Services
Our long experience of providing support to researchers and our focus on excellence development
is reflected in the support we offer. We strengthen applications, but above all we develop understanding of
how to write a competitive research proposal.
Proposal development
We have many years of experience in helping researchers at all career stages to write competitive proposals to major funders such as the ERC. Our focus is not on proposal editing. Instead, we focus on proposal development.
For ERC applicants we offer:
- An introductory discussion about the project, how it fits the call, and what is needed for a successful proposal. (via zoom)
- Feedback – up to two rounds of written feedback with suggestions and comments inserted in the draft. (via email)
- Access to example proposals with reviewers’ feedback for similar calls from a major European national funder.
Similar arrangement are possible for other funders and calls.
Let A.I. improve your proposal
Using our own experience and hundreds of research proposals with evaluations by panels of experts we created an online A.I. tool for proposal development. It can quickly provide insightful feedback and concrete rewriting suggestions for your research proposal.
Unique Workshops for
Researchers
Writing a good proposal is only one step on a journey towards a successful funding application. In this workshop, we use real funding applications and evaluations by review panels to explain what leads to some proposals being accepted and other getting rejected. Participants read, evaluate, and discuss the example proposals and learn
- why reviewers consider some research questions to be most relevant
- what makes a research plan convincing,
- what makes a strong CV.
Three parts
Our workshop consists of the following parts:
- An short introductory presentation about research funding and proposal writing.
- A workshop in which participants read, evaluate and discuss real research proposals, following predefined criteria and procedures used by review panels.
- A workshop in which participants read, evaluate, discuss, and provide feedback on each others’ proposals.
We can do workshops consisting of only parts 1 and 2, or only parts 1 and 3; please contact us for possibilities.
Example
A doctoral training network in the field of biochemistry orders a complete workshop for 21 doctoral students and postdocs. We start by giving an introductory presentation about research funding and proposal writing. We provide the participants with 14 example research proposals from the field of chemistry, the evaluation criteria, score sheets, instructions and a schedule for the day of the workshop.
For the day of the workshop, which takes place about two weeks after we distributed example proposals, we have divided the 21 participants over 3 review panels that each discuss the 14 proposals. Participants have to prepare in-depth evaluations for a subset of proposals. They participate in panel discussions in different roles, such as panel chair or secretary. After panel discussions, they compare their evaluations to those of the other panels, and to those of the real panel. Of course, there is time for reflection: we lead group discussions about the importance of aims, objectives, narrative, structure, good CVs, graphics, and about avoiding common mistakes.
Again some weeks later, participants have prepared (short versions of) their own research proposals. We have distributed these among the participants, and assigned them to panels. (Panel composition differs between the two workshops.) These panels now evaluate the proposals of the participants using appropriate criteria. The person leading the discussion of a proposal is responsible for summarizing the opinion of the panel, so that every participant receives specific feedback on their proposal.
Unique workshop for Research Support staff
The Research Support Office can play an important role in helping a researcher improve their proposal. If you work as Research Support staff in a pre-award role, this 9am to 5pm workshop is intended for you.
Using example proposals and feedback from real review panels, we will train you on the art of giving useful non-specialist feedback. After the workshop you will:
- Feel empowered and confident giving support
- Have tools to critically evaluate and develop proposals
- Understand what to look for when reviewing a proposal as a non-specialist
- Understand how to organize and communicate your feedback
- Better understand how to meet the researcher and build trust
During the day we will use examples from real proposals and work in small groups with specific aspects and tasks related to the support process.
Terms and conditions
Follow this link to read the terms and conditions that apply to our services.