• CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Successful grant writing takes careful thought as well as considerable skill. Experienced investigators appreciate just how much work and background development are required. However, those new to the ‘game’ are sometimes under the misconception that if they have a good research idea or it is clinically important, they are bound to succeed. ‘Do good science and the rest will follow!’ Unfortunately, this just is not true.

Successful grant writers appreciate three important points:

1. Don't take anything for granted!

   Even if you have a superb track record and great ideas that could fundamentally change a field, this is not an excuse for cutting corners and dashing off a poorly thought-out submission. Grants require care. Sloppiness is obvious.

2. Put your energy into a few, well-crafted submissions

   It does nothing for your morale, or reputation, to keep resubmitting poor applications that fail. Reviewers and panel members have long memories.

3. The competition is tough

   Success rates are low for most schemes, often less than 20%, sometimes even down to 10%. And your competition is stiff. It includes some of the finest people of your generation, your most able contemporaries. So, to stand a chance of success you have to give grant writing—and your competition—the respect it deserves.

When you submit an application, it is likely first to be screened by administrative staff to ensure that it fulfils the basic requirements. Some grants fall at this very initial hurdle. In some schemes, there might then be a triage or selection procedure, to filter out the applications that are unlikely to succeed, so your submission might not get any further than this. Then applications are sent for peer review, often from international experts who might not know you and sometimes by people who might not even have much expertise in your particular subspecialty of research. When …