Snakes and Ladders: some rules of the funding game

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Snakes and Ladderssome rules of the funding game

• Ann Blandford Michael Harrison

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Why us?

• We have some experience of funding
• Both successes
• and failures
• Writing reviews and participating in funding
  panels
• We didnt say no fast enough when asked to do
  this!
• We dont claim a monopoly on understanding
• Please share your insights and experiences too!

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The EPSRC process 101

• You have a great idea, and submit a proposal for
  funding.
• You wait. Other people review it.
• You receive the reviews and respond to them.
• The proposal gets considered at a panel.
• If funded, you do the work.
• You write a final report. It gets reviewed.
• You respond to the reviews. You get a final
  grading.

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What does the reviewer do?

• Read the proposal.
• Write a report (aka fill in a form).
• While reading, when is a judgment first formed?
• How is it formed?
• How is it subsequently revised?
• What role does the form play in this judgment
  process?

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Activity 1forming first judgment on proposals

• Read four opening paragraphs.
• NB a reviewer typically reads the text on the
  form first, so that matters even more!
• Identify their strengths and limitations in terms
  of persuasiveness.
• Rank the four proposals on the basis of their
  opening paragraphs alone.

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Activity 2write an opening sentence

• Compose title and opening sentence for a proposal
  focusing on experience design for exhibits in a
  museum or art gallery.
• Agree an angle of study (design or evaluation?
  Within-museum or remote from it? A particular
  theoretical perspective? Etc.).
• Sketch out objectives and methods, but focus on
  title and opening sentence.
• Rank all the other titles opening sentences in
  terms of how keen you would be to fund the work
  if you had a spare 500K.

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What does the reviewer have to comment on?

• Significance and potential of the research.
• Degree of novelty or risk.
• People and training.
• Collaboration.
• Ability to deliver the proposed research.
• Planning and management.
• Resources requested.
• Potential contributions to knowledge transfer.
• Conclusions and recommendation.

See www.epsrc.ac.uk/Forms/
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Activity 3keeping the reviewer on your side

• Youve got the reviewer on your side.
• How do you keep him / her there?
• List the things you can do to help the reviewer
  write a supportive review.
• What mistakes have you seen other proposers make,
  or can you imagine people making, in proposal
  writing?

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Summary

• If youre a reviewer, try to be on the side of
  the proposer.
• If everyone looks for the faults in proposals,
  the Treasury view of research will be negative
  and the funding pot will shrink.
• The glass can be described as 95 full or 5
  empty. Which better reflects the truth?
• As a proposer, try to see the reviewers
  perspective and help them write a fantastic
  review!

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Thank you

• And good luck with your next proposal