choose the best possible consortium, highly relevant for the topic.

Few tips for being funded !

• Ask a scientist who was evaluator for international projects to assess your proposal .

• Indicate in the CVs of member teams only activities and publications relevant for the proposal.

Contact details

• Ioana Ispas

• Advisor for Bioethics Genomics and Health

• National Authority for Scientific Research

• International Cooperation Department

• E-mail: ioana.ispas@ancs.ro

• Tel: +(40) 21 212 77 91