Friday 8 November

In its efforts to support colleagues across the College of Social Sciences with their grant applications, the Peaceful, Secure & Empowered Societies IRT organised on 8 November, 2024, an “ESRC Grant Application Workshop.” In the first part of the event, three colleagues from different Schools within the College presented their ESRC project proposals and received feedback from the participants. In the second part of the event, participants interacted in roundtable discussions focused on the challenges of applying for ESRC grants, with insights from both successful and unsuccessful ESRC applicants and from College Research Support Office (CRSO) colleagues. Several key suggestions for the ESRC applicants emerged from the engaging roundtable discussions: 

  • allocate sufficient time to develop the application (at least 3-4 months) 
  • think carefully about the time allocation for conducting the proposed study (how much FTE should be allocated for project lead(s) and co-lead(s)) 
  • take time to identify and include partners that are genuinely interested in the project; clearly integrate the partners’ needs into the proposed study (coordinate with the College Research Office which can help to identify suitable partners)  
  • work closely with the College Research Office on the impact and K&E aspects of the application  
  • set out realistic pathways for impact (see the CoSS resources on impact) 
  • focus on different and complementary (rather than similar) skills when putting together the project team 
  • involve ECRs into the project (PhD positions or post-doc research associates; discuss aspects regarding the mentoring of ECRs throughout the duration of the project) 
  • develop a clear set of work packages that are directly related to the main research questions 
  • devise a coherent methodology that can be implemented within the envisioned project timeframe and that is appropriate for answering the core research questions 
  • do not ignore, or only artificially integrate, feedback from the internal review process 
  • do not gloss over the theoretical/academic contribution of the study 
  • do not submit for internal review a half-baked project with unclear aims and objectives 

 

First published: 9 October 2024

<< Research Updates