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Research & Knowledge Transfer can advise and offer support on grant applications. Talk to your School RKT Manager for more details.

Grant lifecycle: key resources

The following information can be used as a checklist and to identify useful resources at every stage of a grant application.  If you would like more support or advice on any of the information below, please contact the Research Development Manager for your College.

The following links are internal access only.

Before you start

There are several steps to follow in a standard research grant application process.

See this checklist of guidance points to consider before you progress with your application (internal access only)

The most important is to allow yourself plenty of time for preparing drafts of your proposal, preparing the costings, obtaining the appropriate signatures and approvals. Projects can often take 12 months or more from starting to think about the application through to physically starting the project.

In the first instance, please ensure that you discuss your application with your Director of Research, colleagues and Research Development Manager. It is often very helpful to summarise your project on 1 side of A4 at an early stage to help with these discussions.

Proceeding with the application

As soon as you have confirmed that you are going ahead with the application, contact your School-based research and finance manager who will assist in preparing the financial costings for your application.

If you are applying for European Funding, please contact Enda Clarke in Research & Knowledge Transfer

Useful information and resources for grant applications

The following information can be used as a checklist of points to consider whilst preparing an application for funding.

Training and development

Research & Knowledge Transfer Mangers provide training for each School as part of their Service Level Agreements.  This includes training on specific funding opportunities and on wider aspects of research grant and knowledge transfer activity. Our 2010 programme will be published shortly.

Additional training and support is provided by the central Learning and Development Unit. Find out more on the Research staff site and Learning and Development site.

Research funding information

Further information on funding sources, guidelines and support information can be found in our Funding sources, guidelines and support pages.

Impact

From April 2009 all Research Council funding applications require both an ‘Impact Summary’ and an ‘Impact Plan’ to be included with virtually all of their funding schemes. Find out more on the Impact section.

Case for support

When drafting the ‘Case for Support’ ask yourself the following questions:

  • Have I clearly formulated the problem?
  • Have I established appropriate aims and objectives?
  • Have I provided a well-thought out research design?
  • Have I given a full description of the research methods?
  • Have I anticipated potential difficulties?
  • Have I identified potential users both in and outside of the academic community?

Insurance

Your research activities may well require approval from the University’s Insurance Office which provides information about legal requirements and best practice, including dissemination of any new requirements/recommendations. They are also able to advise on appropriate insurance cover. For further information, please see the Insurance Office website.

Ethics

Ethical issues are manifest in a wide variety of research activities and arise especially when the conduct of research involves the interests and rights of others. Further information and links to your School Ethics Officer and University Ethics Policy can be found on the Ethics pages.

IP and commercialisation

Part of the grant submission process is to identify the mechanisms in place for potential exploitation, both commercially and non-commercially. You may need to consider the following points:

  • Do you have any specific partnership, collaborative or exploitation agreements in place?
  • How will the outputs with potential impact be identified?
  • What structure and mechanisms can you put in place to exploit and protect the outputs from the research, during and at the end of the grant lifecycle?

You can find more detailed information about IP and commercialisation and related support on the IP and commercialisation pages.

Strategy and Policy

An awareness of University strategy and policies is key to a successful grant application.  Find out more here, and speak to your Research Development Manager, if you are unsure of how these could potentially support your application.

University facts and figures

Find out key statistics and information about the University which you may need to include in a grant application on the facts and figures page.

Submitting your application

Once you have completed the application, ensure you have completed the form fully. Most common omissions are; obtaining all the necessary signatures, CVs for named staff and a realistic start date.

Grant submission forms

The majority of funding applications are now made online. For more information and links to electronic submission forms and guidance, see the Grant submission forms page.