Caveat: I am not a gamer but friend who are have confirmed that what I’m going to say here makes sense. One of my recent posts for the Careers Cafe at University Affairs compared life to a video game. Video game developers write stories in a different way to novelists. Their stories need to be [...]
Why writing Intended Outcomes, Specific Aims, or Objectives is so hard
Posted on May 9, 2013 by 1 Comment
In 7 years of working with academics to develop strong grant proposals, the most common weak area I’ve seen is the objectives. I am not working with students or others who are new to the academic game. I support faculty (academic staff, in UK parlance). Some are in early stages of their careers but others [...]
Did you get a SSHRC Insight Development Grant in June 2012?
Posted on April 25, 2013 by
I know you aren’t even a year into the development grant process but … If you have 2 years funding, you will run out of money in June 2014. If you know how this project will continue and you want your next grant to be continuous with this one (or at least have a chance [...]
Common problems in grant proposals
Posted on April 18, 2013 by
I’ve been helping social science and humanities academics with grant proposals since 2005. Prior to that, I worked for the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) as both a program officer and a policy analyst. Based on that experience, here are some of the issues that come up repeatedly. Unclear objectives The grant is [...]
