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How to Prepare a Winning Proposal

No amount of care and effort in preparing a grant proposal will compensate for a weak research program. However, a poorly prepared proposal can prevent a strong research program from being supported. The following items are important in preparing a Discovery Grant application for NSERC.

The research proposal

Remember that the intent of the NSERC Discovery Grants program is to fund a research program (with long-term goals) rather than a single short-term project or a collection of projects. Thus, a good research proposal will:

• place the research within the context of what is currently happening in the field;
• summarize relevant prior work in the field;
• articulate the goals;
• describe a research plan and methodology;
• indicate why the research is useful or important; and
• provide a progress report on work accomplished with previous funding.

You need to convince the selection committee that:

• your research program promises a notable advancement or innovation in the discipline or results of importance to a broad range of applications;
• you have identified well-formulated short- and long-term goals;
• attaining these goals would be a significant contribution to the discipline;
• you have a good chance of attaining the goals with the resources available.

A major portion of the proposal should be devoted to a careful description of the research objectives and of the methodology that will be used. For the research plan, you should at least know how you are going to start out and have some ideas for future options.

Applications are judged according to the following criteria. The onus is on the applicants to address these explicitly in their proposal:

• scientific or engineering excellence of the researcher(s);
• merit of the proposal;
• contribution to the training of highly qualified personnel;
• need for funds.

Describing your ideas

Acknowledge difficulties honestly. If there are potential problems, say so. It is reasonable to assume that you have thought through your proposal more thoroughly than the reviewers have; consequently, if they see problems that you do not seem to have noticed then they may view your proposal negatively.

In writing a research proposal, you have to address two audiences: 1) the internal and external reviewers, who are likely to be knowledgeable in your field of interest, and 2) the remainder of the committee, who are in your discipline but may have limited knowledge of the area in which you are working. Your proposal must have something for both audiences; there should be enough depth and detail to satisfy the expert, but you must also convince the non-expert of the importance and impact of your proposed research.

The Personal Data Form (Form 100)

You can include a lot of information in the Personal Data Form. What you decide to include reflects your priorities and how you view your contributions; it will be used by reviewers to form a picture of you and your work.

The Personal Data Form gives you the opportunity to describe the quality of your contributions under various categories:

• list other research support currently held or applied for, as well as support during the past four years. It is important to take advantage of the fact that you can use additional pages for the Proposed Expenditures for the Direct Costs of Research section of Form 101 to provide clear and concise information on the conceptual and budgetary relationship or lack of relationship between the proposed research and the research that is funded from other sources;
• list up to five of your most significant contributions in the last six years;
• list other research contributions (refereed or not);
• explain your research contributions (e.g., your contribution to collaborative work and to the transfer of technology);
• describe your contribution to the training of highly qualified personnel. Research training goes beyond graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, i.e., training of undergraduate students and technical/professional assistants. NSERC recognizes that not all research is appropriate for training and there will be circumstances where training will not be possible. In these cases, the onus is on the applicant to explain the absence of a training component;
• show other evidence of impact (list awards and honours related to your work, membership on committees etc.);
• discuss any delays in the research and in dissemination of research results.

Checklist for applicants before applying to NSERC:

• Use the following documents from NSERC's Web site:
  • the Program Guide for Professors
  • the application forms and instructions

• Read the following documents and follow all the instructions carefully:
  • Peer Review Manual
  • Guidelines for the Preparation and Review of Applications in Engineering and the Applied Sciences
  • Guidelines for the Preparation and Review of Applications in Interdisciplinary Research

• Follow the print size and margin standards. Do not use a tiny typeface – this makes it difficult to read. In addition, when margin requirements are not respected, problems occur in the printing process and information may be lost. We receive numerous comments from GSC members suggesting that applications that do not respect our presentation requirements be rejected. The peer evaluation of applications is carried out by GSC members who are volunteers and who must read many applications; their already demanding task is made more difficult when the format of applications is inadequate or the font size used is too small.

• Follow the page limitations. Proposals are restricted to a certain number of pages. You do not have to use them all, but most successful proposals occupy the majority of the allotted space. Make sure that the proposal is well laid out and easy to read, with clear headings. Don't overfill the space. Do not send in more than the maximum number of pages.

Applications that do not meet these standards may be rejected.

Make sure the application is complete, and that you have included the applicable appendices.

It could be five years before you can apply for a grant again. Make the most of this year's opportunity and avoid a less than favourable funding decision resulting from a poorly prepared proposal.