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Decide whether to apply
Questions to consider before investing valuable time preparing an application
If you’ve found a grant or fellowship that you’re interested in, double check that you’re a good fit and can do justice to what’s required. Investing in this ‘due diligence’ now could save you a lot of time (and pain) later.
Key takeaways
- Ensure your proposed research aligns with the funding body's and scheme’s goals and criteria.
- Verify your scheme-specific eligibility (eg. post-PhD years, other grants held) and read the fine print.
- Evaluate your competitiveness through advice, benchmarking, and attending University sessions.
- Think about the ‘story’ that you can tell about what sets you apart from others.
- Dedicate ample time to produce your application; it can take months!
Read time: 4 min
Are you and your research a good ‘fit’?
So you’ve found a grant to apply for. But is it actually right for you? More to the point, are you right for it? It is not uncommon (yet completely understandable) for researchers to be so eager for funding that they overlook the fact that they and/or their project are not what the funding body wants to fund.
Read about the organisation that’s providing the funding, find out what its mandate is and who it’s answerable to (e.g. government, shareholders, community). Then read about the scheme itself, in particular its purpose, objectives, which types of projects have previously been funded, and the selection criteria against which applications will be judged. Consider, for example, what outcomes your research would deliver, and whether they would satisfy the scheme’s raison d’etre.
If you’re unsure, contact the relevant person in the Pipeline and Pre-Award team (UniKey required) for advice.
Are you eligible to apply?
Determining whether or not you’re eligible for a funding scheme is not always straightforward.
Most fellowship schemes, for example, have eligibility constraints, such as being a specific number of years post PhD conferral date. Find out these requirements well in advance to avoid being deemed ineligible. Some fellowship schemes also cap the number of times you’re allowed to apply; for example, you can apply only twice for ARC DECRAs and Future Fellowships. Grant schemes (besides fellowships) that specifically target ECRs will have post-PhD time limits but may have additional restrictions, such as whether you’ve led a major grant previously.
Determining eligibility often involves taking career disruptions into account. If you’ve had to take three months off due to illness, for example, then three months will be subtracted from your years post PhD, in effect giving you an extension of time. But be aware that definitions of career disruption can be legalistically strict and can vary between funding bodies.
Read all available documentation about the scheme you’re interested in – in detail – even (especially) the fine print.
For advice about your eligibility for a specific scheme, lodge a Research Enquiry ticket (UniKey required) which will be answered by the Pipeline and Pre-Award team.
Are you likely to be competitive?
Being eligible for a grant is no guarantee that you’ll be competitive, and if you’re not competitive, you’re wasting your time in applying. But how do you decide? While there is no exact science to deciding this, there are several things you can do to help:
- Seek advice: Perhaps the best advice will come from people who have recently been assessors for the scheme, or the Business and Research Development team in the Research Portfolio who have a lot of experience with the major ARC, NHMRC and MRFF schemes. So if you’re interested in those, ask the team’s advice about whether you’re competitive.
- Benchmark yourself: Another useful strategy is to benchmark yourself against researchers who have previously been funded by the scheme you’re interested in. Read our guidance on benchmarking for tips about how to do this, and access the online Successful Application Library.
- Attend information sessions: The Pipeline and Pre-Award team, who are experts in grant strategy and development, run scheme-specific information sessions every year for major ARC and NHMRC grant and fellowship schemes. Check out our training calendar to find any upcoming sessions.
Can you make yourself stand out from the crowd?
Whatever funding scheme you apply for, you need to differentiate yourself from the competition. It’s worth taking the time to think about what makes you and/or your project different and interesting.
Is your research in a unique or niche area? Do you have highly-cited publications and/or publications in the top journals in your discipline or field? Do you have any significant grants, prizes or awards? Have you generated any patents and/or successfully commercialised a product? Can demonstrate that your research has achieved significant impacts?
In terms of your project, think about what makes it unique, novel, innovative, exciting. Will it introduce new concepts or use new approaches and methods? What interesting ‘angle’ will it take?
If you need to bounce some ideas off people, talking to supervisors, mentors or peers can be a good place to start.
If you’re unsure, contact the relevant person in the Pipeline and Pre-Award team (UniKey required) for advice.
Will you have enough time to produce an outstanding application?
With funding applications, if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. And for many applications, that could mean a solid month or more of work: not only to write the project proposal, but also to write and compile the track records, formulate the budget, coordinate with collaborators, undertake the administrative tasks such as getting permissions and signatures, and so on. If you have, say, only two days a week to devote to it, one funding application could easily take you 15 weeks to prepare!
So, start early… much earlier than you think will be necessary.
Note about deadlines. Advertised funding opportunities will always have a deadline. But remember that you may need to submit your application through the University, which will have its own internal deadline for the scheme in question. Internal deadlines are usually a few weeks earlier than external deadlines, so be sure to allow for this.