Thursday, October 25, 2012

Troubles of a grant virgin....

I am writing, or rather trying to write, a grant application. It is very difficult and quite different from writing a paper. (So I decided to write a blogpost instead first)
I know what is expected from me in a paper. Introduce the study, present your results in a clear way, discuss the results in the context of the scientific field. Also, when appropriate give credit to previous work (references).
But, how does that work in a grant application? There are no results, only plans. So, that means writing an introduction and then present the plans. How far should I take this? The committee is multidisciplinary, so too much details will not help, but maybe there will be some specialists there who would appreciate details. Still, I really wouldn't want to bore any members of the committee. AAAAAARGH!!!!!
Should I use references in the same way as in a paper? I guess not since the grantcommittee will not be interested in all the details. Still, it is good to show that my plans are based in reality and not too outrageously far-fetched.

One thing I picked up from a grant I could use as an example from my boss is that every figure should have a very clear, exciting and colorful message. Maybe I should include some figures from my present work, combined with some figures from papers the lab has published I'm going to work......

Decisions, decisions.....

There must be some people here who have written grants before. What are the do's and don'ts??? I would be eternally grateful ;-)

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