Grant Writing Tips
Heilmeier Catechism
George H. Heilmeier was a former Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) director who crafted a set of questions to help agency officials evaluate research proposals. These questions are often used by skilled grant writers to help draft a successful proposal narrative.
- What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon.
- How is it done today, and what are the limits of the current practice?
- What is new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?
- Who cares? If you are successful, what difference will it make?
- What are the risks? [And how could they be mitigated?]
- How much will it cost?
- How long will it take?
- What are the mid-term and final "exams" to check for success?
Outline the Narrative Section
1. Copy the narrative guidelines out of the Request for Proposals (RFP), Funding Opportunities Announcement (FOA), etc.
2. Paste into a Word document. Do not delete anything. Take the text and break it out into an outline format.
3. Benefits:
- Helps you craft a narrative that includes all of the elements that the funding agency is interested in knowing about your project.
- Reminds you to use the funding agency's terminology in section headings and throughout the narrative.
- Organizes your proposal to match how reviewers will evaluate your proposal.
- Breaks a large writing task into more manageable sections.
More tips
- Read the funding opportunity guidelines thoroughly. Read them multiple times throughout the wriitng process.
- Reviewer criteria. Pay particular attention to funding guidelines that share what reviewers will be looking for in your proposal. Construct your narrative by using strategically placed section headings, highlighted text (if allowed), figures/charts/graphics. Provide the reviewer criteria to colleagues or friends that you ask to give feedback on proposal drafts.
- Get to know the funding agency's program officer. NSF guidance which is applicable to most federal agencies.
- Start with an idea and then find a funding opportunity. Finding a funding opportunity and then creating an idea or program to fit into it is much less effective.
- Sustainability. Is your program sustainable after grant funding runs out? Funders want to see your ideas grow beyond their initial investment. Show them your vision beyond this grant.
K-State Office of the VP for Research Resources
Resource topics here include:
- Grant writing tips
- Budgets
- NSF CAREER award resources
- Data management plan guidance
- Postdoctoral researcher mentoring plans
- Broader impacts
- Evaluation
Need assistance or have other resources to share?
Contact Laura Hohenbary (laura8@ksu.edu).