Marsden SOC process• There are ‘Standard’ and ‘Fast Start’ applications

• Standards are generally for 3 years, typically for c $6-800k

• Fast Starts are for 2 years, for those within 7 years of PhD completion; for c $160k

• There are two rounds: preliminary and full proposals

Initial proposal• Panel has about nine members, drawn from a

range of SOC disciplines (education, business, sociology, social policy, human geography)

• Proposals must therefore be written for an intelligent lay panel with a premium on clarity and purposiveness

• About 25% make it through to the next stage. The reason is to save 75% the effort of full proposal preparation

What needs to be in an initial proposal?

• It’s short: so the argument must be clear• What is being done, why, what’s its

significance (theoretical, empirical, national)?

• Is there is an obvious aim, question?• Does the research matter? Will it grab a

SOC panel?

Full proposal

• Something between 25 and 50% of full proposals will be successful

• The credibility of the proposal is critical

• So too is the credibility of the applicants

• Even successful proposals may not be fully funded: to give over the odds to one proposal will mean the demise of another

Credibility of the proposal

• Research question, aim or objective(‘The aim of this proposal is..)

Why are you doing this?What is its purpose?What is its significance?

• Is it situated in a relevant literature; does it draw on, contribute to pertinent theory?

• Has there been a pilot project: will it work?

Credibility of the team

• Does the team have a track record?

• Is the strongest person/s leading it?

• Is the topic one that sits with the track record of the team?

• Is the team selling itself and its proposal on merit and the strength of its argument, or is it ‘bolding’ unnecessary claims to ‘originality’ or ‘innovation’?

What if it fails?

• Then persist!

• To not succeed means that the proposal is not yet good enough

• Work on it: develop the argument, workshop it, try again

• Don’t give up for ever, or come back next time with something completely different