Areas of Influence

Seven Overlooked Aspects of Writing a Grant Proposal

Writing a proposal for the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) can be a daunting prospect: a lot of time and energy is spent developing a project where the funding outcome is far from certain and much of it can feel outside of the project leader's control. As a former EPSRC portfolio manager, I’m afraid there is nothing I can say to guarantee a successfully funded grant … but I can discuss seven aspects of writing a proposal that are often overlooked but which can have a potential impact on your application. These include:

  • Follow all of the instructions: This should be at the top of everyone's list when it comes to writing a competitive grant proposal ... but a surprising number of people forget to do it.
  • Keeping all readers of the proposal in mind: A proposal is seen by a number of people on its way to a funding decision. Ensuring that each person (portfolio manager, reviewer, panel member) is considered during the writing process can be beneficial.
  • Writing a strong response: Panel members use the reviewer comments and the applicant's response to determine how well a proposal meets the assessment criteria. A well-written response—one that is not angry, aggressive, arrogant, defensive, dismissive, or petty—can help a proposal move up the rank order list.

These topics and more are highlighted in this free session.

Your Instructor


Dr Elaine Massung
Dr Elaine Massung

Over the past two decades, Dr Elaine Massung has carried out a variety of roles in higher education: post-doctoral research assistant, copy editor and proofreader, and portfolio manager/panel convenor at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. She started Academic Smartcuts to help students and academics clearly communicate their research and navigate the UK funding system.


Course Curriculum


  Areas of Influence: Free Seminar Session
Available in days
days after you enrol

Frequently Asked Questions


When does the session start and finish?
This is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish. You can access it as often as you wish and replay it whenever required.
How long do I have access to the session?
After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like, across any and all devices you own.
What if there are changes or updates to this session?
All future changes to the course are included in your free enrollment.
Is this applicable to all of UKRI (UK Research and Innovation)?
This free session was designed specifically based on my experiences working as a portfolio manager at EPSRC, but many of these aspects will be the same across UKRI as a whole. However, I recommend checking with other research councils and funding bodies if you have questions about their specific requirements and processes.
Is the information provided in this course applicable for calls?
The Areas of Influence seminar session focuses on proposals that go through a standard peer review process, which is expert peer review followed by a prioritisation panel. This includes new investigator awards, standard mode (a.k.a. responsive mode), and fellowships. While some aspects, such as avoiding conflicts of interest, will be applicable regardless of the process used, calls typically follow different processes and may have different assessment criteria.
What if I have a question about the content of the session or something that's not answered here?
Contact Elaine at [email protected] if anything needs clarified or if you have queries about further training that is available from Academic Smartcuts, such as Proposal Launchpad: Idea Generation for Researchers or Couch to £500K: Turning an Idea into a Proposal.

YOUR PASSPORT TO EXPLORING BEHIND THE SCENES:
Take a sneak peek at the EPSRC Myth-busting Guide to preview several of the topics discussed in the Proposal Launchpad and Couch to £500K programmes. The complete book is available free to programme participants, or it can be purchased for £14.99 from the Academic Smartcuts website.

Get started now!